Page 8 of This Blood That Breaks Us

“No, sir. I’m here for your aide.”

“Oh, so if I ask you to go get me another drink, you will?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Go do that. Surprise me.”

I smiled as he sauntered off toward the bar. Hell wouldn’t be all that terrible.

A bell rang out, then the horses were off. Only, all but four had been let out a second or two late. Number twenty led the pack before slowing to a halt when his jockey fell off his back and into the dirt.

My lackey was already back with my drink, and I sipped it as the horses took the curve.

The whole place grew silent. There was big money on the line here. I scanned the crowd for the richest-looking one. I could break their arms outside until they gave me the amount I needed, but instead, I watched the race with confident assurance in Luke.

I didn’t know how he did it, but Luke always got his jobs done.

Of the three left in the lead, two led: thirteen and one. My heartbeat drummed faster watching them. Thirteen took the lead at first but slowed as they neared the finish line.

Then without warning, twenty-four barreled through them and passed the finish line.

How the fuck?

I left the stand in search of Luke and waded through the thick cigarette smoke. He was waiting for me at the end of the steps with his hands in his pockets, looking pleased with himself.

“How the fuck did you do that?”

“While you served our distraction, I got everything in order for number twenty, but then I found the showrunner here. His name is Jerry. He’s got two grandkids he adores. I talked with him while I had someone set up the stalls with the delay. No one noticed anything.”

“You’re shitting me.”

“Nope.”

“You amaze me, brother. But how did your horse beat mine?”

“That was luck. I couldn’t rig just our horses to run, so I had to take a chance.”

Luke’s personable skills were scary. He was magnetic to luck and success. That bothered most people. Some asked me growing up if I ever hated being in Luke’s shadow. Those people didn’t understand it and probably never would. Luke wasn’t my competition. He may have had skills I didn’t, but he liked to share. He shared all that he had. His happiness and luck belonged to everyone around him. Standing in his shadow was the closest I’d been to happiness.

We collected our money and strolled shoulder to shoulder back to Ezra and the others.

“Well, boys, how’s the pot?”

Luke laid down a pile of money that made Liam smile. Ezra did too.

“Guess I better stop calling you boy.” He stood up, ushering us closer. “What do you think? Like it here?”

“I think you should be careful how you speak to me.” Sometimes, I couldn’t stop the words from coming from my mouth.

“Is that so?” His eyes locked with mine, then he leaned back in a roaring laugh. “I like you.”

He pulled us into an awkward half-hug. Luke and I furrowed our brows at each other.

“We’re all going to get along just fine. We’re practically family now.”

What the actual fuck?

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