PUSH: Ultra Alpha MMA Badboy Mafia Romance (Southside Brotherhood Book 2) (52 page)

The wood under his feet didn’t squeak, but his boots made a soft thunk, thunk as he walked at a normal gait. Not fast, not slow, not soft. He was coming, and no amount of stealth mattered now.

The hall turned into a tunnel as Flynn approached the bedroom door where the man who contributed to his DNA probably lay sleeping. He was an early riser, but it was surely a late night, and he would be here, somewhere.

Three more steps and Flynn’s fingers curled around the cool brass knob. One turn and it would all be done. The images of his father from as far back as he could remember came to him.

None of them changed anything. None of them were of kindness. None of them were of a man with any virtue.

The silence was pressing in around him. He could hear his breathing, the blood in his veins pounding out in the injuries that covered his body.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

That voice drained the blood from Flynn’s face.

“I’m here to talk to our father. Get the fuck away. This isn’t about you.”

“Yeah? It’s all about me, brother. You and I both know that. You do know I’m going to finish what I started last night. You just did me a big favor by coming to me.” Gideon stood in loose, unbuttoned jeans, pulling a white t-shirt over his head. His eyes red rimmed and Flynn figured he’d been entertaining himself with one of his current household fucks most of the night.

“Why? Because he told you to? You’re a dog just like me, pawing around in his shit looking for scraps. You aren’t going to kill me. You know why?”

“Why?”

“Because. You kill me, you’re still just his dog. Nothing’s changed.”

“Everybody is somebody’s dog. At least here, I’m the alpha. You, on the other hand, are the training bait. Besides, he’s not here. So, it’s just you and me, brother.”

Real alphas never have to tell you that’s what they are. Desperate fucker.

Gideon sniffed and Flynn saw the dark purple forming under each eye. A memory of the strike he’d managed to land last night.

Flynn spun around, his hand turning the knob and sending the master bedroom door slamming into the wall. Colin’s room stared back, perfectly made up, his father nowhere to be seen.

“Told you. Don’t worry, though. He will have her in here soon enough — fitting in a nice fuck with your girl now and then in-between all his other interests. He’ll teach her how to be a good little slut. Work on putting a baby in her belly. Of course, if she’s got one cooking already — he’ll be sure to take care of it.”

Flynn exploded down the hall, his right leg rising up to stomp one boot into Gideon’s chest, knocking him back.

The hall filled with the crash and break of an ivory-colored porcelain vase that had stood on the now toppled hall table, the shards scattering all over the dark floor as Gideon stumbled backward, his face turning from shock to a smile.

“Yeah? We’re finishing this, brother, right fucking now.” Gideon pushed forward but Flynn spun again, sending him flying passed while hitting a perfect elbow to his unguarded face.

The jolt of pain from the impact driven punch shot up Flynn’s arm and into his chest as Gideon’s already broken nose exploded. The drip of blood soaked in perfect circles on his white t-shirt.

“Fuck!” Gideon’s yell filled the empty cavernous house, and Flynn saw the little figure of Molly standing stunned at the top of the stairs. “Get out of here! GO!” he ordered. She didn’t need to be here, to see whatever this was going to be.

He watched as she looked back, her eyes sad as she retreated.

For a second, Flynn thought of the cold press of metal on his back, but no. That wasn’t how this was going to go. It was time, Flynn buried his head to his chest and shot at his brother like a cannonball.

Flynn’s arm pulled around his neck, locking Gideon between his legs as the trapped man tore into his forearm, trying to release his windpipe. Flynn roared and crushed his throat. They fell to the floor, shaking the mirror on the wall.

Gideon lay in his arms, wheezing, gasping like a fish out of water, his mouth gaping large as he worked desperately to suck in air.

Kill him. KILL HIM!

Every part of Flynn’s body screamed in pain. Gideon struggled, the meager remnants of his oxygen burning away until Flynn felt his fight drain. He should kill him, he should.

It was the way.

Gideon deserved it.

Gideon was his brother. Raised in the same hell.

Flynn couldn’t be what they wanted him to be, what he had been trained and raised to be.

He couldn’t.

He wouldn’t be. Not for Gideon. Not for Lilly.

Flynn’s head cleared, showing him his brother for what he was — a child as brutalized and brainwashed as himself, an innocent dipped by the heel into the river of filth that was their father.

Flynn gave his neck a centimeter, and Gideon drew in a breath, his lips a dim hint of bluish purple.

He’d finally won. Finally beaten the unbeatable. The blood son, the favorite, the chosen. The broken. The damaged.

But, the real victory lay in Flynn’s choice to stop. To free himself from his father’s hold and the life that breathed in violence and spat out hate.

Flynn threw Gideon into the floor, releasing Gideon's neck and body as he himself crawled backward — away from the moment when he would have become what his father always wanted.

“Fuck,”
Flynn spat.

He struggled to his feet. Pure adrenaline had carried him through the scuffle with Gideon, but his body quickly reminded him his reserves were running on empty.

Gideon’s hands rubbed his throat as he stared at Flynn.

“Do you know about this stuff with these kids? The girls?” Flynn glared at his brother.

“What the fuck?” Gideon said, his eyes still wide, trying to catch a full breath, but he didn’t come back at Flynn.

“Do you know?”

“Know what? That he brings them here, gives them fucking jobs and maybe has some fun? Jesus, who the fuck cares?”

“No, the business, the
girls
. The young fucking girls.”

“Seventeen’s not young, man. Big fucking deal,” he rasped. “They just look young. In their blood. They wanna be here, begged to be here, their big chance to get out.”

Flynn squatted down to get to eye level with Gideon. “I’m not talking about the seventeen-year-olds. I’m talking about the fifteen-year-olds, the twelve-year-olds. The ten-year-olds.”

“What?”

“He lies to their parents, brings them over, rapes them, beats them, trains them as sex slaves. Then he sells them.”

“Fuck you… Fuck you, he does not,” Gideon spat, his brain working through all that he thought he knew. “Fuck you. He’s got a taste for ‘em looking a certain way. Fuck you. It’s not like that.”

Flynn could see in Gideon’s eyes that he really hadn't known.

“You’re going to fuck everything up like you always do. I wish you were never fucking born, you know that?”

“Yeah, I know that.”

Flynn turned to the stairs. He had something to do, and it wasn’t going to get done here.

“She died because of you! She hated you. Hated having to look at you every fucking day. Reminding her!” Gideon’s tortured voice tried to yell.

“I didn’t fucking ask for this!”

Flynn wanted to keep walking, but this had been coming for a long time.

“Why he took you in—” Gideon spat blood onto the floor. “You always fucked everything up. Fucked her up. Piece of shit bastard around for her to raise.”

“And whose fucking fault was that? Huh?
HIS!
He’s the fuck! He’s the one who plays with lives and fucks with heads! Fucker pitted us against each other since the moment he brought me here. Don’t you see that? He played you as much as me. He wants this—” Flynn flung his hand between them until his wrist cracked. “— wants us to hate each other. Who gets the power then? Huh? Not fucking us.”

“You’re the one with no fucking power.” Gideon’s eyes shot hate at Flynn.

“Don’t. He’s going to bring us all down. Lilly too. This can’t be our legacy, this can’t be — just think for yourself for one fucking second.” Flynn pointed to his head. “What are you getting set up for, huh? You think he gets caught with the girls, he’s the one going down? No fucking way, trust me. I’ve seen it. He’s got your name all over those files. He’s got you on video with some of them.”

“I never fucked any kids. They’re all over eighteen. I’ve seen their papers!”

“Really? Who gave you those papers? Them?”

Gideon stared hard at Flynn. “Video? What fucking video?”

“Of
you
. And some of the maids. He’s got your room bugged, and there’s video. He’d kill you just as fast as me. Don’t you doubt that for a second. He’d send you down to save himself without a moment of lost sleep. Why didn’t he kill me himself? Huh? Ever wonder?”

“You’ll never belong here.”

“I don’t want to fucking belong here!”

“Fuck off. I’m not telling you shit.”

“You want more. I know you do. I’ve seen it. You want the real success, the kind that brings us out in the open, that shows what you can do. Do this for yourself. This other shit, that sick shit, it’s going to bring everything down, everything we
could
be. You’re fucking smart. You put SPIN together, the whole business plan, not him. Don’t let him take that away from you. From Lilly. From the whole fucking family!”

Gideon sat in silence, still struggling for air, and then said, “I don’t know where he is. He was supposed to be back. I was supposed to go find you.”

“I’m right fucking here, bro.”

“Get out.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know, but if you don’t leave, I’ll do what he told me to do. Finish what I didn’t last night.”

“No, you won’t.”

Flynn dialed Lilly as he hit the stairs, leaving Gideon leaning against the wall, the blood from his nose soaking his shirt, one hand holding the front of his neck.

***

“Good, you’ve got your phone.”

“Yeah, it was ringing from my messenger bag, stuck inside that suitcase from the hotel.”

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. What about you?”

“I’m fucking fine, babe. Promise. Tying up loose ends.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means, you need to work and let me do what I need to do. No more fucking questions. I’m fine. You work, got it?”

Silence on the other end.

“Lilly, not fucking now. I don’t need any shit from you.”

Flynn felt an overwhelming exhaustion settling in as if it grew out of his bones. He knew she was pouting, but he didn’t have time for unnecessary drama right now.

“I dealt with Gideon. He’s not coming for me. You—” Flynn swallowed, turning the Bronco down toward the gym. “— you work until I come there for you. Keep this phone on you. Not in your fucking bag or on the damn desk. Shove it down your shirt if you have to, but keep it on you, got it?”

“Yes.”

“Good, now stay put until I come for you. No questions. I love you, Lilly. I’ll take care of you just like I promised.”

“I believe you. I love you.” Lilly gave him a crooked smile. “I trust you.”

He heard the words, but more, he felt that gift of trust that he’d longed for, and Flynn knew they’d finally come through the darkness.

“Good girl. Back to work, I’ll be there soon.”

Flynn wasn’t sure where he should be, but he knew where he was going.

The place that always knew him, the place where he felt most at home.

Flynn walked through the back doors at Southside, the immediate sound of grunts and punches washing over him like warm water.

He could even hear Roger screaming orders at someone and Flynn smiled.

What the fuck am I doing here? I need to find Colin, finish this.

He’d stuffed the black 9mm under the seat in the Bronco, the pull of it calling him, the adrenaline coursing within as he thought of ending his father’s life.

“Well, what the hell. You look like hammered shit,
still
.”

“Yeah, I feel worse.”

“No shit.”

“I’ll take it.”

“Take what?”

“The contract. If you’ll be my coach, I’ll take it.”

“Took you long enough. You’re fucking lucky; Simon was here earlier, said he’d be back tomorrow. Said if you didn’t sign, he was moving on. Saw you last night, too.”

“Yeah? Saw me get my ass kicked and almost die.”

“Yeah, that, too. But, you didn’t fucking die. And you were half fucking dead when you got in the damn ring. You’re the toughest son of a bitch I ever seen.
Stupid,
but tough. He saw that too. No fucking defense, but you gotta be half cat, cause you sure as shit got nine lives.”

“Yeah, something like that. I feel like shit, though, I gotta tell you.”