Page 34

Chapter 34

Bones

I pulled up outside The King’s Men , the building that put up a convincing front of being an old, English-style pub. What it really covered up was the majority of Nero’s dirty dealings. This was where he brought you when the casinos were no longer enough. I was ashamed to say it hadn’t taken me long to end up there. After only a few trips to the best casinos in the world, my brain already needed more. The greed inside me already had to have it all. I liked the dark and gritty flavors behind private gambling. Big stakes, powerful players, and I had loved every fucking minute of it.

Behind the doors, Nero had a betting shop. He had a constant poker game on the go, and I’d heard rumors about other seedier betting, too, such as dog- and cockfighting. I felt dirty even being at the bar again. My skin itched with it all, but I pushed past, knowing it was what I had to do, regardless. I might not like it. I might have never planned to, but none of that mattered now. Choices had to be made to save my father.

I pushed open the door, the scent of cheap whiskey quickly traveling up my nose. People turned to stare at me, but I refused to make eye contact with anyone. I wouldn’t be intimidated, and I wouldn’t be mocked. I was there for one thing only.

“I’m here to speak to Rodriguez,” I said to the guy behind the bar, ignoring the smirk that instantly spread across his cheeks. “I need to speak to him now.”

“Well, well, well,” the bartender said as he sneered back at me. “If it isn’t the high-and-mighty Mr. Vega. Nero has been expecting you.”

My heart surged with anger at this. I had told Nero to get the fuck out of my life and that I never wanted to see him again. How dare he expect me to come crawling back… even if that was exactly what I had done.

“Just get him,” I growled, but he didn’t have to because almost as if Nero could sense me, that smarmy fuck was in my face.

“Shocker,” Nero said. “How surprised I am to see you here. After all the shit you said to me.” He was trying to fuck with me, wanting to get a rise out of me. I had to bite down hard on my tongue not to give him exactly what he wanted. “And what can I do for you today, my friend?”

I drew a deep breath, forcing all of my rage to stay under wraps. This wasn’t the time to be hotheaded and do something stupid. Not when I was in the middle of doing the stupidest thing of my whole damn life.

“My dad is sick,” I said. “Again, and I need money for his treatment. The amount that I need is far more than I have.” I would lay it all out on the table, have him understand exactly what was going on.

Nero crossed his arms and smirked. “And I’m supposed to just help you out. Is that it?”

Clenching my jaw and forcing myself not to go and knock the asshole out, I spat, “Either you want to work something out with me, or you don’t. You know there is money on the table, but I don’t have time to fuck around either. Your call.”

“Come with me,” he said as he started heading to the back of the bar. “Let’s go where we can discuss this in private.”

My eyes flickered shut for a moment, and my brain gave me a hundred logical reasons of why I shouldn’t. But there was only one reason to carry on, and that reason was strong enough to have me follow him. One could say I was selling my soul to the Devil.

But my soul was already long gone.

Fighting to not lose my father was an obsession, something that had driven me for a long time, and I didn’t feel as if I could let go of hope for his survival. He was the last bit of glue holding me together, and I’d do anything to achieve keeping him alive.

We quickly headed into Nero’s crappy office, which was plastered with posters of half-naked women all over the walls. I used to think that this was him being bold, being brave and open with who he was, but now I thought it was childish, like the bedroom of a fifteen-year-old boy.

“So, I have been expecting you would eventually come around. I came up with a plan that I think will earn you the amount of money you need… plus my cut as well, of course.”

I sighed and gave him a small nod. I knew what this was going to be, and I was already aware I was not going to like it. We might as well get it over and done with.

“I want you to throw another fight.” Of course he did. “And this time, I want you to really drag it out. Make people sweat. Don’t make it as obvious as you did last time.”

Vomit began to fill the back of my throat as I realized I had returned to the same position I’d been in before, that I’d seemingly learned nothing over the past few years. Here I was, considering throwing another fight, only this time it would affect people I cared about, and I also had much more to lose.

If I did this, I screwed over Smiley’s , the entire management team who had been willing to give me a chance, and I would lose Ari, too. But if I didn’t do it, my dad would die… and that really was the end of the internal debate.

“Fine,” I said through a tight-lipped sneer. “Just give me the details.”

“I will let you know exactly how I want it to go down in Heathens Hollow. I don’t want the information to leak, so it’ll be at the very last minute.” I nodded stiffly, knowing the drill by that point. “But, as a gesture of good will because I can tell that you’re desperate, I’m going to give you twenty thousand dollars to get you started.”

Nero acted like he was being caring and considerate, that he actually gave a shit, but what he was really doing was reeling me in. Once I had this money, I was basically his. I’d have no choice to do as he asked.

“Thank you,” I muttered as he pushed the rolls of cash he’d pulled from a safe behind him between my fingers.

My heart thumped. I felt ill with guilt. I was trying to focus on the fact that I could get the medication needed for my father. I could get Dad started on the treatment needed right away and not waste another moment.

“You have been on a good winning streak,” Nero said. “The fans are beginning to trust you again. They won’t be expecting you to do anything risky to blow it. Maybe just try and be a little more discreet this time. If we can avoid a media shit storm, maybe this will be something that we can do on a regular basis.”

No fucking way.

“Sure,” I murmured.

“Okay, well, I’ll be in touch soon.” Nero stood up, much to my relief effectively ending our conversation. “Thank you for coming around. It’s an honor doing business with you again, bro. Want to join in on a quick poker game before you leave?”

“I’m good,” I snapped as I left the office wanting to punch my fist through the wall.

When I was back in the front of the bar, I bought myself a drink, needing something to steady my nerves. I still didn’t look at anyone. I refused to make any kind of connection. I drank the whiskey back, just trying to cool all the fury down inside me. But I abandoned the second drink laid before me when I realized getting drunk would only serve to make things worse. I guess I didn’t need to add booze to my problems. I didn’t want to completely end up in a hole I couldn’t get out of again. If I was going to do this, I needed to do it much better than before and try not to get caught.

As I stepped back into my car, a heavy lead weight sitting firmly on my chest made it incredibly difficult to breathe. I’d done the only thing I could do, and I understood my reasoning, but it sure did feel like shit. I’d failed, fallen back into the fucking abyss, and it felt terrible.

I drove much slower home, suddenly feeling the full effects of my shitty life. Maybe Dad would be grateful for the treatment. Maybe he would realize he was wrong in all of those things he had said to me. But I would still have to face the disappointment in his eyes. He would still give me that look. I’d take it, however. I was willing to be the bad guy to save his life. But it was still going to suck.

And then, of course, there was Lotto. Ari. Even Frankie.

They were all going to fucking hate me when they found out what I had done. When I all of a sudden lost the match, they would know why. They’d know it was my fault, and all planned.

Fuck. I didn’t want any of this at all, but then again it was what I’d signed up for. I was going to be throwing it all back in their faces when I went along with this, and I did it anyway. Now that I had twenty thousand dollars in my pocket, it was too late to start regretting what I had done.

How would I explain this to them when they would blatantly ask me outright why I’d done this to them? What would I do when they looked at me with sadness in their eyes, demanding me to explain why I’d decided to throw it all away? Each one of them would hate me forever.

I would hate me forever.

As I pulled the car along the street to my house, Ari’s car was in the driveway, which could only mean one thing.

Dad had already contacted her to tell her about my plan. If she already knew, that put a dagger in the works. She would do whatever she could to stop me, maybe even pulling me from the fight beforehand.

Nero was going to fucking kill me.

I stepped toward the door, a mixture of fear and anger coursing through me. I wasn’t expecting to have to immediately face what I was doing, and I was really not in the mood to have to justify myself. Not now, and not to people who weren’t going to want to hear it or understand. It was going to fucking suck.

“Dad?” I called out quietly as I walked through the door. “Dad, are you here?”

But it wasn’t him who came to greet me at the door. It was Ari. And from her tear-stained face, I could already tell I needed to panic. Not only did she know about me and what I had done, it clearly upset the hell out of her, which killed me.

I gulped down a massive ball of emotion, knowing there was no way this was going to end well.

“Where’s my dad?” I asked, needing a distraction, not wanting to face the reasons she was standing in my living room. “I need to talk to him.”

She shook her head sadly, looking like she was about to cry all over again. “He isn’t here. He’s gone.”

Gone?

What the fuck did she mean gone? I scanned her face, trying to find meaning there, trying to work out what was going on. But she stared blankly at me, giving me nothing.