Aedan and I looked at each other. “There’s a lot we need to catch you up on,” I said. And took Aedan’s hand firmly in mine.
Alec stared at our clasped hands...and nodded, still looking suspicious. Then a hint of a smile broke across his face.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing,” Alec croaked. “Just remembered a dream I had.” And this time, when he looked at Aedan, he smiled.
What the hell is that all about? I turned to Heather. “Thank you. For everything.”
“You can thank me by never going near those people again,” she said.
I pulled Aedan and Alec into a three-way hug. “Never again.”
***
Alec’s recovery took a month, but a lot of it was just rest and physio exercises, so we got him out of the hospital and into Aedan’s apartment after just a few weeks. While he healed, Aedan gave notice at the docks and I used the money he’d saved up and the winnings Rick had given him to pay off the hospital bills. Alec and I finally gave up the apartment we’d lived in with our parents. It killed us to do it, but we knew we had to move on. If Rick or someone who knew him ever saw me in the street, we were all in danger.
We talked a lot about where we wanted to go. There was never any question that the three of us would make our fresh start together—Alec and I were inseparable and Aedan and I were together for life. The only thing we had to figure out was where to go. And then, one afternoon when we were sprawled around Aedan’s living room fighting the heat with popsicles, Aedan stood up from his chair and said, “Chicago.”
Aedan
“Why?” asked Sylvie.
“It’s got the docks—I can pick up some work there, maybe get Alec sorted out with something, too. And options for you—bar work, hotel work…and college, once you get the money together to go back. Good hospitals, if Alec needs them.”
“And it’s a city, so there’ll be a boxing scene…right?” asked Sylvie. “I know you’ve been thinking about it.”
She was right—I had. Ever since Travere had died at my hands, I’d hated the idea of fighting. I’d thought I was the monster, when really it had been Rick. Sylvie had helped me see that and training her had woken something inside me. Boxing was the one thing I did really well. I nodded.
Sylvie folded her arms. “Proper boxing,” she said. “With rules, and gloves?”
I nodded again. “I want to do it right, this time. I’ll have to start at the bottom all over again, but it’ll be official. Legit.”
Sylvie frowned at me. “There’s something else, isn’t there? Lots of big cities have ports and colleges. Why Chicago?”
She could read me too well.
“Okay,” I said. “The other reason is...the last brother I lost contact with is there. Carrick, the silver-tongued bastard. At least, last I heard, he was there. I don’t know how we’ll find him, but maybe we could give it a go.” I looked her right in the eye. “I reckon maybe it’s time.” It was exactly what I’d avoided for years. But facing up to death had snapped things into focus. I felt like I had a second chance, now, and I wasn’t going to waste it. And if I could find my brother—if I could find all my brothers—maybe I’d finally share the horror of what happened to us with Sylvie.
Sylvie grabbed me and pulled me close. “That sounds like a great idea. Alec?”
Alec nodded. “Sounds as good a place as anywhere. Fuck it, let’s go.”
I started scouring the internet for a car that would hold together long enough to get us and our meager possessions to Chicago. But, before we left, there was one last thing we had to set in motion.
Sylvie
We couldn’t be around for it. It had been over a month since the fight, long enough that Rick wouldn’t suspect Aedan of being the rat. But all that would be for nothing if Rick saw him hanging around while the police raided The Pit. And if he ever saw me again, he’d know he’d been duped.
So we got our road trip underway. We got the call when we were passing through Cleveland. We pulled into a gas station and the three of us leaned against our battered SUV, peering at my phone’s screen.
It was a video of the bust, shot by a local news crew. We saw police flashlights light up the gloom of The Pit. The audience turning in horror and trying to run, only to be held back by a small army of police officers.
When they found Rick, he was as smug as usual. He knew there was no hard evidence proving that he’d organized the fights. He could just claim to be another member of the audience. None of the fighters would dare to testify against him.
Except he wasn’t going to be arrested for the fights.
Aedan pointed to a police officer. “That’s Charlie,” he told us.
Charlie pushed to the front and snatched Rick’s cane from him.
“You can’t do that!” Rick yelled. “That’s mine! It’s a medical device!”
Charlie grinned. And twisted the crystal top, just as Aedan had told him to. He drew out the plastic vial. “I’m glad you confirmed it’s yours,” he said. “Because that’s a lot of cocaine. More than just possession. That’s intent to supply, right there.”
Rick went pale. I knew what he was thinking—even if his lawyers got the charges to slide, it was enough for the police to get a search warrant for his yacht. God knows how much coke they’d find there, as well as computer records and paper trails that might prove he was the fight organizer. The last view I had of him was his fearful glance at the camera as Charlie slapped the cuffs on him.
No one would ever have to fight at The Pit again.
Aedan shoved the phone back into his pocket. It felt like the end of a chapter. The road, stretching out into the distance, felt like the beginning of a new one.
“I call shotgun,” said Alec, slipping into the passenger seat. He was still a little weak in one leg, but he was getting stronger every day. As I watched, Aedan’s pet gull flapped lazily down and settled on the roof of the car. It had so far followed us all the way from New York and showed no sign of turning back, as long as we kept tossing crackers out of the window for it to catch.
I stayed outside for a moment, enjoying the sunshine. “Winters in Chicago are meant to be even colder than in New York,” I grumbled, pressing myself against Aedan’s chest.
“I’ll keep you warm,” Aedan said, pulling me hard against him. His breath was hot on my neck. “‘Long as we get a place where the bedrooms aren’t right next to each other. I don’t want to be banging you with your brother next door.”
I punched him in the arm to shut him up and he tapped me playfully back, and then we were wrestling, giggling and punching and kissing, with a clear road ahead.
<<<<>>>>
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Acknowledgments
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Thirty-Two
Thirty-Four
Thirty-Five
Thirty-Six
Thirty-Seven
Thirty-Eight
Thirty-Nine
Forty
Forty-One
Forty-Two
Forty-Three
Forty-Four
Forty-Five
Forty-Six
Forty-Seven
Forty-Eight
Forty-Nine
Fifty
Fifty-One
Fifty-Two
Fifty-Three
Fifty-Four
Fifty-Five
Fifty-Six
Fifty-Seven
Fifty-Eight
Fifty-Nine
Sixty
Epilogue
Punching and Kissing Page 20