AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Like I said, your job is done, and you're no longer needed," Drew chides.
Everything after that happens too fast for me to understand.
But then, a loud bang blasts through the room, and pain bursts through my body.
I hit the ground, hard.
Drew's maniacal laughter is the last thing I hear before everything goes black.
Nyxon
Thisisfuckingridiculous.We pay enough people enough fucking money formeto have to be the one dealing with this shit. Yet here I am, ankle-deep in water that smells fucking horrible. I'm not a plumber. I have no fucking clue where this water came from or how and the hell this pipe burst. All I know is that it smells like mildew and the fact that it's touching me, makes me want to kill someone.
Like Quan.
Or Isabella.
That infuriating, sassy, argumentative woman. She is fucking lucky she's not mine because I would turn her ass red for the sheer fact that she never does what she is fucking told. I seriously thought she would have been happy to get to her place and take care of shit instead of sitting around here for fuck knows how long while I deal with this shit.
I could have sworn I heard angels singing in my head earlier when I finally convinced her to just get in the goddamned SUV with Raptor. For fucks sake. I don't understand what her problem was other than the fact that she'd rather be draped over her boyfriends instead of stuck with Raptor and Quan. I get it, they are dicks, but they are on our payroll and they do as they're told.
Of course, it's fucking Sunday, and getting a plumber out here has been a disaster. Gage isn't answering his phone, not that I expect he can do much of fucking anything when he's holed up with Gus. It's not like he can tell his psychotic father that he has to leave and take care of a problem at a business that we've done a hell of a lot to keep hidden from Augustus.
Stone's in Oakland taking care of tithes which already has me pissed the fuck off. He may have a few of Gus's lackeys with him, but I don't like it when we're separated like this. We always handle inner-city shit together. Too many lowlifes thinking they're hard, trying to get initiated into one of the rival gangs, and acting recklessly. It wouldn't be the first time someone tried to take out one of the infamous Los Diablos Four for bragging rights. Thinking that killing one of us is an immediate in with a lesser gang and who knows, it probably would be. Wouldn't save them though. If one of us was taken out, our brothers would raze the fucking world.
"Nyx? Where you at, motherfucker?" Maddox grunts as his feet pound across the floor, shaking the ceiling above me.Fuck.I hate basements.
"Downstairs," I call out. Trudging away from the affected pipe after taking a bunch of photos and videos to send to Stone for our insurance guy, I make my way back to the stairs. I've already turned off the main water supply for our building because I at least know that much about shit like this. But, that is the extent of my knowledge. Ask me to kill a man in 50 different ways, I can do it. Smuggle millions of dollars worth of guns or drugs across state lines? No big deal. Fuck, I even know how to torture a man within an inch of his life, only to keep him alive for days on end, not giving him the sweet relief of death.
But ask me to hang a shelf? Get fucked. Busted pipe? No chance.
None of us had parents to raise us properly or teach us household shit. My dad was a great fucking man but he was dead before I was a teen and the last few years of his life were spent wallowing in grief over his wife and daughter. When the hell would he have taught me basic life shit? We were raised in the seedy underbelly of the city. I know my fucking limits andthis right here;hard limit.
"What the fuck is going on?" Maddox grumbles as he leans on the doorframe to the basement, effectively blocking the only exit leading to fresh air. His face scrunches up as he takes in the foul smell coming from down here. Honestly, I don't even know if it's water or just the smell of an old-ass building that now has water damage.
"Move!" I bark, pushing him out of the way. I'm fucking over today. He rolls his eyes but moves, making his way back to the main bar area. "Pipe burst. Reef called me when he came in to do inventory this morning. Local plumbers are fully booked but I found a guy in Daly City that's on his way."
Experience-Ludovico
Maddox nods as he steps behind the bar and grabs a few bottles of water from the fridge. "Where's our girl?"
My brow furrows as I drop down onto one of the barstools and reach out to take the water he slides down the sleek countertop. "Your girl you mean?"
He scoffs and shoots me a look as though I'm a fucking idiot, which at this point, I'm already fucking aware. Doesn't mean I like anyone pointing that shit out. "If you're seriously still saying that shit then you're stupider than I thought, Nyx."
"The fuck does that mean?"
He stares at me for a moment, his face unreadable, before finally sighing and rolling out his shoulders, like he's about to fight me or some shit. "Brother, I love you. I do. But enough is fucking enough." I open my mouth to interject but the asshole throws a hand up, silencing me. "Nah, man. I gotta say this shit before you do something you're gonna regret for the rest of your life. You love her. We all see it. I think the only people who don't see it, are you and her. I know why you're punishing yourself, Nyxon, but this shit needs to stop before it's too late. You're pushing away something that has the potential to be the best thing that's ever happened to you and what's worse, is that not only are you hurting yourself by doing it, but you're hurting our girl, too."
His words give me pause as he echoes Stone's words from the other night. It's not like I didn't realize that she's been hurt over some of the shit I've said and done. Especially bringing that fucking chick home. I know that was a monumental fuck up on my part but I just, I needed to hurt her the way that I was hurting. It wasn't until I really let shit sink in that I realized that she hadn't actually hurt me, especially not on purpose. She did something for herself, to feel closer to me, and I threw it back in her face because her action fucking gutted me. But it wasn't her fault and yet, I took the opportunity to wreck her.
But her fire, the way she constantly fights back, I love it. She doesn't seem like a woman who's broken or hurting to me, so I keep doing it, wanting to see more of the little warrior inside of her. However, I would be a blind liar if I said I didn't see the way her eyes filled with tears at my words earlier today. I just don't know how to handle all of the things that she makes me feel when I've done so fucking much to make sure that I feel nothing.
Something else that he said grates on me and instead of digging deeper into myfeelingsfor Isabella and the way that I've hurt her, I choose to latch onto his words and hold onto the one emotion that I'm cool with; anger. "You don't know what the fuck you're talking about. The situation with Isabella hasnothingto do withthat,"I grit out.
Running a frustrated hand through his hair, he glares at me before deciding he's not done with me yet. "Bull fucking shit, Nyxon. This has everything to fucking do with them. Everything. Your mom and Carolina being kidnapped while you hid and watched destroyed you, man. We all know it and we don't fucking blame you for how you've reacted or how you've felt. But you were a kid, Nyx. You were 11 years old and your dad wasn't home and your mom told you to hide. She told you and Lina to hide but they came in before she could. She shoved you into that fucking closet, knowing that she had to protect you. They both wanted to protect you, brother and there is not a fucking thing you could have done for them. It's not your fault and you have to let it go so you can move on and heal. They are gone brother, but your life is still here and you are letting it pass you by."
Every single word out of his mouth enrages me more and more to the point that I am ready tofuckingkill him by the time he finishes. My fists are clenched so hard that I'm shaking and my teeth feel like they are going to crack from the force of my jaw. How fucking dare he speak of them? My face must look like I'm ready to reign down hell on him but Maddox being Maddox, he doesn't relent. He doesn't know when enough is enough and he has no fucking concern for his own safety.
