Page 100 of Bronx

“Did he order the hit on my father?” I ask.

Lev closes his eyes before he can answer. He’s losing a lot of blood.

“I’m going to need a doctor if you want anything else from me. I’m going to pass out soon from the blood loss.”

“Who gave the order?” I ask again, not really caring if he dies or not. His story about trying to help me may be true, but he still played a major part in kidnapping me in the first place.

“Where’s my sister?” He asks again, his voice is starting to fade.

“She’s with me.”

“What does that mean, with you?”

“It means exactly what you think it means,” I taunt.

“Leave Karma out of this, please. She’s been through enough. She’s an innocent.”

“And so am I!”

“You and I can never be innocent. Look who our fathers are.”

“My father is a businessman, and yours was a low level hitman for The Consortium. They don’t compare.”

“Tell her I’m dead. She’ll be better off. Don’t bring her into this.”

“You brought her into this when you gave her my name and number as some sort of lifeline. And what’s with all that bullshit you told her about working for the government? You talk about protecting her after all that she’s been through when you’ve been lying to her for years. What kind of brother does that? Her ignorance of who you really are may be the very thing that puts her in harm’s way.”

“I need a hospital.”

“There’s one about forty minutes away with Karma’s ex-boyfriend inside. The boyfriend who’s been beating her ass on your watch.”

His eyes close in sorrow.

“Is that true?”

“I wouldn’t make something like that up, and by the way, he’s in there because of me. You’re welcome.”

“Our conversation meant nothing. You are exactly like your father, aren’t you?”

“Thank fuck that I am,” I snap back.

“I’ve lied about a lot of things over my lifetime, soldiers are taught to lie well, but this is the one thing that is true. We’d be watching you for weeks. I knew you were just a college kid who had nothing to do with our life. I didn’t think it was a smart idea to grab you, but Anton was trying to get your father’s attention. In the end, I really did try to help you.”

“So you’re some kind of a gangster with a heart? Fuck you.”

I shove my boot into his thigh, and grind the heel into his wound as he lets out a pained grunt.

“I took orders back then. It was all I ever knew. Really, I was just a scared kid.”

“And so was I, slumped against a tree, bleeding from my neck, wondering if I’d make to the next morning. Kind of how you’re bleeding out right now, except no one’s coming for you, like they did for me.”

Suddenly, we both turn our heads when we hear the latch on the door unexpectedly click open.

“Bronx?”

34

Bronx