“Love is a tragedy designed for two. What would you endure to see it through? I was nothing then there was him. The keeper of my soul, the giver of my pain. He was madness I was his paradise. Innocent love stories bleed for the longest.”
Looking at my Layla as the memory invades me, it has my spine quivering because my reality is dark. And my demons are darker. I am madness just like my father. It’s in my blood, and she is a paradise that I love to get lost in but would hate to taint with the hate.
She is so innocent in this world, even though she was bought up in it. Walking in it daily is a different story.
“So that fucker, Damon, is a sick and twisted prick harboring some pretty sadistic secrets.” My head turns to the door as Jimmy storms in, flowers from the fucking 7-Eleven in his hand and a smoke going in his mouth.
Passing the flowers to Nona she eyes his smoke before he kisses her cheek and spins her around in his arms dancing through the kitchen.
“Watch out, Poppy. I’m going to steal her one day.” He winks at my grandfather.
Nona slaps Jimmy’s chest and scolds him.
“Shhh, enough with you, boy, and no smoking in the house.” She waves her tea towel in front of his face as he turns toward the door flicking his smoke out.
“So, this Damon cat, fuck man, he’s a dirty piece of shit and Ian? Wow, man, I hope he dies before I get my hands on him for real. Nona, I mean like no disrespect.” Jimmy blurts out pouring coffee from the stove into the cup.
“Bro,” I say moving my head to the side toward Layla. She’s sitting down at the table with her coffee cup still lifted to her lips. She hasn’t moved it since Jimmy’s grand entrance.
“Right, fuck. Ok, I was just saying is all.”
Taking a gulp of his coffee, he places it down and walks over to her. Taking the cup from her hands, he places it in front of her. Her eyes follow his movements, mine follow her.
“Sup, Gallo princess. Nice to meet ya finally. I kinda feel like I already know ya. Creepy, right?” Layla looks at him like a stunned deer, a beautiful stunned deer caught in the very fast and changing headlights of Jimmy.
“Yeah, following people will have that effect on someone,” she says. Jimmy laughs loud, slapping his hand over his chest then looking at me then back to her.
“I fucking like her already,” he says kissing her cheek.
“Oh, make him cry, hurt or break his heart and I’ll fucking kill ya,” he breathes out. Nona gasps at his statement as Pops stands signaling the end of this meet and greet.
“Jimmy,” I hiss out. “What, bro, just being like the big brother and shit. Isn’t that what ya meant to say when they bring home a Girl?”
“Only if you’re the brother of the girl, dickhead. Fuck, shit, I mean sorry, Nona,” I say pulling her hand from making the cross over her chest to my lips, kissing her knuckles.
Cursing and Nona, not a good mix. Disrespecting women in Nona’s presence not good either. Jimmy will never learn.
Chapter Eleven
When the sun doesn’t rise, we talk with ghosts.
~ Micha Ragen
“Ian,” he said as Ian walked into his office.
“My favorite soldier,” Damon says rubbing his chin.
“Damon.” I sat next to my Pops; Jimmy leaned against the window looking out over the farm while watching this video on his laptop.
He had his hacker mate hack Damon’s computer and cameras at his house, club, office and safe house. Same with all of Ian’s. Dumb fucks think they are clever.
Damon pours Ian a whiskey on ice. He takes it from him sipping it as he pulls out a chair.
“So, this cousin of yours is becoming a rather large problem,” he says taking a smoke from his pack and lighting it. I watch him inhale.
“Welcome to my fucking world then,” Ian scoffs inhaling a puff of his own smoke. Look at these two siting there like kings.
“Well, something needs to be done about it,” Damon says leaning back further in his chair as a young girl, and I say girl - she could not be any more than sixteen, walks in with next to nothing on her shaking body, falls at Damon’s feet as he moves his chair out slightly. The table’s obstructing the view, thank god, but you can see the telltale bobbing of her head as his hands fist her hair. Another young girl enters and begins to dance in front of Ian.
I have to look away as my Pops clears his throat. “Jimmy,” I bite out.
“Yeah,” he says twisting toward us. “Pretty sick, right? Like? Like fuck, I’m all down on a blowie and a lap dance, but not from babies.”
I raise my eyebrow at him.
“Look, we don’t wanna see this,” I say and point my head toward Pops.
“Fuck, right, well they don’t talk much while this goes on. Ian ends up getting his dick sucked and well, they then pick up their chat.”
Watching Jimmy fast-forward the tape, Pops picks up a glass of whisky and swallows it down, pouring another he guzzles that one too.
“You know that this little club isn’t my real business.” His hand moves around the room as Ian does up his belt on his jeans. “Sex slavery is, though.” His smile never wavered, the snake. “And that has what to do with me?” Ian says lighting another smoke then sucking it back like it was air he requires to breathe. He smokes to excess when he’s nervous, Damon makes him nervous. Just as nervous as my blood is boiling in anger with the plain disrespect, dishonor and distrust he’s showing his family right now.
“When was this taken?” I snap out annoyed.
“Last night,” Jimmy says. “So, he’s meeting with him before the hit on the motel?” I ask Jimmy. “Yep, brother. I watched a video from all the meetings. He’s been feeding Damon info now for months. He also outed you as the Riddler and wait for it.”
He says pointing to the screen.
“My niece, Ian.”
“What about her?”
“Well, I have men bidding on her. Men that are bidding millions and millions. I have men expecting her and wanting her for their own personal pleasure.” This is getting sick. I can’t handle listening to what he plans, well had planned to do to my baby.
“You like her, don’t you? You want to fuck her.” Damon says and my fists clench.
“I don’t want anything to do with her,” Ian says.
“I’ve just been watching him watch her like you said to do.” Ian fidgets in his chair.
Damon tisks him.
“Well too late for that. I see her dancing in your eyes. I see you getting hard over her. I watched you whack off while you watched them fuck.” Anger creeps up my spine as heat laces up my neck traveling to my cheeks. My Pops is here listening to this.
“Not too late. Find someone else to do your dirty work for you. I’m over this shit. I want out. You wanted the Riddler, I gave you the Ridder. If you hadn’t killed his fucking father and brother this shit wouldn’t be happening, and he wouldn’t be here fucking with my claim to the business. Pops would leave it all to me and I wouldn’t need you.” Ian’s voice gets higher as he’s starting to panic.