AllFreeNovel
Share Us
TWENTY-THREE
‘1000 ROUNDS’ POUYA
Gio
Iwatch Luce take his mother to another room, whispering softly in her ear as Lexi stands in the hall, her eyes looking sad as she wipes tears away. I don’t know what’s going on there, but the heavy wet breathing of Pink has my full attention right now.
“Who was the man?” I growl at Pink as I lift him from the floor, not giving two shits that he’s bleeding out.
He smiles, his teeth coated in blood, and there’s something oddly familiar about it, but I can’t pinpoint what.
“That was my dad, brother.” He spits a glob of blood and saliva in my face, the disgusting fluid hitting my cheekbone, but I don’t let it stop me from headbutting the asshole. I slam him to the wall, his eyes rolling back from his now broken nose.
“Who the fuck was he!?” I shout in his face.
He coughs up blood, speckles of it hitting my face, “My father.”
I shake my head at his words, what the fuck does his dad have anything to do with Alan?
“Earlier, you said you came here to give me what I wanted,” I shake him awake when his breathing becomes shallow, “what did you mean?”
“You got…a…surprise coming, brotherrrr.” His eyes stay locked on mine as his life gives up its fight, his pupils dilating with his last exhale.
“FUCK!” I slam his dead body against the wall before dropping him. I got nothing from the motherfucker. Not one shred of information.
Who is his father? All we’ve ever known about Pink was that he was basically an orphan since his mom died and his father abandoned him. Of course, we know that’s all bullshit now, but how does his dad tie into all this?
“Gio?” Lexi’s small voice pulls me from my thoughts, “Are you okay?”
I wrap my arms around her, mindful of the blood I have on my face, “I’m good, baby.”
I hold her for a minute as she softly sobs into my chest, and all I want to do is take all this shit away, give her a clean life she damn well deserves. Fuck, maybe that’s what we should do, get out of this lifestyle and just live normal lives. We have the money for it, but to be honest, this is a lifestyle I never really cared to leave. I have everything I’ve ever wanted and leaving wouldn’t be so easy for me to do, but for her, I’d try my best.
I spot the cops coming into the house, the one at the front is a well known officer for the Renzetti’s.
He gives me a tight nod, “I’m sorry, sir, ma’am, I’m going to have to ask you to remove yourselves from the crime scene. We have CSI and homicide on route, and we’d like to leave everything undisturbed.”
“C’mon,” I tell Lexi, ushering her out of the room and out to the living room where Lucinda sits and answers questions for the police. Luce stands stoically at her side, his hand on her shoulder as he stares down the same officer who arrested him three and a half years ago, Detective Julio Velasquez.
“He must’ve thought I was home alone and came in through the side door. This neighborhood has been infested with home invasions lately, and no one has done a thing about it. I'm just thankful my boys and their girl were here,” she dabs her eyes, “I don’t even want to imagine what would have happened if they hadn’t been.”
“And you said you’ve never seen the man before?” The detective asks her.
“Never in my life.”
That’s the thing about moms, they never rat.
“Okay, thank you Mrs. Rametta, we’ll have your home empty by the end of the day, and I’m sure your boys will have the place fresh and new in no time.”
Lucinda stands, patting the detective on the arm, “Thank you, Julio, give your wife all my love.”
That’s her not so little reminder that we’re very close to his family, and anything coming back on hers will befall his even worse. You see, Lucinda may look like the sweetest woman on the planet, and she is, but when it comes to her family…there’s not a law she won’t break and not a person she won’t kill to protect what’s hers. Thankfully, she doesn’t have to worry about that because Luce and I will always be the Hooligans at her side, whether we’re in the game or not.
Luce shakes the detective’s hand, albeit a little too aggressively considering he hates the man, before helping his mother into her jacket and out the door. Lexi and I follow them, but as soon as we’re on the porch, she pulls me to a stop.
“I think I need to get away for a little bit, Gio. Let Luce calm down before having to be in the same apartment as me.”
I feel my brows furrow as I toss my head back in surprise.
