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“Fuckoff!”
A fist connects with the corner of my eye. Guess Jimmy doesn’t like my smart-ass remark. All it takes is one hit, and Link, the President of the Revels, is standing beside me, ready to square up.
I may be a cop, but being undercover, I am also a Revel. That means I am in their brotherhood. Having Link backing me in a fight shows that I’m gaining his trust.
We’re at the strip club to collect protection money from the owner of the bar. It’s funny the way it works in organized crime. The bad guys scare the business owners into thinking they need protection from other bad guys. The reality is, the only reason they need protection in the first place is because of the association to the organization that is protecting them. Don’t pay the Revels, then you owe the Revels. And if you owe them, then expect one of their rival gangs to come around and fuck up you and your place.
The owner shouts, spitting in my face. “You mother fucking prick.” He rears back, readying his fist to hit me again. “You come into my bar, and tell me to fuck off! The nerve of you! You’re all worthless scum.”
“Now, now, Jimmy.” Link clicks his tongue, and he blocks a blow meant for me. “What’s gotten your panties in a twist? You owe us three months of protection, so you don’t get to tell Colby here, to fuck off. You get to beg him not to take your hands as payment.”
“I’m fucking done with you people.” The owner spits and the glob of bloody saliva barely misses Link’s shoe. This guy certainly has a death wish.
“You’re not done until I say you are.” My finger rams into my chest. My head is throbbing, and blood is dripping from my temple. Fucker, really got me good, but someone needs to give this guy an out, or he’ll be at the bottom of the river before the day is out. I grab hold of Jimmy’s shirt collar, and his eyes bug out. Now, he realizes that his moment of bravery was truly a moment of stupidity. He’s also put me in a shitty spot. Beating up civilians isn’t what I want to do, but it’s what I have to do to stay in character.
But Jimmy isn’t done. He continues to put up a fight, shuffling and punching, biting and kicking. He even lands a few blows to my ribs. Fucking bastard, why not just pay up? It would have made my night so much easier.
Link is a sadistic fuck. He has me tie Jimmy to a chair, and he breaks a bottle over the bar. He digs the broken glass into Jimmy’s cheek like the deranged man he is. Flesh peels off and blood pours from his face as he screams. My ears ring at the high-pitch screaming, making my head spin. After seven years of police work, I’ve witnessed lots of violence–given out more than my fair share, too. This is something you’d think I’d be used to. It isn’t.
The sound of a man begging for his life through his screams of pain rattles me. I can’t fucking hear or think, and my moral compass takes a beating. Jimmy hasn’t done anything wrong in the eyes of the law. He’s refused to pay a corrupt man money, just for being a business owner in his territory. Now he gets a fucked up face for the rest of his life, and I just watched as Link did it.
“Colby.” Link turns to me. He’s panting, as if slicing a man’s face was his cardio for the day. “Take what’s in the register.”
So, we’re adding robbery to our list of crimes tonight. Cool.
I swallow down the sickening feeling and head behind the bar to take the cash.
“How much?” Link asks.
I shuffle through the bills, adding up the cash in my head. “Five k.”
“Great. We will be back next week for the other five. Better have it, Jim.”
Link shoves Jimmy off the chair, and he falls to the ground. His fucked up cheek hits the tile, and he lies there, still. “Let’s go, Colby.”
Link lights up a smoke as soon as we are outside. “Keep the cash.” He inhales a puff of smoke and coughs loudly. “Head home and clean yourself up. I’ll catch you tomorrow.”
“Thanks.” I shove the money into the storage hatch of my bike. Link stays to finish his cigarette, but I get the fuck out of here before he changes his mind, and sends me back to the barracks for some bullshit rookie job. No way.
It doesn’t take long for me to realize where I’m headed. It happens so naturally, and I don’t change paths. It’s late, but I need to be with Andi.
It’s been forever since I’ve seen her. Whenever work gets physical, I avoid her. I don’t want her to see the bruises. It’ll just worry her. I want the time we spend together to be meaningful.
But tonight, I need her, and I can’t stay away any longer. My entire body aches, and I crave her touch. I miss that sassy attitude, her voice, her smile, and the way she trails her fingers across my bare skin as we lay in bed together.
Tonight has been my roughest since I joined the MC, and I need her to ground me, to ease that ache in my chest.
