I follow him silently. My first thought was to call Grave, but my cell is busted, so I can’t read my numbers, and I don’t have his memorized. I doubt if I just ask for him, they’ll call him. I bet my ass a lot of people do that and get nowhere. So I’m going to focus on my brother instead. Grave can’t help me. He doesn’t even know Ethan.
The man takes us over to a bank of elevators, and I take a deep breath. My brother forgets who I am sometimes. He doesn’t remember when I beat his ass five years ago after he wrecked Mom’s car. I took the fall for him and said it was me, but I made sure to kick his ass first.
Stepping in, he pushes a button, and my toes tap on the floor while it takes us up. My skin is on fire, my blood boiling. If those guys don’t kill my brother, I’m going to.
The doors open, and there’s a long hallway. The man takes us right, walking down the narrow hall to a door. He holds it open and enter an arena-like structure full of people. It’s a fucking event center. They’re shouting and clapping. I look ahead of me to see a ring in the center. Two men are inside it. Their hands are up, and they bounce from foot to foot. My eyes widen when I see one of them is my brother.
“Motherfucker!”
He’s fighting again.
“You’ll need your card to enter the room,” the man tells me.
“Thank you,” I growl, knowing I can take it from here. I storm down to the front, shoving people out of my way. I stand there with my arms crossed over my chest as he hits a guy so hard, he falls to his side. People cheer, and the ref holds up my brother’s right arm. He’s got a huge smile on his face and blood dripping down his chin.
He exits the ring and walks through the crowd. Guys slap him on his back, and women run their hands over his body. The kid is only nineteen. He can’t even legally drink alcohol, much less fucking fight.
I storm after him. I call out his name, but he doesn’t hear me.
“Excuse me, miss. You need a pass to access back here,” a man says, wearing a black T-shirt with security written in yellow.
I let out a growl as I yank the card out of my back pocket. “Is this good enough?” I shove it in his face.
He steps to the side, allowing me by. I catch sight of the back of my brother before he enters a room to the left. I start to jog and shove the door open to follow him. “Just what in the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
He spins around, and his eyes widen when he sees me. “April, what are you …?”
I slap him across the face, cutting him off. “What the hell did you do?” I shout.
His wide eyes stare down at me, and fresh tears begin to sting mine. His eyes roam over my face, and he frowns. I know I look like shit. I didn’t wipe off the makeup that’s already been smeared before I left my house. “Fuck, Ethan! What did you do? Please? What have you done?”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
GRAVE
I ENTER THE room with Titan, about to beat the shit out of the kid myself. “I warned you,” I growl.
He ignores me as he stares at a woman before him. My eyes start at her black high heel boots, that lace up her ankle. Then they travel up over her dark skinny jeans that fit her bubble ass perfectly. Dark purple hair falls over her back. It can only be one woman. “April?” I ask.
She spins around, and her eyes meet mine. Tears run down her perfect face, and her blue eyes widen when they see me. “What are you doing here?” Why is she in this room? How in the hell did she get back here? Did he bring her with him tonight? Thinking I wouldn’t beat his ass if she was with him? The kid doesn’t know me.
“Fuck!” Ethan hisses, turning his back to us.
She doesn’t answer me. Instead, she turns to him. “Grab your shit, we’re leaving!” she orders.
“What’s going on?” I ask, coming up behind her. They ignore me. I grab her shoulder and spin her around to face me. She pushes me away. “What’s going on?” I demand this time.
She huffs, crossing her arms over her chest. “Did you send them?” she demands.
I look at Titan. He shrugs, just as clueless as I am, and leans up against the wall. His eyes looking her up and down, wondering who the fuck she is. “Send who? Where?” What is she talking about?
She turns to her brother again. “How much do you owe him, Ethan?” she snaps.
His jaw tightens, and I frown.
“Fucking answer me!” she screams, fisting her hands down by her side.
When he looks away from her, she rounds on me. “How could you do this?” Fresh tears fill her eyes. “You should have just come to me.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say honestly.
She begins to dig in her purse. She removes a checkbook before she lets her purse fall to her feet. “I’ll pay you. Right now. If you promise to let it go.” She licks her wet lips.
“April, I don’t know …”
“Fifty thousand,” Ethan mumbles, interrupting me.
We both look at him. Her checkbook falls to her feet where her purse already sits, and she gasps. “You owe him fifty grand?” she asks, blinking in disbelief. Then her hands ball into fists. “They destroyed the shop. They broke everything, Ethan. What am I going to do now?”
“Wait. What?” I ask, looking at her.
She bites her bottom lip and bows her head, quietly crying. Her hands cover her face, and her shoulders begin to shake.
I cup her face and force her to look up at me. “Did they touch you?” I demand.
She pulls back and looks away from me. “They did whatever you told them to do.”
Why does she think I did this?
“I’m sorry,” he tells her softly. “I didn’t know …”
She runs for him. Her body throws them both into the wall before she takes him to the ground. He brings his hands up to shield his face while she balls her fists and starts punching the shit out of him. “They destroyed everything! They’re going to kill you!” she cries, swinging her fists at him. She’s kicking his ass more than his opponent was in the ring.
I wrap an arm around her waist and yank her off him. She kicks and screams as I toss her into Titan’s arms. “Take her to the office. I’ll be right there.”
He drags her out, kicking and screaming. I turn on Ethan. He picks himself up off the floor and wipes the blood from his lips. “Fuck! She’s crazy …”
I punch him. He stumbles back into the table. “Who the fuck do you owe fifty thousand dollars to?”
He grinds his teeth and takes in a deep breath. “I got into some trouble … had to borrow some money.”
“For what?”
He reaches up and rubs blood off his chin. “I lost in a poker game. And I needed a loan. They said I had a month to pay it back. It’s only been two weeks.”
I run a hand through my hair. He’s not old enough to gamble so it has to be somewhere that is under the table. I’m praying it’s not where I think it is. “Who is they?”
He hangs his head. “The Mason brothers.”
I lean my head back and take a deep breath. Motherfucker! “How do they know about the flower shop?”
He swallows. “I had Turner Mason meet me there the other day when he loaned me the money. In the alleyway.”