Page 6 of Requiem Of Him (Of Solace And Sin #1)

“If you want to keep your tongue, don’t mention my son to me ever again, Jameson. Are we clear?” I was tired of his incessant games every time we were in the same room, and he knew it.

“Crystal. But tell me something, yeah? You’ve known he was here all this time, didn’t you? You didn’t need me or Alessio to figure that out.” It isn’t meant as a question so much as an accusation.

In for a penny, in for a pound.

“I have always known exactly where he is, and who’s been watching over him, otherwise I wouldn’t have left him alone for as long as I have.

I made the choice not to interfere if he was safe and breathing, which you have seemed to manage over the years.

But the better question is how long have you known who I was and why keep it from him this long? ”

When he doesn’t answer immediately, I turn around to find him leaning against the marble counter, and he can’t seem to look at me.

It clicks. Jameson was never supposed to know anything about Levi that he hadn’t told him.

That he was never supposed to know about me.

I should have seen it coming, but it doesn’t dull the pain that lances through my chest. Nearly ten years was ample time to learn particulars about someone, and Jameson didn’t learn the slightest thing about who Levi was from Levi.

Levi didn’t want to remember, and I have to accept that.

“Don’t look at me like that, Cortland.” He snaps, his voice cracking like a whip.

“I’m not lookin’ at you any kinda way, kid.

For someone who knows him as well as I do, I’m sure you more than understand how he will react when he finds out.

And it won’t be me to tell him. I don’t need to.

But you’re sorely mistaken if you think he won’t put the pieces together eventually after seeing me here of all places.

He’s never been stupid, and if you’re betting that he’ll forgive you, you have another thing comin’. ”

I didn’t have the intention to provoke him, but it doesn’t surprise me when he tries to push me against the counter and get in my face.

I stifle the urge to laugh at the ridiculous notion that Jameson could overpower me, yet him trying makes me feel slightly better that it is him who has been in Levi’s corner all these years.

“Like you repeatedly coming into my club without your wedding band on and dangling yourself in front of him for the past few years? Did you think I wouldn’t figure out who you were after months of you coming in just to make eyes at my bartender? Hmm?”

“Your bartender, huh? Is that a fact?” A gruff, broken chuckle leaves my throat as I force him to back up, plastering him against the opposite counter before thinking better of it.

Something about hearing him reduce Levi just doesn’t fucking sit right with me.

His eyes widened slightly as if taking me in for the first time.

“Does he know that’s how you refer to him when he’s not around?

Like a piece of property, nothin’ more than a number on your payroll?

Or maybe he’s the family dog? Yeah, that sounds about right for your kind.

Tell me somethin’, Jamie, how long did it take you to rehabilitate such a reactive animal and turn him into a loyal beast?

Although, you didn’t train it all out of him, did you?

No, you weren’t capable of handling him properly, and that much is clear. ”

“You have a lot of nerve. You don’t know the first thing about me.” He snarls as he tries to push his way out of my hold.

“I don’t hear a denial. But hey, I understand wanting a return on your investment.” I empathize and pat his cheek a little harder than necessary to keep his focus. “Now be a good boy, and tell me where he went tonight.”

Stalking is a strong word. It felt like when Momma would say ‘hate’ is a strong word just to replace it with saying dislike, which never encompassed the same feeling.

I knew what I was doing was frowned upon, but stalking implied that the other person wouldn’t appreciate being watched.

This was the disillusion that led to me borrowing one of Alessio’s cars and finding myself at an illegal car meet where Levi would be the night I was supposed to be boarding my plane to go back to Louisiana.

I was so far out of my depth, but I wanted to put eyes on Levi before going home.

If this is what he replaced riding with, I wanted to see it. I needed to know.

The music pulses, ricocheting off the pavement and bouncing between the silos, seeking impact as the smell of burning rubber fills the air.

Swarms of bodies, an easy hundred, flock to two cars spinning dead center and locked on each other.

Girls hanging out of car windows as they whip across the pavement, tires squealing as loud as the girls were.

When Jameson said it wasn’t safe, he didn’t elaborate, but experiencing it is vastly different.

If either driver fucks up for even a split second, the wreckage would kill not only the drivers but the people flooded around them creating a pit.

One of the car models I recognize from seeing it on the road so often, whether a cop or civilian drove it, but the other I couldn’t even tell you the manufacturer name.

Both seamlessly switch into what looks like a floating figure eight.

Neither car spins out, and I cringe waiting for the impact of one or both, but it never comes.

They continue like that, leaving me in a daze until the rev of an engine that rivals the music snaps me back into focus, and I finally exit the car to work my way through the crowd.

The possibility of Levi seeing me hasn’t crossed my mind, but I know I would stick out like a sore thumb if I don’t at least attempt to blend in.

Although it wouldn’t have made a difference if I hadn’t gotten out of the damn car, yet here I was.

A sleek black Dodge Charger pulls up slower than I’m sure the driver intended, forcing the crowd to allow them into the circle that formed around the first two cars.

Without making everyone wait too much longer as the song switches over, a Nissan of some sort ushers everyone out of the way only for the circle to close again.

The driver in the Charger rolls his window and waits for the other driver to do the same.

Impatiently, the first driver drums his finger along the driver side mirror with an indignant smirk on his face, almost baring his teeth in frustration of being ignored.

After a moment, he gets out of the car and bangs on the window.

No one moves, the music doesn’t stop, and the window remains firmly in place.

Every onlooker in the growing crowd remains rooted in place, and tension fills the air. As the window rolls down, smoke bellows out, and I shake my head. Levi. Always such a fucking brat.

“Reigns, get out of the fucking car,” the guy bites out through gritted teeth.

My eyes sink closed, knowing the animosity is warranted if Levi had anything to do with it.

A fight is the last thing I accounted for, much less one that Levi would be involved in.

As much as I want to rip into this guy for even slightly posing a threat to Levi, I can’t.

Of course, Levi doesn’t help the situation when he intentionally flicks the butt of his cigarette at the guy, making him scramble to keep from getting burned, earning a few rakish laughs from the crowd that had gravitated to the two of them.

“I’m perfectly comfortable right where I am, Woods.

Why don’t you get back in your car, so you don’t hurt yourself, huh?

” From the angle where I stand, I can’t see his face, but I’d bet my bottom dollar that he is grinning.

I can make out the flare of Woods’ nostrils before he leans forward with his forearms resting on the roof of Levi’s car.

Woods lips are moving, a nasty snarl overtaking his features, and whatever he says pulls a visceral reaction from Levi.

The combination of the crowd and the music make it impossible to hear the conversation, but Levi snatches Woods up by his collar, yanking him through the window, and all hell breaks loose. Fucking kids.

Levi hasn’t seen me yet, and I should take this as an opportunity to split, but the idea of someone hurting Levi forces my body into action before I even realize what I’m doing.

It’s instinctive. It always has been. Before I even think it through, I’m pushing myself through the throng of overheated bodies to get to Levi.

By the time I reach Levi’s car, Woods is screaming, and I see a flash of silver.

It’s an ear-piercing yet guttural sound like a horse when they scream out in pain, a sound I am too familiar with.

I manage to pull Woods out of the driver’s side window by the back of his shirt before Levi can inflict any more damage, although I’m sure he deserves it.

He attempts to right himself with the momentum but still ends up splayed out on his back on the asphalt.

I would have thought he was only wincing from having the wind knocked out of him if it weren’t for the precise gash marring the right side of his face.

When I look up to check on Levi, there isn’t a scratch on him apart from his shirt being torn to shit.

“You better not let me get my hands on you, Reigns. You fucking fa—” I cut Woods off before he can finish spewing his vitriol toward Levi.

I grab his jaw, applying an unnecessary amount of pressure when he tries to jerk out of my hold, enough to make it unhinge until I feel the bones and ligaments pop.

“Son, I don’t suggest finishin’ that sentence if you don’t want to end up lookin’ like the Joker.

” I snarl, my spit landing on his bloody face.

Levi hadn’t been too far off from completely fucking this kid’s face up.

A deep almost gaping laceration about four inches long is bleeding profusely from the corner of his mouth.

Honestly, it looks exactly like he’d been caught in the mouth by a fishing hook and strung up to show off the catch of the day.

Levi snorts, “He really could smile more. Might make it easier to stomach dealing with him.”

“Shut the fuck up, Levi.” That mouth on him is exactly what got him into this, and it for damn sure is not doing us any favors now.

His eyes flare with unmistakable rage when I meet his gaze, but the way his lids become the slightest bit heavy and the miniscule change in his breathing, hitching at my brash tone tell a different story altogether.

He doesn’t miss a beat, though. “And why the hell are you here, Cortland? Couldn’t leave well enough alone, could you? I mean this is frankly just sad, you following me around like a lost puppy.”

A grunt escapes the kid when I release my hold on him and let him hit the ground again to give Levi my full attention.

Even with his shirt ruined, he still looks as unbothered as he always does.

He doesn’t ruffle easily, always so fucking steady that it would piss anyone off if they weren’t used to it.

Often it would make me angrier at a situation that was already sending my blood pressure through the roof.

He’s a port in the storm—a haven even when he thrived in the chaos.

He reveled in it, taking a mile for every inch you gave him without hesitation.

I take a moment to pull myself together as he exits his car, watching as he unfolds himself from its confines.

My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth as I take in the leather molding to the muscles of his legs all the way down to the combat boots laced up his ankles.

The ripped shirt leaves an endless road map of the tattoos littering his torso and chest on display.

Too many to be able to focus on only one, except the one that caught my attention earlier.

The blank space at his throat encased by intricate black ink on either side of the flawless pale skin that I want nothing more than to sink my teeth in.

Even a saint would have trouble keeping his hands to himself, and I’d bet money that Levi knew exactly what he did to men and women alike.

He was arresting to witness doing the simplest things, but seeing him in his element feels like striking a match and lighting a fire in my veins I had no hope of extinguishing.

The smugness as he caught me looking at him longer than I’d allowed myself to any other time we’d been in each other’s vicinity confirmed those thoughts. He knew and had no intention of ever making life easier on a single soul who became enraptured by him.

“Showing up in places you don’t belong is gonna get you sent back home in a pine box if you keep this up, cowboy.

When are you going to learn that you aren’t welcome here, hm?

” Levi warns as he leans back against his car without a care in the world for the fucker laying at his feet.

It should not shock me that he doesn’t have any qualms about threatening me or inflicting pain on someone without batting an eye, but it does.

I really don’t know him anymore–or maybe I do, and I chose to ignore it when it was never directed at me.

“You’re right. Handle it yourself.”

I don’t miss the way his face falls even if it’s just for a split second before he schools his features.

There’s no guilt when I walk away from him like I’d always imagined there would be, even though I’d been riddled with it for years on his behalf.

I wasn’t one to back down, especially when it came to him, but I find myself doing it for a second time.

Yet this time I don’t hesitate. The man standing in front of me is not who I’d been endangering my family for, sacrificing so many things for, but I might have to admit it wasn’t worth it, and I’m not ready for that version of reality.

The idea of Levi being anything other than the man I’d fallen in love with keeps my feet moving.

Even when he shouts at my back several things that might be true, but he’s shown his hand without realizing it—he still wants me here.