Art of Loyalty

by Monique Orgeron

“Then we have a problem. I don’t plan on giving you shit.”

  His brows crease and he starts fidgeting in his chair. “And why is that?”

  “Because you have nothing I want.”

  “I knew I should’ve grabbed another one of your true sons. Vin obviously doesn’t mean enough to you.”

  “You’re wrong, all my sons matter a great deal to me.”

  “But again, Vin isn’t your son.”

  I uncross my legs and lean forward. “You want to know the real reason I picked this place for our meeting? I picked it because I knew when I pulled the trigger on your ass, no one would even blink an eye.”

  With my hand on the gun taped under the table, I pull the trigger. Harris falls over but he’s still alive. Pulling the gun from the tape, I slowly stand and walk over to him.

  He shouts pleading for his sorry life, “You kill me, and you will never find Vin.”

  “You’re wrong! I already have Vincent. I had him before you sat down.”

  “All of this for your husband’s bastard? All this for a boy that isn’t even yours!”

  “He’s mine! He has always been mine. Don’t ever underestimate the power of love that a mother feels for her child. Vincent might not have come from my womb, but he was born to be mine.”

  I shoot him straight in the head, ending his life for trying to fuck with one of my children. I grab my purse and walk out to find Theo already throwing Harris’ dead soldier’s body over his shoulder. I open the door wide for him to carry him inside the restaurant. When Theo comes back out, he opens my door to the car while on the phone with his crew. He’s calling them to come clean the mess.

  Once we get on the road, Theo asks me if I’m alright. I hold his hand tight and lie, telling him everything will be great from now on.

  36

  Vin

  I’m tied up, but they forgot to recheck the knots when I head butted Steve and broke his nose. I’m just biding my time until my brothers get here. Troy’s alone with us now, he sent Terry and Steve outside to check the perimeter. I would make a move now, but Troy is pissed, he’s walking back and forth in a panic. Men who panic make mistakes. I need to be cautious and keep his attention off Brittany.

  “How far do you think this is going to get you, man?”

  “Shut up Vin!”

  “I can’t believe you’re doing this, any of you. We fought for our country, now you’re betraying it?”

  “How dare you talk to me about betraying our country. What did this country do for us?! They taught us how to kill but never taught us how to survive coming home. When we were injured, and they didn’t have any further use for us, they sent us home for what? To do what? To be a civilian again?”

  He turns around waving his arms. “I came home fucked up. We all did. Don’t tell me you didn’t, you were fucked up before the war.”

  “No, you’re right I was, and the war added to it. But I’m not turning my back on my home.”

  He storms over to me and bends down, grabbing my neck. “You turned your back on your home the day you signed up. The day you tried to die, you were turning your back on your home and family. You drug me down with you brother. You caused that, not me! I lost everything because of that day.”

  He releases my neck hard, throwing me backwards. He walks over to Brittany. “Did he tell you he tried to get himself killed in the war? That he begged for a boy to kill him?”

  Brittany starts crying and stares at me. I want nothing more than to go to her but it’s too soon. I can’t play my hand before it’s time.

  “Troy stop, shut the fuck up!”

  He addresses Brittany again, “Did he tell you how I saved his fucking life? How I risked mine, how we all did because he wanted to die?”

  “Stop it, Troy!”

  He starts laughing at me. “Why Vincent, you scared she’ll think that you’re a coward and see you for how pathetic you are?”

  I shake my head, knowing I need to tell him the rest of that day. “That’s not all that happened that day, Troy. You shouldn’t have been there. You should have let me die. But you didn’t. When the gunfire started, you were shot. I might not have cared about my life, but I made sure that you survived. I fought them all off with you unconscious. I waited and waited for help to come. Knowing you had a life and a wife back home waiting for you. I made sure I lived to save you. So, you see brother, that day we saved each other.”

  He looks at me like I’m crazy. He’s still too close to Brittany. I thought this would have made him come to me, but he’s not leaving her side.

  “You think you saved me? You should have left me there to die. You ruined my fucking life!”

  He starts laughing. “You knew I had a life and a wife back home waiting for me. What a fucking joke!”

  He turns his attention fully on Brittany now and starts sliding his hand down her breasts. “Does he touch you here sweetheart?” He then grabs between her legs. “Does he touch you here? Does he fill you up good and tight? Making you wetter than any other man?”

  Brittany’s shaking and trembling so hard. I can’t stand to see her like this.

  “Troy, leave her the fuck alone! She’s not a part of this!”

  He ignores me and asks Brittany, “Does he sweetheart? Does he fuck you so good that you never want another man between your legs? Is that why you were so dry when you spread them for me?”

  “Troy, I swear to God, I’m going to kill you! She has nothing to do with this!”

  “You’re wrong brother, she has everything to do with this! That day I died. I came home to a woman I could no longer love. You think you saved me? You fucked my life!”

  He turns to me. “Tell me Vin, do you love her?”

  “Troy, take your hands off her!”

  He takes the gun and starts sliding it down her body. “Answer my fucking question, Vin. She has no chance of surviving this unless you tell me. Do you love her?”

  I look into Brittany’s eyes filled with tears and I watch as she trembles in fear. This is not the way I wanted to tell her, but I need to let her know just in case something goes wrong.

  I scream at him, “Yes, Yes, alright you fucking asshole, I love her. I love her!”

  I look back at her and she gives me a small scared smile and shuts her eyes tight.

  Troy says, “Good, I’m so happy now. Because I am going to make sure you lose her. Just like I lost my love.”

  He turns to me and tells me. “I am going to make you suffer like I suffered. I came home so fucked up I couldn’t love my wife the way she wanted or needed me too. My injuries took my manhood from me. The doctors said there was no physical reason for it, that it’s all in my head.”

  He starts laughing. “The country you love so much, our country sent me home half a man. My wife begged for me to talk to someone, but I couldn’t, I wouldn’t. How are you supposed to open up to someone that has no idea of what you’ve been through? I became angrier by the day. The more she complained, the more I would hurt her. I didn’t mean to, but she was there, and I couldn’t satisfy her. Later, I found out she was cheating on me because she needed a man to fuck her, like she deserved to be fucked! Do you know what it’s like to have the woman you love, betray you?!”

  Troy makes a mistake, he lays the gun down and wraps his hands around Brittany’s throat. “You know what I did Vin, when I caught her betraying me? I wrapped my hands around her throat just like this and I squeezed the life out of her. If I couldn’t have her, then no one would. She was leaving me, and I couldn’t let that happen.”

  He looks back at me with nothing but hate in his eyes. “I’m going to take the one thing in this life that you love, away from you. Just like you did me. You sent me back home to nothing. No life and no future.”

  He starts squeezing Brittany’s throat. Brothers or no brothers, he has to die now. I fight with the rope around my wrists and get them loosened enough to get my hands freed. Getting to my feet, I take a running start, knocking Troy off of Brittany.
When I hear her gasping for breath, I know she’s fine and I start beating the fuck out of him. Somehow, he gets a punch in and gets me off him. He gets up, daring me to come for him. We meet in the middle like to bulls, throwing punches with everything we have. I knock him down again, but Troy quickly gets back on his feet. I take another run, hitting him low, picking him up off the ground, throwing his back into one of the large crates. Knocking the wind out of him just long enough for me to get the upper hand. I start hitting him over and over, feeling his facial bones breaking as my fists make contact. He falls to his knees and I stumble back from exhaustion. I hear Brittany screaming in the background for me to stop but I can’t, I won’t.

  Dropping to my knees in front of him, I punch him again. “I was going to kill you for touching her but then you wanted to take her from me.”

  I get in his face and whisper in his ear, “I’m going to send you home brother, straight to hell and then I am going to ruin your name. Every person in your family will know of your disgrace. Your life, your military honors, your name will be shit.”

  I lay one hand on the back of his head and one on his face. With one fast twist, I hear the snap of his neck. I drop my hands and his body falls. I lean back on my knees, throwing my head back screaming. Releasing years of pain that Troy and I have been through. Neither of us came back whole. We both lost but I refuse to lose any more. Brittany’s the one who saved me. She started opening my heart and I plan on showing her how much.

  I’m still screaming all that pain out when I feel a hand on my back. I turn, ready for war, my fist rears back and comes forth almost making contact with Brittany. But thank God, I recognize her before I hit her. I would have never forgiven myself.

  “Vincent!”

  “Jesus!” I grab her and pull her down on top of me, rocking us, “I’m sorry baby. I’m so sorry.”

  I’m wondering how she got free from her binding. But I look up, and my question is answered. Gabriel’s staring at me, holding Brittany’s rope.

  I turn my attention back on Brittany and start kissing her head, repeating myself about how sorry I am for almost hitting her. That’s when I hear the warehouse doors open, Liam storms in running towards us. Right behind him is Zander and Teddy holding Terry and Steve.

  Gabriel finally asks, “Vin, you alright?”

  “Yeah, we’re fine. I wasn’t sure if you were going to come.”

  Gabriel looks off in the distance then back to me. “Listen to me. No matter what was said or happens Vin, you are my brother. I will always be there for you.”

  We exchange a look of understanding.

  Then my attention switches when I see my other brothers bring Terry and Steve closer. I slowly release my hold on Brittany and stand, pulling her up with me.

  Gabriel says, “Mom said it’s up to you. What do you want to do with them?”

  I’m staring at my one-time brothers in war, thinking about how at one time, I trusted them with my life. Now I plan on taking theirs. There is no way they are getting out of here alive.

  Without removing my eyes from Steve and Terry I yell, “Liam, take Brittany outside!”

  Brittany starts shouting, “Vin no, Vin don’t do this!”

  I force her to look at me. She’s shaking her head, crying hysterically. “Listen to me, baby. I need you to go with Liam now. It will all be over in a few minutes.”

  “No Vincent. Come with me. We can leave right now!”

  I kiss her, stopping her hysterics.

  “Liam, now!”

  Liam comes around and takes Brittany from me. She’s screaming at me, fighting to get away from him but he’s holding tight, getting her out. When the door shuts. Terry and Steve start begging for their lives.

  “Gabriel, give me your gun.”

  Gabriel passes his gun to me and the guys start getting louder, pleading.

  “I told you boys, I was going to kill you if you tried to touch what was mine. My mother always taught me to keep my promises.”

  Without another word, I shoot them both, one after the other in the head. Giving them the quickest death, I could give, in order to put this all behind me to start my life again.

  Zander laughs and says, “Well brother, that was anticlimactic.”

  I start walking toward my future. “This was the end. I’m done.”

  I walk outside and see Liam trying to calm Brittany. Walking towards them, I call out,

  “Liam give me your keys.”

  He throws them to me and backs away. I take Brittany by the arm and put her inside the car and I walk around to my side. Starting the car, I head for home. We haven’t said a word, but I grab her hand, holding it tight the entire drive.

  Pulling into the garage, I stop the car, getting out to open her door. “Vin, bring me home.”

  “I did.” I grab her hand and pull her out. We take the back staircase upstairs but as we get further down the hall, Brittany starts pulling away. “I can’t Vin, bring me home.”

  I pick her up and carry her the rest of the way. “Not tonight, it’s too dangerous.”

  I don’t put her down until we’re in my bedroom. I grab her hand again and pull her into my bathroom and turn the shower on. We both need to wash this day off. I start washing her body as she stands there, still trembling from shock. Once I’m finished washing us both, I pull her out with me and dry us off. Holding her hand, I pull her to my bed. I get her under the covers then slide in behind her. She still hasn’t talked to me, and I need to hear her voice to make sure she’ll be fine, so I ask, “Baby please talk to me, even if it’s to yell at me.”

  She turns over and faces me. “I was so scared.” I wipe away the tears slipping down her face.

  “I know baby. But I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”

  “I’m scared for you Vincent. You need help, you can’t keep it all in anymore. The nightmares and the things Troy mentioned tonight, you can’t keep those things bottled up, it’s no good for you.”

  “You’re right, opening up to my brothers and having you know has somehow, almost liberated me. I want to start opening up, I feel, no need, and want to now.”

  She snuggles up against me. In the silence, my mind wanders to my nightmares. “Brittany, when I had my nightmares, how bad were they? I mean, how scared did I make you? I don’t ever want to scare you.”

  She snuggles her head deeper into my chest. “I was scared but not for me, for you. I don’t like seeing you in pain like that. The dreams of you as a child were horrible. No child deserves that. I’m just glad I could help you a little.”

  “Help me? What did you do?”

  “Nothing really, I just remembered when I was little, my mom would say something to me when I had nightmares to help me sleep. It worked, and I used to do it with Chloe after our parents died.”

  “What is it? Can you show me?”

  She leans up on her elbow and lays her hand over my heart. “I would lay my hand here over your heart and say, ‘You’re safe and sound with me by your heart. Do you feel me?’ Then I would lay my hand on your head, ‘When you think of me, the monsters have nowhere to live inside of here.’ See it’s nothing, just something my mother would do for me as a child. It means nothing, it just seems to help.”

  I grab her hand and kiss it. “It means everything. I need you with me.”

  She lays back down and says, “I don’t want to talk anymore, can we just go to sleep?”

  It’s been an exhausting day, so I don’t argue. I let her fall asleep in my arms while I run my fingers through her silky hair. The minute she falls asleep, I can’t help but smile. I might not be on my back, but she has done it again and wrapped half her body around me like a spider. I can’t let her go. I admitted tonight that I love her. I’m not about to go back on that. I love her more than I ever thought was possible. I will do whatever it takes to make her see that and make her love me back. She’s it for me. I just have to earn her.

  The rest of the night I don’t sleep much. I watch as t
he first sight of light peaks through the window. I didn’t sleep, not because of nightmares, but because of a hopeful future. I need to start now; showing and proving to her that I’m hers no matter what.

  I carefully sneak out of the bed and dress. Going downstairs, I see mom in the kitchen, sitting at the table drinking coffee.

  “You’re up early, mom.”

  “Yes, I was restless. Yesterday was a long day. I couldn’t get it all off my mind, I guess. Where are you sneaking off to?”

  “I have someone I need to talk to.”

  I walk to the table and kiss her cheek, “I brought Brittany home last night, she’s still sleeping.”

  She snickers. “And you’re leaving?”

  “I told you, I need to go talk to someone.”

  She nods her head choosing not to pry anymore.

  I sit down and decide to share with her. In a whisper, I tell her, “I love her, mom. I love her more than I thought I could.”

  Mom smiles wide. “I know you do. What are you going to do about it?”

  “I’m going to marry her.”

  Mom starts crying. I rush over to her and kneel at her feet. “Mom, don’t cry.”

  “I’m so happy Vincent. I’ve waited so long, hoping and praying for you to find your one love. She’s it, Vin. I know you’re scared but she’s worth it.”

  “I have some work to do on myself to fully deserve her, but I can’t let her go. I don’t think I can live without her anymore.”

  “I agree, I can set something up for you with a therapist.”

  “No, I found some people I feel comfortable talking to. They’ve already helped me.”

  She starts crying harder and lays her hands on my face. “I’m proud of you, son. I just want you to be happy and healthy. You do whatever you feel is working. Just know that I’m here for you, for anything you need.”

  “I love you, Mom.”

  I stand and kiss her again, but when I head to the door I tell her, “Hey mom, call Baxter and tell him I will be at his jewelry store in about an hour.”

  I have to laugh because the minute I say that, she jumps out her chair and starts frantically looking everywhere for her phone.