(Noah)

I opened the door and two men barged right in.

Like fucking hell.

I threw a right and hit one of the guy’s in the jaw. He dropped right to his ass, grabbing for his face, instantly dazed. The other guy hit me in the ribs. I jumped back and took some of the punch, but not all. I swung with a left and hit him in the eye. He punched me in the jaw. The two of us then locked up. I swung him and tried to throw him. His hands were locked tight and we both went into a wall. I slipped my right hand up and grabbed the guy by the throat. I squeezed and drove him back to the wall. I lifted my knee and got him in the stomach.

That loosened him up.

He let me go.

I took one step back to give myself some room. Then I unloaded with three punches and took him to the ground.

I turned to keep my eyes on both men. I took deep breaths, collecting myself.

Someone started to clap.

That’s when Marcos entered my apartment.

Fuck.

“I guess these two aren’t going to cut it,” Marcos said.

I made fists. I faced Marcos and had my back to the hallway that led to the bedroom. He was here for Penny. She better have picked a good place to hide.

“Are you going to shoot them in the back of the head?” I asked.

Marcos smiled. “You’re still pissed about that? About Seth? It’s business, Noah. You understand that, right?”

“Business,” I said. “A guy you’d been close with for how many years? A guy that was like a brother to me? I’m supposed to just forget about it?”

“Hey, I gave you time,” Marcos said. “Why do you think I’ve been so quiet? I gave you an order and I backed off a little. Right or wrong?”

I stared at Marcos. I tried to figure out what would happen if I killed him. How long I could survive before his family would track me down and destroy me.

Marcos put a hand to my shoulder. “How’s it feeling?”

“Great,” I said. “Hurts a little now that I had to knock these two out.”

Marcos ran his thumb across the bandage. He pressed, trying to get me to wince or move. I sucked up the pain and stood right there.

“Time’s up, Noah,” Marcos said. “We need to get that bitch and end this.”

“What do you want me to do?” I asked. “She stole my car.”

“Then why’s your car parked outside?”

My heart sank.

Of course Penny drove my car back here. And instead of cleaning up all the little details, what did we do? We went at it. She was in the bathroom when I showered. She broke me down with her pretty eyes while I wore nothing but a towel. My needs and urges took over and left me nearly brain dead as I could only think about sleeping with her over and over and over.

So much so that we left such an obvious detail out in the open.

I had no response which did nothing but shovel more guilt on top of my back.

Marcos slapped my face. “Noah, you stupid motherfucker. She’s here.”

“Marcos…”

He put up a finger. “I’m going to find her.”

* * *

He started to check the apartment. The bathroom. The closet in the hallway. He had his two goons up and helping. They were both dazed and probably wouldn’t be able to find Penny if she stood a foot away from them.

“She’s not here,” I said as Marcos pushed my bedroom door open.

“Oh?”

“She came back the other day,” I said. “She brought my car back. I was in the shower, changing my bandages. I heard a noise and looked out. She had my gun, Marcos. I was in no position to try and fight her. Christ, she shot me once. She was going to shoot me again.”

“She came back here to give you your car?” Marcos asked.

“Yeah. To make a statement. She took the keys to her car and then took off. That’s all I can say, Marcos. She was hell bent on getting out of here.”

“And you just decided to sleep the next few days off and do nothing?” Marcos asked. “Letting her take off? Why?”

“This isn’t my job, Marcos,” I said. “I’m sorry. I’m your top fighter and nothing else. You had Seth and you killed him. I was drunk in the shower, Marcos. I…”

“Drunk,” Marcos said. “Sad. Crying like a baby. Changing your bandages.”

Marcos stepped into the bedroom. He looked to the floor just as I did.

Of all goddamn things… Penny left her panties on the floor.

Marcos bent down and hooked the panties on his pinky finger and he stood up. He held them out to me. “Explain.”

“What?”

“You wear these?”

“Fuck you, Marcos.”

Marcos brought the panties to his nose and sniffed.

My blood boiled like lava ready to spew from a volcano.

“Yeah, I know that smell,” he whispered. “She’s still here, isn’t she?”

I grabbed the panties and threw them across the bedroom. Then went nose to nose with Marcos. “Let me explain something to you. Who I fuck and when I fuck them isn’t your business. I’ve been in this apartment, half drunk, calling in favors for days. Okay? I don’t understand your obsession with Penny. You don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. Thanks for showing trust. You want to question who I fuck? I don’t even know the name of the woman those panties belong to. And there’s probably three more pair somewhere in this bedroom. You killed my best friend. I’m not just going to stand up and walk away from that like nothing happened. I got shot and you killed Seth. I’m not okay with any of this.”

“I don’t give a shit what you’re okay with,” Marcos said. He was trying to read my eyes. “So you’ve been cooped up in here with booze and pussy?”

“My two addictions.”

“Did you cry when you were between her legs?”

“You’re a fucking prick, Marcos.”

He laughed. “I’m going to search this entire room, Noah.”

I played it cool and sat down on the bed. “Go to it, Marcos. Let me know how many pairs of panties you find. I’ll put money down on three.”

Marcos raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“It’s sort of my thing,” I said. “I collect them. Trophies.”

“Like a serial killer.”

“I’m a serial fucker.”

Marcos laughed again.

He moved around the small bedroom. He touched the walls as though a hidden door was going to open. I had no clue where Penny was. When Marcos dropped to his knees to check under the bed, my throat closed a little. He then went to the closet and opened the door. He started to punch at the clothes, leaving my heart pounding, waiting to hear Penny cry out in pain if she was in the closet.

Marcos grabbed a handful of my clothes and threw them over his head.

I stood up. “That’s enough, Marcos. I told you the truth. Penny isn’t here. Now if you want to find her, let’s talk this out.”

Marcos spun around looked enraged. “Now you give a shit?”

“Obviously this means a lot to you. I don’t get why. I’d rather just fight.”

“You want to fight? Okay, Noah. Okay.” Marcos whistled.

His two goons stepped into the bedroom. I quickly made fists, ready to go. Marcos took his gun out and pointed it at me. He walked to me and jammed the gun to my neck.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“First, I’m going to tie your hands behind your back with those panties,” Marcos said. “Then my friends here are going to give you a reminder of what happens when you ignore me. You’re lucky because I’m giving you this one chance. To understand. To learn.”

“Marcos…”

One of the guys swung and hit me in the face. I flew to the left and hit the dresser. The second guy kicked me in the ribs and I was then on the floor. Marcos was right there, gun pointed at me.

“Remember, Noah, this is your fault.”

I stared up at Marcos.

Penny was somewhere in the bedroom.

And I was about to take a beating.