by Jess Winters
The knock on the door caused goosebumps to form all over his body.
The door opened, and the sounds of the laughter on the way in made his heart sink. This would be fun for them, whatever it was they were about to do. The excitement among the group made him feel sick to his stomach.
“Well, hey there, Joe. Good to see ya.”
He turned his gaze to Athena, whose strong facade began to drop. It was clear she recognized the man who’d just walked in. What Joe had said was true, after all.
She looked as though she’d seen a ghost.
“Well, look at this. Damn, you really delivered. I mean, I never thought I’d see you again, sweetheart.”
“So she is the girl?” Joe asked, his voice hoarse. “What’s her name? Tanya?”
Gabriel saw a hint of recognition in her eye and felt disgusted. She’d lied about everything - even her name.
“That it is. And she’s the reason I almost died. Isn’t it, sweetheart?”
The girl was silent, her expression stoic. It was clear she knew what was going to happen, as though she’d been expecting it all along. Whatever she’d done, she knew there’d be repercussions.
He neared her, almost skipping on his way to her. He tilted his head and smiled before his fist made contact with her face, causing her to topple over onto the ground. Gabriel’s body went tense, and he had to stop himself with everything he was not to take the man’s head right off his body.
The man kicked hard into her stomach and the breath escaped between her lips. He hit her again, this time on the ribs with his fist. It didn’t stop. Gabriel had to look away, but he couldn’t run from the sounds of skin on skin.
Still, she didn’t once cry out or scream, as though it’d happened before.
11. Athena
The blood dripped from her lip, which was searing with pain. She didn’t fight back. There was no reason to. Even if she did, they’d likely only kill her.
The way she thought she’d killed him.
James was laughing as he circled her, his boots covered with spots of her blood. He hadn’t changed. He’d done this kind of thing before he’d even been shot by her.
“Isn’t this such a nice reunion, sweetheart? I’ll be damned. Here you are living a new life without me. Truly amazin’ what you’ve managed to do here.”
She remained quiet, knowing that anything she’d say would only make things worse. She was used to this. This wasn’t her first rodeo, but it sure as hell would be her last.
“Now. Why don’t you admit to everyone what you did,” he said, his foot landing another kick at her side. “That way they’ll know for sure that I didn’t go and shoot myself like a coward.”
She lifted her eyes to meet his and could see that familiar nothingness staring back at her. When he was in this mood, it was like nothing mattered. She was just a punching bag to him.
12. Gabriel
What was done couldn’t be undone. He knew that as the blood streamed into the lines of his hands. This was it. It didn’t matter what happened now - he’d made his choice.
Joe fell to the ground coughing blood, and it poured from his mouth, forming a pool next to his face. He held his stomach with both hands and glared at Gabriel. It was such a deep look of hatred that Gabriel felt his veins run cold.
“You,” he started, and spit blood onto the ground, “dare protect that piece of filth?”
“Yeah, actually. I think I just have,” he said, and turned towards the rest of The Spades. “Does anyone have a problem with that?”
James sneered. “Don’t do somethin’ you’ll regret, brother. Trust me when I say she ain’t worth it. Stab you right in the back so much as you go an’ turn around.”
“I have a feeling she was pushed to doing that.”
James kept hold of Gabriel’s gaze, neither of them backing down. “If it’s me that you’ve got a problem with, why’d you take it out on your old man? And here I thought you guys were loyal over here.”
“Well, depends on what you mean by loyalty,” Gabriel said, and brought his eyes to Joe, who was squirming on the ground. “Wouldn’t you like to know who’s been stealing all those parcels from your side of the state?”
“I’m sorry. What’d you say?”
“Fuck off, Gabriel. That’s none of your business,” Joe said, his voice coarse as he tried to get up. “And you don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”
Gabriel round his fingers into fists as Athena lay immobile on the ground. “If I tell you what I know, you have to swear that you’ll leave her alone. Forever.”
James rounded the room and overlooked the faces of the group he brought with him. They were all men of varying ages and sizes, but all of them looked as though they were out for blood. Well, whether they liked it or not, based on the information he had, they’d get it tonight.
“What d’you guys reckon, huh? Does she deserve to be let go?”
One guy stepped forward, his leather vest covered in insignia and his bald head reflecting the low lights above him. “Depends on the information. She’s not worth killing if it’s not gonna benefit us.”
“Not gonna benefit us?” James asked, and shook his head. “Y’all know what she did, yeah? Bitch tried to kill me.”
“Let’s hear the information first,” the bald guy said, looking past James and to Gabriel. “Then we’ll make a decision.”
Gabriel stood closer to Athena, creating a barrier between them and her limp body. “Fine. Just no sudden movements.”
James dropped his hands as his eyebrows came together. “Guess I’m outvoted. Go ahead. Say what you need to so we can get one with what we came to do tonight.”
“This guy here, Joe, you all know him well, right?” he said, peering over each face individually. “Well, he’s been stealing your shipments, and there’s proof. All of our stolen car and motorcycle parts are in the back, and I’m sure you’ll recognize more than just one of them.”
“You fucker!” Joe yelled, his voice guttural as he staggered on his feet. “You don’t know shit. Don’t listen to him.”
James narrowed his eyes at Joe. “By the way you’re talking, it doesn’t sound like he’s lying. In fact, I’d think he was tellin’ the truth. So which is it?”
“Just check the shipments out back. They get sent out to a number of different sellers around the country, but they’re all just sitting there.”
The bald guy looked to Joe, staring him deep in his eyes. “Is it true, Joe?”
Joe’s top lip formed into a snarl. “What of it? It’s not like you guys haven’t done the same to us.”
“Wrong answer, Joe,” James said, and began chuckling to himself. “Well, now it seems as though all my plans for her are fucked, but I might still have my chance. What do you guys think we should do?”
“She’s not worth our time,” a stout older guy said at the back. “You’re alive, and she don’t owe us no money. Him, though, I’d love to deal with.”
“I agree.”
James turned to the bald guy. “C’mon, Winchester, we gotta do somethin’ about this. This bitch tried to kill me.”
Winchester pointed to the stout man. “A deal’s a deal. Go check the parcels in back just in case. If it’s true, you’re not gonna see another night, Joe.”
A sense of relief flooded through him, and he exhaled, not even realizing that he’d been holding his breath all along. He lowered himself to his knees and nudged Athena, who’d taken a hell of a beating. He pushed the strands of hair from her face, and saw that the damage had mostly been done to her body.
She was breathing.
“You okay?”
Her eyes were slightly swollen as she opened them. He could see the pain in them as tears started to stream down the side of her face.
“I’ve had worse from him,” she whispered. “That’s nothing compared to what he’s done before.”
“You’re going to be okay.”
They were silent as they waited for the
stout man to return. Joe was leaning against one of the tables. Gabriel knew Joe was too proud to run. He likely figured he could find a way out of the situation.
Footsteps appeared from the back and Gabriel turned to see the short man return with two of the parcels in his hands. He recognized them immediately, as they’d come in just the day before.
“There’s two back there that’s ours.”
“Well, fuck me,” James said, and pointed at Joe. “You’ve really fucked up now. Let’s get him and go, boys.”
Gabriel hovered over Athena, watching James as he passed.
James’ jet black hair was pulled back in a ponytail that had nearly come undone during his beatdown against Athena. He gestured to Athena as three of his men grabbed Joe. “Don’t you ever let me see your face again, or you won’t be so lucky. Let’s go.”
13. Athena
The tension that ensued was like a spectre in the room, haunting both of them as they stood silently and immobile. Her breathing was shallow, unable to contemplate what they’d done. Everything that had happened had seemed surreal, like one of the nightmares she’d been haunted by up until that moment.
“What do we do now?” she asked, her voice breaking the silence between them. “They’re all gone.”
Gabriel glanced down to the last cigarette Joe had smoked. “I don’t know. He’s gone. Likely forever.”
“Who does that leave in charge?”
“He never had a deputy, so I have no idea.”
Her hand formed into a fist. “This is such a mess. I’m so sorry about this. It’s all my fault.”
“No. It isn’t,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “Joe made this choice, and whatever they do to him will have been coming for a long time.”
She tried to lift her aching body. Everything felt like it was broken, and even standing was torture. “I think I need to see a doctor.”
He turned to her and nodded. “There’s a truck out back. Are you okay to wait here?”
“So long as they don’t come back.”
“They won’t. Once they made a vow like that, it isn’t broken,” he said, and exhaled deeply. “I’m sorry I brought you here tonight. You shouldn’t be blaming yourself. In fact, the blame’s all on me.”
“No, no it isn’t. You were just doing what you thought was right.”
He neared her and wiped the blood from her forehead. “No matter what happens, just know that I’m here for you. I won’t let him so much as look at you again. I swear.”
The softness in his expression and his voice caused her to feel an overwhelming sense of relief. “The night that it happened, he was going to kill me with the gun. I got to it first and I was so scared when it happened that I ran. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
“No,” he said, bringing his forehead to hers. “I’m sorry I doubted you.”
Epilogue
“Gabriel?”
“What?”
It had been a long day at the den. Yes, there were things that couldn’t, and shouldn’t, have been mentioned when it came to what Joe was running, but they were in it together. Now they both did the parcels, ordering and setting them up for pickup.
Without the trouble from rivals. They did all their own work after that fateful night.
She exhaled deeply and shifted so that she was on top of his chest. “Will you take me for a ride later?”
“Babe,” he started, so close to her that she could feel his breath on her cheek, “it’s eight o’clock, and it’s been a long day.”
THE END