Page 5 of Rough Diamonds

Damion: That’s the plan, as soon as we fully take over!

Sylus: I’ll be over soon. I had to make a drop!

Treven: Ok, everything is ready!

I put my phone away and say nothing, I can’t. I don’t want to raise my voice, she already gets enough of that at home, I don’t want to add to it. I want to be her safe place. As I drive, I rub her thigh just so she knows I’m here. When we pull up to my house and get out of the truck, we go around the back to the side door. The whole downstairs is mine, the guys have their own space but mine is more accessible at the moment. When we walk inside, we notice the guys have sleeping bags out, snacks, drinks and pizza on the table. The projector is playing some kind of rom-com, probably in hopes of helping Evie.

“Princess.” Treven comes running up and laces his hands around her waist, lifting her up. The others come and stand around us. We all dwarf Evie, and she looks truly small and fragile in the light. She’s almost translucent, like no one has fed her in days. She looks up into Treven's eyes. His lips press into a straight line, waiting for her to speak. The whole room goes quiet. She tries to talk, but her voice is so small, we have to really focus to be able to hear her. He puts her down and wraps her up in her favorite blanket; we keep it stored for when she’s here. She cocoons herself in it and sighs. It’s like this is the first time she is able to relax, let her shoulders down and stop being so on edge.

We all find a place to sit around her. We have to talk about everything, whether she likes it or not. “Evie, what’s going on? Who did this to you?” I all but choke out. I’m so pissed off, but I don’t want to show her any kind of anger. I know Evie, that will just cause her to close herself off to us. Treven gives her a kiss and slides over her favorite pizza, cheese and bacon. She looks up and tries to smile, but whimpers ever so slightly, like the act alone hurts her. She’s trying to hold in that pain. I curl my hand into a fist. “Baby, please, who did this?” I need her to tell me. She won’t admit it, she never does, but we all know who it is. Her big brown eyes look up into mine. Her lashes flutter as a tear flows down her cheek. “You have to trust us. Please,” I beg her. Instead of answering me immediately, she tries to take a bite of the pizza and winces as she swallows. “He did it,” she finally admits, and I swear you could hear a pin drop.

Treven

Present Day

I walk into our main office. We have a penthouse up top and a special basement below, for those we need to persuade or for those who have done us wrong. The windows are floor to ceiling, and we can see the city below us. All the chaos during the day and the flashing lights at night. This, this is home. There is no other place in the world I would be able to call home. Have I traveled? Of course, but there’s nothing like our city. We have a huge table in the middle of the room. Black leather chairs surround it with black couches scattered around. We have a giant flat screen TV on the wall. And of course we have a bar, complete with anything you can think of, to make whatever drink you’d like.

I take a seat in one of the oversized loved seats, crossing my legs. I clasp my hands together and sigh, waiting for the others to arrive. This better be good. There’s always something going on, things need to be done, people needing to be handled, businesses to run. We all have our roles to play. In this life, it’s about who you know and what you can do. One slip up and everything can come crashing down. I hear some arguing and laughing before the doors snap open. “Shit, be careful with that,” I say. “Ahh, Treven, don’t worry so much. If it breaks I’ll just buy a new one.” Sylus grins. That smug bastard. He shrugs and walks over to the bar. He’s wearing a tight black tee and ripped pants. I’m guessing he’s been out on the streets. Not my thing. I can’t stand half of those people. I would just pull out my gun and shoot them. But Sylus has a knack for wheeling and dealing. He gets what he wants and they get to live, ok, usually. I can’t make any promises.

Everyone else shows up behind him. Emmit's pacing, and Marcus goes behind the bar grabbing a bottle of the finest whisky he can find. His knuckles are torn up, blood still oozing out of the cuts. I better take a look at that. “Ok, we have a little problem,” Damion says, slamming his fist into the table; it’s so old, he cracked it. “Great there goes another one,” I humph. “What Treven, do you have a problem?” Damion rubs his jaw. His shirt has blood splattered on it and he smells like burnt flesh. “You just broke our fuckin’ table.” I’m sick of these guys breaking everything. Yes, we are very well off, more money than I know what to do with. But, that doesn’t mean we have to go around breaking shit. “We have a problem in the size of 5'2”, and reeks of rebellion and independence.” The room goes quiet, we know exactly who he is talking about, even without him saying her name.

The one who broke our black, broken hearts. No one has seen or heard from Evie in years. Shit got bad, real bad, and then poof, it was like she no longer existed. Marcus breaks his crystal glass, the shards go flying everywhere, but no one moves. All we ever wanted was to save her, to take her away from that so-called “home” of hers. She ran without saying a word, leaving no trace. How do we ever get over that? We don't, we each drown ourselves in our own vices. Work, pussy, weed, alcohol. We do what we can to numb the pain of the unknown and the what if. Maybe we should have been harder on Evie, maybe we should have done more.

“What about her?” I finally ask, taking myself out of that train of thought. “I had a guy who has been running his mouth, so I decided to pull him in for a couple of questions.” He pauses to take a breath, then looks around the room and shakes his head. “He said that they are looking for her.” Damion slams the table again and pulls his hair. “As much as I know how angry we all are at her, we can’t let him get to her. We need to find her first.” Damion exhales, I think he’s about to give himself a heart attack. He has always made everything his problem, even when it’s not, but I guess that’s what happens when you take on this kind of life. I swear the veins are bulging out of his neck. “Treven, can you run surveillance and see if we have her on any CCTV? Also look and see if she’s working for any companies that we own. I mean, it shouldn’t be hard if she’s already in our territory.” I nod at his words, and grab my tablet, after a few taps, I’m putting filters through the system. “We’ll find her,” is all I say, before Marcus storms out like he’s about to kill everyone in sight.

Marcus

Present Day

I jump into the elevator as fast as I can, heading down to the gym. I rub my thumb over my torn up knuckles, then crack them. I try to wiggle each finger and get some sense of calm, but all I want to do is punch someone in the throat. How dare she come back into our fuckin’ territory! She left us, she's the one that ran. My long hair flows over my shoulders tickling my neck. I use the sensation to ground myself. I desperately need to stay here, stay present and not escape to the past. I turn and punch the glass, letting the vibration surge through my body. The door to the elevator dings, leaving me just outside the gym. I walk out like nothing happened, someone else can fix that mess. Pushing through the gym doors, the smell of sweat and blood already has my shoulders dropping. This is my area and it brings me calm, my home, my sense of self. When your parents abandon you on purpose at a young age to live off the streets, you learn quickly how to play dirty. My father works with Damions’. He’s a fuckin bastard, but I love fighting, it's what I do.

I crack my neck, needing to fuck some shit up. The mention of her has me raging. It’s been too long since I’ve seen her. I wanted to completely control her life. She should have had a tracker and we should have put a watch on her at all times. There is so much I wish I would have done, but I respected Evie enough to back off and let her handle things when she told us she could. We all did, and for her to turn around and leave, it crushed my fuckin soul. I never knew what love was. No one ever showed me that kind of affection, but Evie. She was different. She tamed me in the best way. When she was around, my mind would clear and everything else around me no longer mattered. She fuckin’ shattered that. Tore my heart out while she spat and stomped on it. I’ll save her, but that’s as far as it will go. I won’t let her get that close again. I need to keep my heart guarded. I have too much shit riding on me anyway.

The fights are starting up. I need to collect my money and get the cages ready. I decide to wrap my hands only, my knuckles keep bleeding before I even hit the mats. I prefer to spar with a partner, but I can manage without one. Turning up the music, it blares through the speakers, I step to the side and go over stretches. I get lost in the workout. Trying my best not to think of her. Fuckin’ Evie.

Marcus

14 years ago

“Come on Evie it will be fun,” I say, pulling her gently by the arm. Her hair flows around her face, as the sun shines behind her, giving her the glow of an angel. My angel. “I want you to be able to fight. You need to be able to defend yourself if me or one of the guys aren’t able to be there.” I take her hand in mine and bring it up to my lips. “Angel, you need to do this for you. You will feel so much better about yourself,” I try to persuade her. “Fine,” she says on an exhale. “We will teach you everything we know. You're our girl and we will never let anything happen to you.” I take a strand of hair, tuck it behind her ear, and tilt up her chin. “Take back your strength, Evie.”

She shakes just a little. “You know we will kill him,” I whisper. Her skin forms goosebumps as I glide my fingers up her arms. “Angel, you deserve everything good in this world. You don’t deserve the cards that life has dealt you, but we will do all we can to make it the best from now on.” With that, I place a single kiss on her lips. “Let’s go change into some training clothes.” I swat her ass as she turns to the lockers. She blushes and I let her go change. I don’t think I’ll ever let Evie go; she haunts me awake and asleep. She's my angel of light and my angel of darkness.

Evie

Present day

I make a call, checking on Lizzy. “Hey Suzzie, how did the pick up go?” I ask over the phone. Jumping back onto the bus, I look around to find a seat. The smell of urine and stale beer gradually hits me. Good thing I don’t have far to go. I slide the coins into the slot and nod my thanks to the driver. There’s an older lady clutching her bags, her mouth in a straight line, staring out the window. I look over to see a guy with headphones on, rocking his head to the beat. Another man sits in the back, wearing jeans and a tee shirt, with a leather jacket and black stomper boots completing his outfit. I look at his hands and find the DM emblem on his right hand. Shit. “Evie… I was trying to tell you that Lizzy is doing her homework now. Do you want to talk to her?” Her voice brings me out of my momentary shock. “I’m sorry Suzzie. No, it's fine. Please make sure she brushes her teeth. I’ll text you later. I will likely need you tomorrow also.”

I go ahead and drop down into a seat, my free hand gripping my thigh. I can’t let him see me. I try to stay away from any DM’s, but by his tattoo I know he’s close to my boys, or should I say my men. I internally laugh, I know they hate me. Fuck, I hate myself at times. “Tell her I love her, I'll call tomorrow.” “No problem, Evie, make sure you take care of yourself.” Sweet Suzzie, I am so blessed I found her on a whim. I will forever be indebted to her. She takes such good care of Lizzy. I say my goodbyes and hang up, sliding my phone into my back pocket. I lean over to pull the string for my stop. As I get up, I notice the man slowly gets up too. It has to be a coincidence, right? Luckily, I can hold my own ground. I lift up my chin and wait at the back doors. As soon as I hear the tires screeching to a halt, the bus driver pulls the bar. I nod my thanks to the driver and go on my way.

The graffiti litters the buildings over here. There’s no doubt in my mind I’m in my Demon Boys territory. I wouldn’t have it any other way. If only I had the lady balls to find them. I mean I could, but what would I even say? I’m sorry, I was scared, I wanted to save your lives? Plus I just can’t risk it. My high pony swings from side to side as I make my way up the stoop. Reaching the top of the steps, I see the door’s ajar, and a cloud of smoke blows in my face. ‘So much for state of the art security,’ I laugh, and push the door open a little more to slide through. I turn to look over my shoulder and find that guy from the bus still hanging at my back, but far enough away that it looks like he’s doing something. Fuckin’ weird. It’s giving me goosebumps, not from being scared, but from the thought of something more happening. If he even gets too close, I’ll just cut off his balls. Pulling out the keys for my door, I notice the guy doesn't follow me. Too bad.

I run in and lock the door, I might be able to defend myself but time is of the essence. Standing in front of the mirror, I let my hair down loose, falling over my shoulders. I exchange my boots for heels, to glam up my outfit. Putting on my lipstick, using the brand MAC in Color D for danger, I smack my lips and pout. Not too shabby. I guess I clean up pretty well. I glide my hands over my body. Walking back out of my apartment, I turn to lock up. My hips swing as I walk away from my apartment. “Hopefully tonight’s the night,” I say out loud. I always do, manifesting things into existence. What you put out is what you get back. At least that’s what I believe in, and I really feel like it’s my turn to receive something good.

The air chills my skin. I look up into the night sky. The stars are covered from all the light pollution, but I still know that they’re there. I close my eyes for a second and make a wish, “To new beginnings.” Then I turn on my heels to head back to the bus stop. I notice there’s a guy sitting on a step right beside it. “Are you from this area?” I ask casually. “You can say something like that.” He tucks his hands into his pockets. Yeah, I’m not good at small talk either. The bus approaches, going over the curb, nearly taking us out. “Hey Jim, how’s your night?” I ask the driver. I know most of them by now. I mean this is the way I usually get around town, or walking. Could I take a taxi or an Uber? I mean, yeah I could. But what’s the point of that, I don’t have the extra money to spend on luxuries. Every penny I make goes into taking care of us. I was never blessed with having a lot of money. I grew up poor and even when my stepdad made money doing what he does, he never put any into me. I still had to wear secondhand clothes, had to beg for food, and most of the time, the guys fed me. I lived on the streets, this was my home. At a young age, I knew how to move around, how to make money, and I knew where I could spend the money.

I drop my phone by accident as I’m getting on. “Don’t lose this.” The guy turns to hand it to me. “Thank you,” I say quietly, moving on to find a seat. After twenty minutes, I pull the cord to stop. The sign of my destination lights up so bright, it’s even shining into the bus. Kitties and Treats, don’t let the name fool you. I nod once again, as I always do, saying my thanks as the back door opens. The smell of money and regret makes me feel quite at home. I walk up to Gio as he undoes the red velvet rope. Gio is older than me, with a shaved head and a few tattoos. I notice he has a DM emblem. Fuck, have I always been blind? I nod my head. Gio knows me, so he nods back, then towards the door. “Hurry up, Jen is looking for you.” “Thanks Gio,” I say, gripping his bicep real fast.