Ajax- Prequel

by L Loryn

  “The dad owns a private escort club which is a front business for the rest of everything else. This. This place here is a glorified whore house.”

  “So? People can do their lives. I don’t see the problem.”

  “The problem is someone related to ol’ man Cromwell’s biggest competitor is here tonight, and Cromwell is paying Brody to make a hit.”

  “Brody can’t do it?”

  “Brody found the guy, but his bitch-ass is chickening out. It’s his first hit, apparently.”

  “What’s he been doing up until this point?”

  “Heists, I guess. Or simple B&Es.”

  “I guess. So, what is your plan?”

  “Still thinking. Brody said they’re offering ten grand more if we can abduct the person and hand them over instead of kill them on the spot.”

  “This is a job for Raine.”

  “It is, but right now we’re doing it, so deal.”

  “You’re doing it. I’m no part of this.”

  “You want to live in the house, don’t you?” Chris’ dark eyes turned frigid, and he swiveled his attention to Ajax.

  “We’re doing this now.” Ajax grimaced. “Fine. Find him, say your girl is interested in doing a three-way and get a room. I’ll be waiting inside the room.” Ajax stepped away from Chris. “Where’s Brody?”

  “Fuck if I know.”

  Ajax sighed, rubbing his temples. “Whatever. Message me with the room number and keep me updated on your progress. I’m going to go find Brody.” He pecked Chris’ cheek and moved through the crowd, dark eyes surveying each person. He knew Brody: his build, his style, the heavy, straight hair on his head. He combed the main room, weeding through small collections of people as he made his way to the entrance and out of it, glancing towards the full parking lot.

  Smokers mingled at the door, enjoying their coruscated cigarettes in the inky night. Ajax approached them.

  “Hey. Can I bum one?” He rumbled, meeting the eyes of a slender female with white-blond hair.

  “Sure. You need a light, too?” She handed him a cigarette and fished her lighter out of her bra.

  “Yeah, thanks.” He put the cigarette to his lips as she lit it for him, and he squinted at the bright orange cherry. He inhaled a long drag and exhaled. “Thanks.” He found his own secluded spot on the wall, leaning against it. He folded one arm over his chest and propped his elbow over it. He closed his eyes after his second drag and dropped his head back against the wall, blowing smoke into the dark sky.

  His mind wandered back to the boy, his achingly green eyes, and the youthful innocence of their interaction. He replayed the boy’s voice, his sing-song laughter coloring every word from his lips. Chris wasn’t capable of such a lightness, but Ajax craved it. He craved a life beyond killing for a living, a life where reading in an armchair in front of the fireplace after a hard day’s work was the reality. The boy reminded him of such a life. Those thoughts lifted the corners of his lips into a smile.

  He enjoyed drag after drag of the cigarette, letting the hot smoke and sharp menthol burn his throat.

  “AJ? Cee didn’t tell me you were here, too.”

  “Brody.” Ajax cracked his eyes open and turned his head. “I was looking for you.” The long slender beak of Brody’s mask brushed Ajax’s shoulder.

  “Really?” Surprise colored his tone.

  “Yeah. Cee told me about the job. Why’d you take it if you couldn’t handle it?”

  “I don’t know. I thought I could. I mean you guys do. Raine does. Hell, even Trav has taken a few rough jobs before.”

  “You shouldn’t try to be like everyone else. It’s okay if you never take hard jobs, you know.” Ajax flicked the ash from his cigarette. “What are you doing next week?”

  “Don’t know.” Brody’s frail shoulders shrugged up to his ears.

  “I was going to go by Trav’s and crash for a few days. You should join us if you’re not busy.”

  “Really?” Brody blinked, brown eyes peeping up to Ajax’s face.

  “Yeah, really.”

  His surprised expression changed to a relieved smile. “Cool. Should I bring something? Like snacks?”

  Ajax smirked. “No, just yourself is all.”

  “Right on. So, uh, you helping with the job?”

  “Yeah. What was your plan to get the mark alone?”

  “I didn’t think about it. I’m not good with making up stories. I wanted to seem friendly, but I don’t think I was, and I didn’t want to start following the guy all around the club.”

  “Right. Thinking on your feet was always hard for you. I’m not saying you’re dumb, I just mean being able to improvise doesn’t come naturally for everyone. Not even sure if effortless lying should come easily for everyone.”

  “It’s easy for Cee.” Brody frowned, fixing his gaze on his worn loafers.

  “Sort of. He no longer knows the truth from his own stories.” Ajax grinned. “You want to know the secret to thinking on your feet?”

  “Yeah. Please.”

  “Overhearing other people’s conversations and remembering the details. The more input you have, the easier the output is. It’s hard making stuff up. It’s easy to repeat something you’ve already heard because it's more credible. Think about it.”

  “Hm.”

  “Let me finish this, and we can find Chris.” Ajax wagged his cigarette.

  Brody shuddered.

  Ajax lost himself in his own thoughts again as the other man leaned against the wall beside him, shoulders brushing against each other. He sensed Brody’s growing anxiety and felt his muscles twitch under his olive skin. “You’re scared of Chris?”

  “No. A little cold.”

  “All right.” He tossed the cigarette from his fingers, stepping on it with the heel of his boots and grinding it into the ground as he dug his phone out of his pocket. Ajax reviewed a series of annoyed messages. He swiped through them with a sigh. “He’s got your mark already.”

  “Okay.” Brody’s voice shook.

  “Let’s just get this over with.” Ajax clapped Brody on the back and walked alongside him back into the building. “He said room seven.” They cruised down the hall, pausing in front of a ruby red door with streaks of peeling paint. Knuckles tapped against the door, and he pushed it open. The door creaked, tired hinges expressing their exhaustion.

  “Where is he?” Chris snarled, his lips curling over his teeth. “Move, Jay. And let me at him.” Fire blazed in his eyes.

  “Why?”

  Chris growled and threw Ajax’s bulky body against the wall, pinning him in place. “Don’t make me fight you.” He retreated and snatched Brody into the room by his shirt, swinging the door closed at the same time. His other hand balled into a fist and reared back, elbow pointing to the sky.

  “I’m sorry,” Brody cried, shielding his face with his hands.

  “Don’t be a bitch. Take your licks.” Chris’ eyes were cavernous black holes swallowing the light in the room. He was mechanical in his movements, and his fist connected with Brody’s face. The wet sound of flesh on flesh pierced the air.

  Brody cried, again. Chris punched him a second time square in the nose, and Brody howled with pain, quivering under Chris’ towering body. Chris wiped his pink knuckles on Brody’s shirt before releasing him.

  “You know the rules.”

  “I-I didn’t know at first. I promise.” He stumbled to his knees, bracing himself on the ground with one hand.

  “What did he do, Chris?” Ajax lifted his chin, glaring down his nose at Brody. The softness evaporated from his eyes as he watched Brody’s skin color with bruises.

  Chris kicked Brody in the side, digging his steel-toed boot into Brody’s rib cage. “Tell him what you did.”

  Ajax looked away, affixing his gaze on the wine bar across the room. He squinted at the labels.

  Brody gasped and curled his arms around his body, shielding his organs from Chris’ assault. “T-the mark. I-it’s a child.” />
  “A girl child, too. He forgot these details.”

  “Where is she?”

  “In a different room. I didn’t want to traumatize her more. Figured she was already going through enough shit if someone hires an assassin to grab her.” Chris sneered down at Brody. “You’re pathetic. And everyone knows it.”

  “Chris. You’re done. Let him finish his job.”

  Chris stepped over Brody. “And to think you let Dee talk you into helping this fool,” he sneered, stopping in front of Ajax and hooking his thumbs in his jeans. He squared his shoulders. “Yes, dear?”

  “You’re an ass. Give me your keys, I’m going to wait in the car. Leave this man here and send my boyfriend outside.” Ajax extended his hand, but then scoffed and dug into Chris’ pockets, seizing the keys to their old, white sedan.

  “We have to police ourselves.”

  “Sure. I’ll see my boyfriend back at the car.”

  “Well then your boyfriend is going to have a drink.”

  “My boyfriend better drink water.” Ajax stalked from the room, sighing as he walked through the building. The event had lost its fire. The laughter and dancing bedeviled Ajax as he swam through the crowd. He reached the door with no issue, but as he stepped across the metal threshold, someone tapped his shoulder. “I’m going,” he groused.

  “It’s me. Joe,” a soft voice replied.

  Ajax paused, tipping his head forward before turning around. His eyelids fluttered as he looked down at him. “Hey. I’ve got to go.” He stepped out of the doorway, touching the boy’s shoulder and guiding him out of the way as well.

  “Why?”

  Ajax shook his head, glancing towards the bar counter and watching Chris’ lean frame sink into a chair. The bartender settled a drink next to the other man’s hands. “I have a lot going on right now.”

  “Your boyfriend? Did I upset him?”

  “No. This has nothing to do with you.” He touched the boy’s exposed cheek, peering into his luminous eyes. His teeth pinched his bottom lip as his excitement from earlier swirled inside him, returning with a vengeance.

  “Promise? I didn’t mean to cause trouble for you.”

  “Promise. You didn’t. It was fun.”

  “We could continue where we left off?”

  Ajax shook his head. “We shouldn’t. I need to go.”

  The boy scowled, leaning into the wall and arching his back. His eyes closed before opening again, and he looked up at Ajax through a shade of dark lashes. “Fine. But next party, you’ll be here?”

  “I-I can’t-” Ajax pursed his lips, drowning in the boy’s hopeful eyes. “You know what? Yeah. Yeah, I’ll be here.” He sighed, glancing at the bar again before leaning into the boy. His muscles twitched, and he kissed him, lingering there as the world fell away around him. His worries dissolved, and a youthful energy filled him. He ended the chaste kiss with a sigh.

  “Promise.” The boy whispered his demand.

  “I promise.” Ajax touched his wavy brown hair, combing the wild locks around the boy’s face. He scrutinized the boy’s features, watched his eyes glaze with moisture and his lip quaver. “I said I promise.”

  “I know.” He set his face, throwing himself into Ajax’s arms. Slender arms roped around Ajax’s neck “Sweet dreams, okay?”

  “Yeah. The sweetest.”

  The boy’s arms slid away, and a smile touched his face. He turned and faded into the crowd. Ajax bristled, staring after him. He resettled his emotions, swallowing them down as they buoyed to the surface. He exited the building and climbed into the driver’s side of the sedan. He sank into the cracked leather seats, turning the key in the ignition and listening to the radio. He changed the station from smooth sounding bedroom tunes to callous songs by angry artists and folded his arms across his chest. The songs cycled through their thirty-minute commercial-free playlist and restarted again with a song by an artist Ajax had already heard.

  Chris emerged from the building walking with a lazy gait towards the vehicle.

  “Three beers. Not quite drunk, but damn close.” Ajax whispered as Chris approached and fumbled with the driver’s side door. When the other man opened the door, Ajax looked at him.

  “Move over, baby. I’ll drive us home.”

  “How many drinks have you had?”

  “Not too many.” Chris scowled. “Enough to take the edge off. Still angry, though. Can’t believe I fuckin’ accosted a kid today. A damn kid.”

  “Sometimes it happens. You’re not a bad person because of the kid.”

  “I feel like a bad person.” Chris groaned, collapsing against Ajax, burrowing his face into the other man’s shoulder. The smell of alcohol assaulted his nose.

  “You are a bad person.” Ajax quirked his lips. “You shouldn’t have gone so hard on Brody. He’s trying, I think.”

  “Yeah? I didn’t see you stopping me, did I?”

  Ajax shrugged. “I wasn’t expecting you to go into him like you did. Besides, I’m telling you now. You should call him and smooth things over.”

  “Hard pass. I’m not smoothing a damn thing over with someone who fucks with kids. You letting me drive or what?”

  “Or what. Walk around the car and get in on the other side.”

  Chris glared at Ajax, raising his dark eyebrows.

  “You’re brushing your teeth before you get in bed. You smell like someone bathed you in beer.”

  Chris shut the driver’s door and climbed in the passenger side. He snapped his seatbelt on and leaned back in the seat. He snored, falling into a light doze as Ajax drove the hour back to the hotel room and parked the vehicle in front of their hotel room’s door.

  Chris stirred when Ajax turned off the car, arching in the seat and tipping his head to Ajax. “You’re really upset about Brody?”

  “Yeah. Actually, I am.” Ajax climbed out of the vehicle, tucking the keys in his pocket and pulling the room’s keycard from his wallet. He slipped it into the door, turning the knob when the angry red light turned green. Ajax kicked off his shoes and threw his mask on the counter. Tense fingers unbuttoned his shirt, and tight shoulders shrugged out of it.

  Chris stood in the door frame, leaning against the wall. “What do you want me to do, then?” He folded his arms across his chest.

  “Right now? I want you to step inside and close the door so the whole place doesn’t hear our conversation.”

  Chris closed the door. “About Brody?”

  “I want you to apologize and make it up to him.”

  Chris groaned, tossing his mask and rolling his eyes. He rested his head against the wall, exposing his neck. “I’ll think about it. Fuck. Wish his dumbass wouldn’t have gotten mixed up with the Cromwells at all.”

  “Right. Exactly who are they?”

  “The Cromwells. Rich family, load of kids, brown hair, green eyes except the dad. He’s blond and blue eyed with a scar straight down the middle of his face. Don’t look nothing like his kids at all. You know him. Dee’s done stuff for him until he found out he played dirty.”

  “Right. Tony. I remember now.” Ajax frowned, putting his back to Chris as he unbuttoned his jeans and dropped them off his toned hips.

  “Yeah. So, anyway, who were you sucking face with all night? He looked cute from what I saw.”

  “I don’t know. He said his name was Joe and he called me Liam.”

  “Liam? Terrible name.”

  “He thought it was sexy.”

  “There’s probably some famous boy band star with the name. Or actor or something, you know, shit regular people care about. What he look like?”

  Ajax bit his bottom lip, sucking it before releasing it with a sigh. “Nothing special. Brown hair, slim build, typical bottom.”

  “Nothing special? Then how’d he get your mouth on his?”

  “He’s witty and cute. I don’t know. He gave me a tour and we talked about kinky stuff. He wanted me to tell him about us.”

  “He wasn’t bothered?”

/>   “Didn’t seem it.” Ajax shivered. “You’re not jealous, are you?”

  “Not at all as long as no one else puts their cock in your ass. Your ass is mine, but you can do what you want with your dick.”

  Ajax shivered again. “Right. Understood.” He exhaled, combing his fingers through his hair as he searched the room.

  “What’d he want to know about us?” Chris pushed himself from the wall and stalked across the room, pressing his front into Ajax’s back. His hot breath tickled Ajax’s neck, and the smell of alcohol hovered around him.

  Ajax sighed. “I didn’t tell him about us. I told him how I wanted to suck his cock. Or I started to until you interrupted.” He twisted in Chris’ arms. “I hate when you smell like booze.” Goosebumps raced down his arms and the thin fabric of his boxer briefs grew tight.

  “All right.” Chris brushed his lips along Ajax’s. “I’ll go wash up.” The taste of beer was still on his lips, and Ajax’s jeans bulged.

  “N-no. It’s fine. I’m tired.” Ajax’s hands curled in Chris’ shirt, and he dragged him to the bed, sitting on the edge. He unbuckled Chris’ aged leather belt and extracted his cock from his pants.

  “Uh.” Chris groaned, spine and hips curving forward. His cock hardened in Ajax’s hand. “T-thought you were tired.”

  “I am. I’m too tired to wait for you to clean up. I want you now.” Ajax swirled his tongue around Chris’ cock, flicking his eyes up to the other man’s face. He kissed the side of Chris’ cock, cradling him in his hands with a little smile on his lips.

  “Damn.” Chris groaned, placing a hand on Ajax’s shoulder. “How do you want me?”

  “Oh, it’s my choice?” Ajax kissed him again, sliding his tongue along velvety skin.

  “Y-yeah. It’s yours,” Chris’ eyes narrowed as he looked down at Ajax. “Fuck you’re good at sucking cock.”

  “I haven’t done anything,” Ajax teased, sucking him down his throat once before abandoning Chris’ cock. He eased back on the bed, hooking his fingers under the waistband of his underwear and sliding them down his corded thighs. “I don’t want anything fancy. I just want you.”

  “Damn. All right.” He roped an arm under Ajax’s muscular legs and maneuvering him over the edge of the bed. Chris dug a condom out of his pocket, ripping it open with his teeth.