Chapter Fourteen
Pyro
“You gonna go meet ZZ’s new baby?” Fox questions me when I’m standing near Jinx’s hospital room door.
“Later,” I tell him as I lean my head against the frame, watching as she sleeps.
“You know blowback with the cartel is comin’.”
“I know.”
They’re probably on their way, we’ve killed a dozen of their men, we’d be able to strategize better if we knew which cartel we were at war with, but all the men we’ve killed stay silent, and they aren’t marked with any brand logos that we can find.
“Is she gonna be okay? She took a life.”
“Yeah, Shortcake’s strong.”
“There’s definitely a ton more goin’ on here than our old chapter.”
I snort. “No, shit. Never a dull moment.”
I pull my head off the frame, give the beauty one more look, and turn. “You got her?”
“Yeah, VP. I got her.”
I shoot off a text to ZZ telling him I’m on the way over to the maternity ward. If I don’t make an appearance to meet his new baby, I’ll never hear the end of it.
I run my hand through my hair, pissed I’m getting stares from everyone.
I fucking hate hospitals.
If it isn’t nurses checking me out, its people judging the fuck out of us. If they only knew the kind of trouble we try to keep from their doorsteps.
Sure, we deal in drugs and guns, but we don’t ever sell to kids, and we don’t fucking let others come into town to do it either.
When I get to the newborn gallery, ZZ, Storm, Tea, Braxxon, Winter, Sniper, and Piper are standing at the window.
“Which one’s yours?” I ask.
ZZ points to a tiny mixed baby.
“I have a little sister,” Tea says with awe. “She’s so cute.” Tea turns to Storm. “How does it feel to be a mom?”
Storm puts a hand on the viewing window. “Like my life puzzle is finally complete.”
I’m not an emotional guy, but fuck does it make my heart skip a beat when she replies to Tea’s question.
“How’s the birth mother, was she good when she signed the papers?” Winter questions ZZ and Storm.
“We were a little worried,” Storm says with a sigh. “It was unwarranted though.”
“Why?” I ask.
“She was more than good to sign the papers, hunting down the nineteen-year-old who got her pregnant was a little bit of a task,” Storm replies with a frown. “I almost thought it wasn’t going to happen.”
As if ZZ would let the kid get away with it, he’d do anything for Storm, including smashing some kids face in if he fucked up Storm’s chances of being a mom.
“Did you decide on a name?”
“Miracle, we’ve named her miracle.” Storm hiccups.
“I want one,” Piper whines to Sniper, and his body stiffens. “We’ll talk about it later.”
Sniper’s stayed firm with his decision, he’s told us all he doesn’t want a child until shit clears up, says he doesn’t want another heart to protect while we handle our business.
Can’t say I blame the guy, we have a woman in a hospital bed recovering from being stabbed.
“Cute kid.”
“Thanks, Pyro.” Storm says without taking her eyes off her daughter.
“Sniper, we’ve got watch.”
Sniper says goodbye to Piper and follows me out of the building, silent, and a silent Sniper is never a good thing.
“You’re on your bike?” he questions when I dig out my keys.
“I am. The leg is always gonna bother me.”
“Alright, I’ll meet you over there.”
I palm my keys and watch him walk away. Sniper has always been the outgoing brother, always smiling, never worrying about anything, this whole kid thing is bothering the shit out of him.
Everything was so much fucking easier when we didn’t have women or babies to look out for.
*
“Pyro, that’s enough, brother.”
I ignore Sniper and cut off another one of this fuckers’ fingers, and yes, he’s still alive.
For the moment.
“Pyro!”
“Shut the fuck up, Sniper!”
Snip.
There goes the ring finger, I wiggle it in the cartel goffers face and drop it to the ground and crunch it with my boot.
He won’t stop screaming, and I’m developing a headache, so I knock him out cold with a right hook.
“What is wrong with you!”
If I had an answer to his question, I would answer him, but I don’t fucking know what’s wrong with me. All I know is whenever I get a hold of one of these assholes, I see red. I have all these damn emotions circulating around, and I have no clue what to do with them. Torturing these cartel runners seems to be the only way to quiet the storm inside of me for brief periods.
“Pyro, you’re outta control.”
I pull the rubber gloves off, toss them on the lap of the asshole who is down to four fingers, and nod for Sniper to pick up the gas can. “You should want them all dead, too. This is the same cartel who violated Piper.”
“I do want them all dead, but fuck man, we’re wastin’ time with torturing, they don’t fuckin’ talk.”
“Fuckin’ light him up already.”
I move back when Sniper covers the guy in gasoline, steps back, lights a match and tosses it onto the runner.
It takes a millisecond for him to wake, screaming as the fire burns through his flesh. I should experience remorse for how many lives I’ve taken in my lifetime, but I don’t. I don’t kill unless it needs to be done, and this shit needs to be done.
I’m not racist nor do I discriminate, but if you come across the border, start your dealings somewhere that isn’t ran by a crew already. I’m all for equal opportunity when it doesn’t fuck with my life. Forge your own fuckin’ path, don’t try fucking with someone else’s shit, and don’t hurt innocents.
Greed.
It’s everyone’s downfall.
“Somethin’s wrong with you,” Sniper says as I watch the guy burn.
He wants to go there? Fine. I’ll fucking go there.
“Our president helped someone I love fake her fucking death. I almost killed myself drinking, and my leg is fucked up for life.” I tick off. I’m not going to add Jinx to the mix, my feelings for her make this an even bigger shit show because I don’t understand the nature of them.
“You’re a mess.”
If he only knew all of it.
“I’m not excusin’ what our Prez did. It’s fucked up.” Sniper agrees as we walk through the desert back to our bikes. “What’re you gonna do about, Lana?”
I straddle m’lady. “I don’t know. What would you do?”
“I have no fuckin’ clue, brother. If Piper faked her death to get away from me,” he says while climbs onto his bike, “and came back to life when I was movin’ on, I’d be a fuckin’ mess, too.”
Sums it up.
“Honestly, I’m shocked you haven’t beat the shit out of my brother.”
I am too.
I’m more hurt than angry.
He was my best friend and what he did is unforgivable.
“Me too,” I say.
I don’t care to share my fucking feelings.
Don’t be afraid to feel, Stefan.
Fucking ironic since she’s the one who gasped those words when she was shot and decided to fake her death.
Now look at me, feeling way too much shit.
“Let’s ride. I need a shower.”
“No shit, I can smell myself.” Sniper sniffs. “Fuckin’ heat.”
∞∞∞