Invincible (6 page)

Rose turned. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
“
Deserve it. What if I didn
’
t deserve it? What if it was just
…”

Her chin quivered.

I touched her chin, again.
“
We don
’
t know each other, sweetie. But I don
’
t just randomly take bullets for someone. People want you dead and maybe I can help you. You said your father was involved with fighting. My brother was
…
he was killed in a fight. I
’
ve been trying to find out who did it for years. Tell me everything you know. Everything you
’
ve ever seen.
”
My eyes, my focus, everything suddenly just went to Shane
’
s death. To knowing all the truth.
“
That
’
s what I want from you. I saved you so do this for me.
”

“
You only saved me after you tried to kill me.
”

“
I didn
’
t try
…”

More tears fell from Rose
’
s eyes. This was my curse. My ability to destroy life all around me. Including my own. I shouldn
’
t have taken the picture. I shouldn
’
t have went to the address. I shouldn
’
t have done anything for Rose. My throbbing shoulder proved it. My throbbing heart.
My throbbing dick.

And as if things could get any more fucked up, my apartment door exploded open,  sending both myself and Rose stumbling to the ground.
When I turned my head, two men were standing there with guns.

~ ~ ~

“
You
’
ve got to be kidding me.
”

Tommy pointed to Rose but kept his gun on me. I climbed to my feet and grabbed Tommy by the wrist. I broke his hold on the gun and then took out the clip.

“
Can
’
t you fucking knock?
”
I asked.

“
No. Not when my ass is about to get fried. What the fuck is she doing here?
”

Rose kicked back, shaking her head.

The other guy - someone I
’
ve never seen before - walked over to Rose and kept his weapon on her.

“
Hey, hey,
”
I yelled.
“
Stop this. This isn
’
t happening.
”

Tommy eyed my shoulder.
“
Where the fuck is your shirt? And what happened to your shoulder?
”

“
Just an accident,
”
I said.
“
None of your damn business. Leave Rose alone right now. Call Aton. Let me talk to him.
”

“
Yeah, sure,
”
Tommy said. He then grabbed my shoulder, and squeezed, sending fresh wild pain through my body.
“
You can talk to him after I talk to him first. Tell him that the woman who was supposed to be killed was in your apartment. How are you going to explain that one?
”

“
Please,
”
Rose said.
“
I didn
’
t do anything wrong.
”

“
Get her the fuck up and out of here!
”
Tommy yelled.

The other guy grabbed Rose by the hair. I turned and ran for the guy. My natural instinct was always
fight mode
which was
survival mode
, meaning I
’
d hurt myself to stay alive. My shoulder barreled into the guy. I speared him to the ground, but then felt a paralyzing pain as I had hit him with my bad shoulder. I tried to swing, but I couldn
’
t move my arm at the moment.

“
Wes!
”
Tommy yelled.
“
I
’
ll fucking put a bullet in the back of your head.
”

I rolled over and sat up. Tommy was there, his gun reloaded, pointed at me. There was an evil fire in his eyes. He took his work personally, just like I did when I was in the circle, fighting. So if Rose
’
s car blew up, that was good, but the fact that she wasn
’
t in it made it very bad.

The other guy got to his feet and went for Rose again.

“
Don
’
t fucking touch her hair,
”
Tommy said.
“
Bring her in alive and well. Let Aton finish it. So he can see I did my job.
”
Tommy then looked at me and clicked his teeth together.
“
You fucking rat, Wes. You
’
re going to get flushed down a sewer.
”

I held my shoulder and watched as they forced Rose out of my apartment.

A day ago, I was supposed to kill Rose.

Now
…
I had to find a way to save her.

7.

(Rose)

I didn't know what to do. My car was supposed to explode with me inside it. Luke had completely lost his mind and gone off the deep end. Two men tried to shoot at me - hitting Wes instead. Then I was taken by Wes, promised safety, only to be taken by two different men.

They put me in the back of a black car, leaving my hands and feet unrestrained.

The one guy -
Tommy
- got into the driver
’
s seat.

He turned, smiled, and showed me his gun.
“
Look at it this way. You
’
re supposed to be dead. So enjoy your last ride. If you make a fucking move, say a fucking word, or just generally piss me off at all, I
’
m going to shoot you and kill you. So it
’
s really up to you. This is your chance to extend your life by a few hours. Got it?
”

I didn
’
t say a word. I looked out the window.

They took me to a building, much like the buildings I used to go to all the time. I half expected to find a fight ready to go inside, but it was eerily empty. The door slammed shut with an echoing thud. The place smelled of age and rust. The two guys were close to me, bumping their shoulders to mine, leaving me feeling icky. I hated them. I hated everything. I hated Wes, too. Why did he even bother to help me? Just so I could get caught? Is that what it was? An even bigger set up?

I swallowed hard, processing it all.

I was supposed to be in the car. I was supposed to blow up. If Wes found out I wasn
’
t in the car, he tracked me down. Tricked me into going with him. Just so I could get caught and taken here. Whatever this was.

“
Come on, princess,
”
Tommy said and dragged me to a set of steps.

We went upstairs and Tommy knocked on a door.

“
What?
”
a voice yelled.

“
It
’
s me, Aton. I have something for you.
”

“
Open the door.
”

The door opened and there was a man seated behind a large wooden desk with piles of cash. He had a cigar in his mouth. When he saw me, he stood up, eyes going wide.

“
What the hell is this?
”
the man asked -
I assumed it was Aton
- the cigar bouncing in his mouth. He took it out of his mouth and put it into an ashtray.

“
Aton, allow me to explain the situation,
”
Tommy said.
“
Your boy, Wes, is nothing but a filthy rat.
”

“
What?
”
Aton asked.

Tommy clicked his teeth, like he
’
d done at Wes
’
s apartment.
“
You heard me. I found this princess in his fucking apartment. And Wes wasn
’
t wearing a damn shirt.
”

Aton looked at me. He had small, dark eyes. He wasn
’
t tall, wider in the waist than in the shoulders, built nothing like Wes.

“
So you
’
re Rose,
”
Aton said.

“
How do you know my name?
”
I asked.
“
I
’
m not afraid of you.
”

“
You should be. I don
’
t know how you pulled it off. Guess you didn
’
t need your car, huh?
”

“
I knew about it,
”
I said.
“
Someone told me so I knew not to touch my car. How
’
s that sound?
”

Aton leaned against the desk. He knocked a stack of cash over but didn
’
t seem to care.
“
You know what you fucking did, princess. I know everything about you. Your family. Everything. What were you doing with Wes?
”

I swallowed hard. It became very clear that this whole thing was not a setup by Wes. He was in serious trouble because of me. Because he helped me.

“
Uh-oh,
”
Aton said.
“
You see that? She swallowed her tongue.
”

“
I can make her talk,
”
Tommy said.
“
It would be my honor, Aton. Considering I fucked this whole thing. I
’
m sorry about that.
”

“
No, it
’
s okay,
”
Aton said.
“
We have her now. We might be able to enjoy a little more right now. I wasn
’
t planning on starting a war for my family, but maybe it
’
s a good time for that.
”

“
What do we do about Wes?
”
Tommy asked.

“
He
’
ll come,
”
Aton said.
“
Then we
’
ll make sure to handle that situation properly.
”

“
Don
’
t hurt him,
”
I said.
“
He didn
’
t do anything wrong.
”

“
She remembered how to talk,
”
Aton said.

“
Fucking rat,
”
Tommy said.
“
I hate fucking rats.
”

“
I
’
ll ask again
…
what were you doing with Wes?
”
Aton asked me.

I couldn
’
t think of anything. My mind went blank. I had grown up and heard Ma and Dad talking about family wars. Talking about Irishmen and Italians going at it hard. How sometimes lines were blurred, crossed. How original blood families from the
old country
were getting mixed and ruined. I never took anything from it. Ma died, Dad never got over it, and I was thrust as a moneymaker into the circles of fights to lure men into betting more and more money.

But this all seemed way too real. I was the one in harm
’
s way now. I had no idea what to think or who to trust. Sadly, the only person who had been telling me the truth was Wes. He said he
’
d get me to his place safely and he did. He told me he had been there when my car was wired. He told me he had to check on me. He asked about my family, my father, my brother.

Wes wasn
’
t there with me though.

“
Throw her in a room until I figure this out,
”
Aton said.
“
I have to finish the money and pay tribute before the family comes down here and kills everyone.
”

I did what anyone would have done a long time ago.

I screamed.

A second later, a hand was over my mouth and a gun to my head.

~ ~ ~

The door slowly opened. There wasn
’
t a lightbulb in the socket dangling from the ceiling. I was left to rely on the natural light coming in from the two windows that were cracked and half boarded up. It was some kind of unused office I was in now. There was a desk missing all its drawers and a chair ripped to pieces with springs hanging out like messy, curly hair.

“
You hungry, princess?
”
Tommy asked.

Light flooded the office from behind him.

I figured it was some kind of crude sex joke or something. So I didn
’
t respond.

“
Brought you a peanut butter and jelly. My favorite.
”

“
It shows,
”
I said.
“
Maybe you should switch to whole wheat bread.
”

Tommy snorted.
“
You
’
re funny, princess. I kind of like you. Too bad things are going to get bad for you real soon. I honestly think you were better off getting into that car. You know? Quick. Painless. Boom. I
’
m really good at what I do.
”

“
Except making sure the person is in the car,
”
I said with a smile.

“
Bitch,
”
Tommy said. He took the sandwich and lifted it to his mouth. He took a monster bite out of it and then dropped the plate and sandwich to the ground. The plate broke and sandwich flopped.
“
Whoops,
”
he said with a mouth full of peanut butter and jelly.
“
Nnjoyurluch
…
”

Tommy shut the door and I was alone, again.

They took my cellphone. They left my bag back at Wes
’
s apartment. I should have been at a shoot, wearing clothes, posing, living that fantasy of being normal.

Then again, looking around the dark office, this truly represented my normal.
Darkness.