This is still so foreign to me. Planning murder is easier than dealing with whatever this…feeling is in my stomach whenever I think about Tiger.
As for Tawny, she thinks I’m playing hard to get. But I ain’t playing. When she tried to kiss me again, I made it clear it wasn’t happening. If she couldn’t take the hint when I told her this, then that was not my problem.
Staring down at the page in front of me, I groan when I see I’ve unintentionally written Tiger’s name instead of Kong’s. This needs to stop. I need to be on my A game, and when I see Kong walk to his huge pickup, this is a perfect example of why.
I didn’t even notice him leave.
Quickly writing down the time in my log, I sink low in my seat, not wanting him to see me. I’m parked across the road, but I can’t be too careful. He throws his gym bag into the tailgate and is about to walk to the driver’s side, but then he stops.
He tilts his head to look under his back tire. Shuffling up so I can see better, I watch as he bends down and picks up something small, black, and fluffy. A kitten. His white teeth glow in the dark as he lifts the kitten high in the air.
The image sends a shiver through me as I was once that kitten.
At first, I think maybe Kong has a thing for cats, but when he places the kitten back behind his tire and grabs some kind of protein bar out of his gym bag, it’s clear what he intends to do.
He breaks off a piece of the bar and places it near the kitten. The scrawny thing happily eats the offering, not realizing this is his last meal as there is no doubt Kong plans to run it over with his truck. I grip the steering wheel, breathing deeply through my nose.
The thing is fucking tiny, helpless, and at the mercy of this motherfucker. I’m assaulted by images of that night, of when I too was tiny, helpless, and at the mercy of this motherfucker just like this kitten. But I’m no longer helpless.
“No,” I snarl, closing my eyes and telling myself that saving that kitten is not my problem. But it wasn’t Lachlan’s problem either when he could have helped my brother but didn’t. He ran. Like a fucking gutless chump.
And I will be the same if I don’t help the fluffball.
“Motherfucker,” I curse under my breath as I open the truck door and jog across the road. When Kong’s pickup roars to life, I quicken my pace, and before he has a chance to reverse, I snatch the kitten out from under the back tire.
Kong’s brake lights blister red, just like his rage as he slams the truck in park and jumps out. “What the fuck, asshole? You got a death wish?” he exclaims, arms spread out wide.
Yes, I wished you were dead.
He approaches me while I freeze. I can’t even breathe. After all these years, I’m face to face with one of my brother’s killers, and I’m holding a fucking kitten…which is the perfect ruse. This just may work in my favor.
“Sorry, man, this fluffball is my meal ticket, and when I say meal, I mean pussy,” I crudely say, holding out the cat. He purrs in support.
Say the magical word—pussy—to any dickhead, and you’re instantly best friends. Kong eyes me, folding his arms across his chest. He’s weighing me up. Am I friend or foe? Or more importantly, has he seen me before?
He examines me closely, looking into my eyes, the only thing that would have given me away. But thanks to the blue contact I wear, I am just like everyone else now. I must pass his test.
“Your bitch busting your balls too?” he says as though we’re friends in some secret club.
“Don’t they all?” I snicker with an eye roll.
Tawny said Kong spends more time at the gym than at home, and I figure she knows this because he’s taken her here to work out in a different way. He clearly has no respect for women, which is why I’ve decided to use this angle.
“Fucking oath, brother. I’m Kong.” He extends his hand. Every muscle in my body is demanding I break his wrist, just as his friend did to Damian.
But it’s because of that, that I shake his hand. His handshake is firm, throwing down the testosterone vibes. He wants to establish himself as alpha. He can establish whatever he wants because when this is done, I will be the alpha when I end his fucking life.
“Tommy,” I reply, giving him the most generic name I can think of.
“You new ’round here? I haven’t seen you before.”
“Yeah. I just moved from Seattle. My kid’s mom lived there, so ya know, I split.”
Kong cackles because, apparently, abandoning your family is a cause for laughter. The need to end him is too tempting. I don’t trust myself. But now isn’t the time. “I better go. Pussy is waiting,” I say.
Just as I go to turn, he stops me. “If you ever need work, call me. My boss is always looking for…talent like you.”
Talent. He means fighters. And just like that, a plan is hatched.
“Sounds like your boss is a smart man.”
Kong walks to the tailgate and reaches into his bag. I stand perfectly still. When he produces a white card, I accept it. Looking at it, I find just a number printed on it. “That’s where you can reach me…for now.”
Not only do they change locations often, it’s apparent they change phone numbers as well.
“Done. Thanks, Kong. I’ll see you around.” And I mean every single word.
Without lingering, I turn and walk down the street. I can’t get into my truck because this kitten is supposed to be for a girl who lives around here. And I also don’t want him to know what I drive. I turn the corner, listening for the obnoxious roar of his engine.
When it fades into the night, I sigh in relief and lean against a brick wall. Adrenaline courses through my body, and I don’t ever remember feeling this alive, which is ironic, considering what I plan to do to Kong.
He’s given me my in. If I fight, I gain his trust. And gaining his trust allows me to find the whereabouts of the other two assholes. Lotus will only be a problem if she finds out, but she won’t. Only when I earn his trust will I attack. The poetic justice behind it is just too tempting to pass up.
The kitten squawks, reminding me that he’s still here. I don’t need him anymore, so I lower him to the ground. “Thanks for helping me out back there.”
But he looks up at me, before rubbing his small head around my ankle. “What the fuck are you doing? I don’t have any food. Shoo. Go, be free.”
But he doesn’t move.
I don’t know what he wants, but it’s not my problem. “Survival of the fittest, Fluffball.”
I take off down the street, but when I hear another squawk, I look over my shoulder to see the kitten following me. “What the hell, man? Are you lost?”
He merely walks toward me and sits beside my feet. I don’t even like cats. I mean, what do they do other than sleep, shit, eat, and demand attention on their terms? My cell chirps, and when I see it’s Lotus, I arch a brow.
I’m not due in to work for another couple of hours as I’m working the graveyard shift. “Sup?” I answer, wondering what’s wrong.
I instantly hear catcalls and rowdy assholes in the background. “Sorry to call, Bull. I know you don’t start for another couple of hours.”
“What’s up?”
Her pause is all the answer I need. “It’s Lily—”