by Loki Renard
“Your sister is here to see you.”
“What?”
“Ellie. She's outside.”
Forgetting all about his lovesick state, Aiden pushed up from the bed and ran past Steve. When he got outside he saw that it was true. Ellie was standing there, looking frightened and uncertain and well out of place. It was strange to see her like that. She was usually the ice princess to his confident outgoing prince. Something was wrong.
Ellie was the best dressed woman he had ever known. She had an impeccable sense of style. Right now she was wearing a simple dress, way too plain for her. She never left the house without spending an hour on her face, but her skin was devoid of makeup.
He thought about making a quip about her having gone Amish, but figured she probably wouldn't appreciate that.
Mason was there too, looming behind her. Tall, dark, devilishly handsome, and with a fucking agenda. Aiden was sure of it.
Aiden gritted his teeth as he looked at the man, stylishly dressed as always. How ironic that Mason was the only one of them who looked good. The days of Mason wearing cast-offs were long over.
All Aiden really cared about in that moment was Ellie. She was the point of all this bullshit. He grabbed her and hugged her close, the little sister he should have been doing a much better job of protecting. He felt like shit that Mason had stepped in to do what he should have been doing all along, and even worse that Rob and Steve had made it impossible for him to do anything for her.
“Aiden, I’m so glad you're okay,” she said, tears misting her eyes. “I was so worried.”
“I'm fine,” he assured her. “No thanks to these guys.”
Her pretty features collapsed into a frown.
“No, it's only thanks to these guys. Mason especially. They’re all trying to help us.”
What? What bullshit had Mason been feeding her? She obviously didn’t know that he was being held prisoner.
“I didn't need anyone's help. It's sweet and all, Ellie, but you should have stayed out of it like I asked you. I was taking care of things. These two idiots have really made a mess of everything,” he gestured to Steve and Rob, knowing they weren't going to come for him in front of Mason and Ellie. He was a bit guilty about putting the boot into Rob, but it felt fucking great to needle Steve. Fuck Steve.
“Hello, Aiden.” Mason finally deigned to speak. God. He was such an arrogant asshole. Handsome as hell, but far too serious for his own good.
“Hi Mason,” Aiden said. “I guess you're behind this, huh?”
“Guilty as charged.”
Mason didn’t look guilty at all.
Fuck. Looking at him sucked. Seeing an old friend who wasn't a friend anymore always sucked – though Mason would probably say that they were still friends.
The more Aiden looked at Mason and Ellie, the more sure he became that the only reason Mason was helping him was because of Ellie. Aiden could see it all now. Poor Ellie needed a knight in shining armour, and Mason had made sure to be there.
Mason’s plan was working. Ellie had retreated from Aiden and gone back to Mason’s side, looking up at him with a nauseatingly fawning expression. Obviously the hatred Ellie had harboured for Mason for years had been quenched. How fucking convenient.
“Listen, guys,” Aiden stretched out his hands. “This is just all way overblown, okay. It's not that big a deal. I owed a little money, that's all. There's no need to lock me up in the woods.”
“You owed over a million dollars,” Mason growled. “And the money was the least of your problems. Still is. You have a personal beef with Bobby Cornoli. It's going to take a lot of favors and a lot of time to make that go away.”
“Eh, Bobby's a dick,” Aiden shrugged. “He'll get over it.”
“Heads of crime families don’t get over things, Aiden. Not until they put someone underground.”
Aiden smirked. The funny thing about this entire situation was that for all the guarding he’d been subjected to, he wasn't afraid of Bobby Cornoli. He wasn't afraid of anything. Why was it so hard for them to understand?
“People came to my place with guns, Aiden!” Ellie burst out suddenly, raising her hands in the air in exasperation. “They threatened to hurt me! They would have seriously hurt me if Mason hadn't been there... and this is how you thank him? You act like everything you've done is just no big deal? Do you have any idea how much trouble we're all in because of you?”
Her panicked tone made him feel guilty, and feeling guilty made him talk like an asshole. “Ellie, you sound like grandma.”
“Good,” she said. “Grandma would never have let this happen. If she knew you were involved in drugs and, and....” she stumbled over the words, but found them. “Selling women! How could you, Aiden?”
“It's not what you think, Ellie...”
“It's exactly what I think,” she replied, her gaze full of fury. “It's degenerate bullshit, it's the easy, lazy way out. We have a very generous allowance. We don't have to work. You could have spent the rest of your life fucking your way through a never ending string of debutantes and you still somehow managed to screw that up, Aiden!”
“Okay, Ellie, I get it...” Aiden was very keenly aware that Mason, Rob and Steve were very much enjoying watching his slip of a sister tear strips off him.
“But you don't get it. At all,” she continued. “You're irresponsible, and stupid, and you're putting everyone in danger, especially me. But that doesn't matter to you because all you care about is getting ahead without doing any real work. That's what drugs are, Aiden. They're a short cut. And so's prostitution. It's just all a way to get to the end game without having done anything to get there. It's a cheat and it doesn't work, and if you keep it up, one day you will end up dead, and...”
“God, Ellie, stop being such a bitch!” Aiden interrupted her tirade.
The shadow behind her moved quickly.
WHAP!
There was a loud popping sound and a second later Aiden reeled to the side, a large red hand print on the side of his face. He'd been caught around the cheek and ear by Mason's blow and his head was ringing as he stumbled back into Steve's arms.
“Easy,” Steve rumbled, his strong hands closing around Aiden's upper arms, holding him back to stop him from lunging at Mason. He needn't have bothered. The hard blow had broken Aiden at his very core, the last traces of his ego snapping as his sister watched him get beat down.
“This is nothing compared to what you deserve,” Mason growled at him. “You have no idea what she's done for you. If she has something to say to you, you'll damn well listen to it.”
Vicious and angry, Aiden tried to get his own back. “So you finally found a way to fuck her, huh? Good for you, Mason.”
He braced himself for the beating he knew was going to come, but it didn't happen. Mason went ice cold and looked at Steve and Rob instead.
“I'll leave him to your care, gentlemen,” he said, draping his arm around Ellie's shoulders and turning her back toward the vehicle. “Sounds like he needs a few more lessons in manners.”
“Hey, fuck! Get off!” Aiden struggled as Steve and Rob dragged him back into the cabin. He was shit scared of what they were going to do to him. Seemed to be beat on Aiden day as far as he could tell.
“You have got to learn to watch your mouth,” Rob sighed as Steve kicked the door closed. He put his hand on Aiden's chin and turned his face back and forth. “Steve, get an ice pack would you.”
Steve did as he was asked and soon Aiden was sitting on a rickety camp stool, holding it to his ear and cheek. Being hit by Mason was a real blow in more than one way. They'd been friends their entire lives. Mason had been the one he'd helped a hundred times. And now? Now he was some junkie piece of shit Mason hit for swearing at his sister.
“You ran prostitutes?”
Steve asked the question. Aiden could see the distaste on his face.
“Yeah,” he admitted.
“Male or female?”
“Both.”
Aiden didn't say anything. He sat in silence, knowing it was his fault, and knowing that there was really only one way to end this.
23
ROB
I don't know how he does it, but I feel sorry for him at the same time as knowing he deserves every damn thing he gets,” Rob said, throwing a bit of stick into the fire.
Aiden had gone to bed in the cabin, leaving Rob and Steve to dissect the eventful day. It had not been a pretty scene to witness, not on any level.
“He said we hadn't helped,” Steve snorted. “All we've done for that little shit, and he says that in front of Mason.”
“He's angry,” Rob said. “And he's not the only one. You need to smooth things over with him, Steve. I don't like where this is going.”
“What do you mean?”
“He's sensitive. He cares about you. You're rejecting him over a dumb prank because you think it will keep you from getting hurt. Except it's not, because you're both hurting.”
The soft squeal of the cabin door behind them made them fall silent. Aiden padded out, wearing his oversized clothing. They still hadn't gotten him anything that actually fit.
“So, uhm. I'm sorry,” he said, his usually strident tone soft and miserable. “You guys have been trying to protect me and I've done nothing but give you attitude. I want you to know, I'm not going to make your lives difficult anymore.”
“Good,” Rob said. “I'm glad to hear it.” He looked over at Steve, but Steve sat silent. Like a damn idiot. This was an olive branch. Kid had learned his lesson. It was time to forgive. What the hell was Steve's problem?
“I'm going to get some sleep.” Aiden said when Steve kept ignoring him. “I'm tired.”
“Goodnight.” Rob said. Steve said nothing.
24
AIDEN
Ellie's tirade, Mason's slap, Steve's indifference, they all added up to one thing.
Aiden was more than tired. He was fucking broken. But that didn't mean he was done. The day had brought with it a rare gift of certainty. Everybody he loved and wanted to be close to thought he was a piece of shit. Everybody couldn't be wrong, and Aiden happened to agree with their assessment.
He laid in the dark, a number he'd called many times before burning through his mind. Could he do it? He had to. Wasn't any choice. The alternative was hanging around being treated like the garbage he was, letting everybody else take the heat for him.
A while later, Rob came in and passed out. Aiden had learned the rhythm of Rob's breathing, knew when he was fast asleep. Once he was sure Rob was out to it, he padded out of the cabin, knowing if Steven caught him, there was going to be hell to pay.
But Steven was asleep too. They obviously figured that given they were in the middle of nowhere, and Aiden had been sleeping a lot lately, there was no need to keep up their tiresome double shifts. Either that, or he had plain worn them out.
Steve's phone was charging next to the solar generator that sat on a little picnic table. It stored power during the day and dispersed it at night, so Steve never had to be without his precious device. Aiden took it and pushed it into his pocket, then walked out into the woods. Step by step, he got further and further away from the precarious, reluctant safety they offered, and closer to destiny. He'd been thinking for a while that there was one sure way to end this. He knew what he had to do.
When he was far enough away to be sure they wouldn't hear, he made the call. The numbers flowed easily from his fingers to the phone. No hesitation. Just determination.
A voice came on the line almost instantly, smooth and dark and kind of pissed off. “Who's this?”
That voice, even though it was floating through a piece of plastic in the middle of a deep forest, gave him chills to his very core.
“Hey, asshole.”
There was a pause, and then a laugh at the end of the line. “Aids. You're finally returning my calls, huh?”
“Yeah,” Aiden said, craving a cigarette. He didn't even smoke, but he needed one right now. Every time he talked to Bobby, he could practically smell sulfur. This guy was the fucking devil incarnate.
“So what is it, Aids? You gonna make it up to me? You gonna beg me? What?”
“No, Bobby. I'm not going to beg you,” Aiden said. “Just come and get me.”
There was another really long pause. Aiden could only imagine what was going on at Bobby's end of the line. He knew the guy had tracking software. Bobby liked his technology, especially the illicit stuff civilians weren't supposed to have.
“You traced this call yet?”
“Yeah,” Bobby cleared his throat.
“Then I'm waiting.
25
BEGINNING OF THE END
Didn't think you'd have the balls to actually show up. Thought we'd be hunting you for a while yet, Aids.”
Bobby Cornoli was far more handsome than he should have been. Evil pricks were supposed to be ugly, but Bobby was handsome as the devil, dark hair slicked back over his youthful face. Twenty two years old, and already making a hell of a name for himself as the head of a small but deadly crime family.
Once Aiden had called him, Bobby had sent men to pick him up and take him to one of the abandoned warehouses where he liked to do business.
Aiden had worried that Steve or Rob might wake up and come looking for him before Cornoli’s men could get there, but it turned out they weren't as far from a road as Aiden had thought, and even if they had been, Bobby had the vehemence and the resources to get him.
Aiden was pretty sure that if he had called Bobby from the depths of hell, he would have sent someone for him. That's how eager he was. Cornoli's men had roughed him up a bit before taking him in, but Aiden didn't care about that. What was another bruise or two? This was all going to end tonight anyway. After this, nobody would suffer on his behalf ever again.
“You came for my sister. So I've come...”
“You came to kill me?” Bobby sounded like he might like that idea. Sick fuck.
“No, Bobby. I came to give you what you want. You want to kill me, right? So kill me. I'm making it easy for you.”
Bobby snorted and lit a cigarette, the light reflecting off his near black eyes as he took a long draw before replying. “You're a miserable piece of shit, Aiden. You know how much money Mason Malone has wasted trying to keep you safe?”
“Well I'm going to save him some now.”
Bobby laughed, a cold, mechanical sound. “It's a real fucking pity you decided to fuck me over, Aiden. I liked you. You've got balls, and you were a classy pimp.”
“I got tired of being classy.”
“Yeah. Turned into a piece of shit junkie,” Bobby laughed again. “You know what, Aiden? I ain't gonna waste a fucking bullet on you. I don't need to. 'Cause I know two things about junkies. They're stupid, and they'll kill themselves if you let them.”
He reached into his pocket, then tossed several plastic baggies at Aiden, each of them filled with enough H to get high several times over.
“Don't take it all at once,” Bobby smirked. “Or do. Whatever. They're gonna find your bloated corpse in the river one of these days real soon either way. This way, you get to go out painlessly. The other way... well... it's gonna hurt baby boy.”
He reached out and tapped Aiden's cheek with the palm of his hand, and Aiden understood. Bobby was giving him one fucked up choice. OD himself, or get taken and tortured at some later date. What Bobby didn't seem to understand, was that Aiden didn't give a shit anymore. His entire life, he'd been nothing but a waste of oxygen. Now he was going to put things right.
Aiden started rolling up his sleeve. “You want me to do it now?”
Bobby's face twisted in disgust. “Fuck no. Take that shit out of here and find some piss-corner to off yourself in. Get the fuck out of here.”
An hour later, standing in the same apartment where he had lost his heart to two men, one of whom now fucking loa
thed him, the other who merely pitied him, Aiden stared at the drugs. All he had to do to save himself was throw them away. Flush them. Burn them. Throw them in the river. Tip them into the dirt. Whatever. There were a thousand ways to not fucking put them into his system, but he was already reaching for the baggie.
Rob and Steve already thought he was a piece of shit, and Ellie, well, she didn't fucking need him. She had Mason now. Mason was the man who should have been in the family all along. Mason was strong, and principled. Mason didn't let money change him. Mason wasn't a fucking black hole of misery that nothing could ever really fill.
Worthless. Aiden was fucking worthless.
He heated the stuff up, then grabbed the syringe Bobby had so helpfully provided. He was going to unload this shit into his arm, go out in bliss, and they'd be saved his bullshit. It was best this way. Best for him. Best for everybody else.
Tears were running down his cheeks as he did what thousands of junkies had done before him, and thousands would after. He said fuck it, and started setting up the tourniquet.
The hit made his head sing.
Pure power rushed through Aiden’s veins. The depression, misery and shame that had sent him into a place so dark he'd considered offing himself lifted in a heartbeat as serotonin flooded every crevice of his brain.
In that instant, everything changed. He wasn't going to die. Nobody could die with this much fucking chemical electricity running through them.
He knew exactly what he needed to do. Everything. All at once. Now. Right now.
Everything after that happened in super fast motion. He wasn't a man, he was a super man. He could save everybody. He could run three hundred miles an hour. He could fly. He could sing every song known to man. He could speak fluent Italian. He could save Ellie. He could stop Cornoli. He could break the fucking Illuminati if he wanted.