Noah
"We need to talk about where your loyalties rest, kid," was the first thing I heard when I opened my front door Tuesday morning and my heart sank.
He was home.
Back to reality…
"I'm late for school, George," I replied stiffly as I closed the front door and made for the stairs. Ellie had returned from their trip two weeks ago and when George hadn’t returned with her a tiny part of me had hoped – fucking prayed – he never would… "We can talk about my loyalties later."
I'd spent most of the night fooling around with Teagan, but I'd slipped out of her room at the crack of dawn before her uncle came home. Besides I needed to go home and grab a shower before school.
Now I was wishing I had just gone stinking and bookless. It would have been a hell of a lot easier than having a confrontation with my stepfather.
The sound of the staircase creaking behind me confirmed George wasn’t in the mood to wait.
"You don’t make the rules around here, Messina," George rasped as he hurried after me, also confirming to me that I had a fifty percent change of making it out of here unscathed. "JD seems to be under the impression you're seeing that little bitch next-door," he snarled. "He reckons she's been spotted at the quarry twice – and was with you at the hotel."
"Yep," I muttered through clenched, pushing my bedroom door open. "She was." There was no point in lying. He would find out either way.
"What's going on with her, Noah?" he wheezed, standing in my doorway. "You know better than to stick your fingers in the goddamn cookie jar. Her uncle's a doctor for Christ's sakes – that’s almost as bad as a cop."
"She is none of your business," I warned him, reeling from the emotions that were seeping into my body. "I fight for you – that's the agreement – and I do it when I'm told, no questions asked. But you sure as hell don’t get to tell me who I can spend my time with," I added as I rummaged in one of my dresser drawers for a clean pair of socks and boxers.
"Spending time with her?" George sneered as he took a step into my room. "So that's what Ellie saw you doing – spending time with her – when you were screwing her in my goddamn kitchen?"
"Be very careful, G," I seethed. Walking over to my closet, I grabbed a clean pair of jeans, t-shirt and hoodie. "I'm feeling really fucking reckless right now. One more word against her and I'm gonna lost my shit."
His hand clamped down on my shoulder, nails biting into my shoulder blade, and I had to force myself to remain still and not pulverize the creep into next year.
There was no doubt in my mind that I could. George knew that as well as I did. But the bastard held the trump card – the one thing that assured my submission – and he wielded it over me any chance he got. "And how was your pretty little mommy?" he sneered, green eyes narrowed and full of poison. "I heard you paid her a little visit over the holidays."
"Like you don’t know," I hissed, roughly shaking his hand off. "Her nurse told me about the visitor." I shook my head in disgust. "What was it this time, meth or coke?"
"What can I say…she called me begging for it," he chuckled. "Your sweet little momma's crazier than a bag of frogs, Messina, but she's one hell of a great fuck."
"You make me sick." My fists clenched with the urge to knock him out. "You're scum, George. Fucking scum." I was shaking with temper as I watched him step out of my reach.
"Sooner or later I'm going to get her away from you," I vowed. "Someplace you and your scumbag cronies can't get to her – can't poison her body."
George's eyes lit up with amusement. "But what would be the point in that, Noah?" he asked in an innocent tone. "Now that I know about your little soft spot for the doctor's niece and can easily use her instead of your mother to keep you in-line."
My blood turned to ice in my veins. "Don’t even think about involving Teagan in this…"
"You already did that, you little shit," George snarled. "When you fucked me over with Gonzalez. Be glad that your body's not rotting in the fucking mountains next to your father's."
I watched George walk across my bedroom. "You fight Gonzalez's boy, Javi, Friday night – the thirteenth," he informed me and my stomach churned.
Gerome Javi was a fucking butcher. No one survived a fight with the guy, let alone beat him. Javi was a fight to the death kinda guy – no remorse and no way out. Step into the ring with him and you were signing your own death certificate. I didn’t have a prayer of beating him and George knew it…
"This is different, isn’t it?" I husked, feeling more fear than I had felt in years. "This is it – my punishment." I could feel the vein in my temple throb as I glowered down at the man I hated more than anyone else on this planet.
George nodded his head, confirming my worst fears, and my legs felt weak.
This was bad…
This was so fucking bad…
"The rules have changed, Messina," he told me. "Because of your defection I can't trust you anymore."
"My defection," I repeated flatly. "I fought to make some extra cash and get my car fixed – I'd hardly call it defection."
"That's because you don’t have a loyal bone in your body," George snarled, red-faced, as he stepped towards me and poked my chest. "You don’t have a clue of what loyalty means – just like your piece of shit father."
"I'm not my father," I snarled.
"Not yet," George sneered. "But lose against Javi on Friday and you'll be spending a whole bunch of time with him."
"So that's what this is?" I hissed, forcing my voice not to shake even though the image of Teagan's face was making me feel faint with fear. "You want rid of me, but you want Javi to do your dirty work for you?"
"I demand allegiance from my men," he roared. "And you, my boy, knew exactly what would happen when you took that job for my fucking arch rival." Marching past me George turned when he reached my door and smirked. "Oh, and be sure to bring your little girlfriend Friday night, you know, for moral support…or for a final farewell."
"No goddamn way," I snarled, chest heaving. "She stays out of this, George."
George threw his head back and laughed. "What's wrong, Messina?" he goaded. "Don’t you think you can win?"
"She's not going," I seethed. I could feel my temper piquing and I urged myself to calm down and breathe. "Leave her out of this, G. I mean it."
George studied my face with an amused expression. "You were always weak, Messina," he croaked. "Same as your father. He lost his head for a blonde."
Shaking his head, George opened my bedroom door and stepped onto the hallway. "Bring the girl," he sneered. "Let's see how focused you are with your piece of ass in the crowd."
"One of these days I'm gonna kill you," I vowed, jaw clenched, eyes locked on his fat fuck of a face. "I promise you that much."
"Famous last words, Messina," he taunted. "Oh wait – those really were your father's last words – right before I put a bullet between his eyes."
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