Page 5 of Darkness

“Two, I was careful yesterday.” Taking the box with our sweet treats inside, I grab our drinks from him and say, “but the day has just started, so we’ll see tomorrow.” Thanking him for my order, I make my way to the door.

“I’m going with three.” I go back to him, and tell him I already have two from this morning, which gets a laugh from him.

Walking back into the Sweet Rose with our treats, I place them on the counter for us.

My mind wanders to the window display and how I need to finalize it soon. The only thing is that I’m not getting the picture in my head, at the moment. I guess it’s time to spend the day scrolling Pinterest and hope something grabs my attention. The best idea I have at the moment is to have a wall with wine glasseshanging off it, with some flowers in them. It’s something I hope a bride would want for her special day as a seating plan. All I need to do is find some nice wine glasses, which make a statement and customers will stop to look at the window.?

“I do have this single friend—” Katy starts the second I walk through the door. “—e’s tall, has blonde hair, he works at the bank-”

“Katy, are you talking about your brother’s best friend?” I ask, hoping it’s not him. I believe he’s slept with half the women in this town from the stories I’ve heard about him. From her.

“Fine, not him. How about-”

“How about we not talk about my love life and find you a man instead?” I cut her off and hand her cupcake and coffee.

I can see today is going to be a day of matchmaking and not creating a beautiful spring window display.

You never know, she might talk about a man who is worth me investing my time in.

Three

Cain

“He’s askingfor you again. He says he needs to talk to you.” Lincoln stands on the other side of my desk.

It was hard to find a man I trust to be head of my security, not just for Skyline, but someone who has my back in The Pit. Most people wouldn’t know where to find a man like that? For me, it was easy. The Pit.

Lincoln is around ten years older than me. He came into The Pit after me, but he was the only man who, when I was alone, was there for me. He might have been one of the most ruthless people I’ve ever met. He didn’t care who, or how, he had to kill someone, he just did it. When I lost my grandad down there I was still a kid, and Lincoln was the one who looked out for me. It was then I knew, when The Pit became mine, he was the man I wanted next to me.

“Unless he tells you what he wants, there's no reason for you to go to see him.” I lean back in the chair as Lincoln laughs.

“The watchman also called. If we don’t feed your dog soon he might die, and because I know you still want more fun, I told him to give him food.” Lincoln bursts out laughing.

Which makes me ask.“ And what have you fed him?”

“What dogs eat. Dog food, I was in a good mood, so I added some cooked chicken,” Lincoln tells me, but then he goes back to talking about the asshole wanting to talk to me. “We could make him earn the chance to talk to you.”

Now that sounds more like what I want to hear. Before I was in there, The Pit had rules. A lot of fucked up rules. To earn time to talk to the boss, to earn a cell, to have a good meal, to get some clean fresh air, you had to earn it. Some of the things they made them do was so fucked up. Even now I hate them, and wouldn’t want to spend another second doing them. One room fucked me up so much, even now it hits me. I shake my head to get the thought out of my head.

“Throw him in for a fight. If he wins, I’ll talk to him. I’ll be there tonight to watch, but only on the camera.” It’s rare I go into The Pit anymore, the only time I do go is watch the cameras to make sure things are getting done. Most of the time I only go down to fight. This is because to exit The Pit, they have to fight me. I’ve tried so hard to make sure I don’t lose. No one is leaving The Pit ever.

“We also had a mom coming in this morning asking if her daughter was a dancer here. She isn’t. We have a bridal party coming in tonight, and asked for a booth with not just a male stripper but a female one too.” Lincoln continues to tell me about other parties coming in tonight, while I reply to my mom, letting her know I’m leaving the office in five minutes.

I have no idea why she wants to talk to me, especially not at the ice rink with Logan there, too. He hates me. No matter what I do, he won’t give me a chance. Even when I have dinner with them, he never talks to me.

Getting up, I grab my jacket and leave the office with Lincoln. I take a look around the club as I make my way down the stairs. When I was in The Pit, I always planned what I would do. The family business was always open to me, but I was never goingto be the same person when I came out. Talking, being around people wasn’t something I wanted.

Having my own business, it gives me the freedom to talk to who I want. I feel it fits me better.

My grandad wanted me in the family business. He spoke about it all the time, how I was going to be better than Dad at what we do. It’s been a few years since I’ve been out of The Pit, and I still like to be alone. Talking about The Pit is something I don’t want to do. Ever. Tess was the only one who understood me. She saw what it did to me, saw how messed up it made me. I don’t need to talk to anyone else about it. Uncle David still asks questions now and again, wanting to know what happened to grandad, and I tell him the quick version. He was killed in a fight.

I know one day I’ll have to tell him the truth, not just about him, but everything else that happened down there. Sooner or later that one family will come for me, it’s only a matter of time. I know they are watching me, trying to find something on me. One day they will. I can’t be a ghost forever.

“I’ll see you at the club tonight, and have you narrowed down someone to take over for you when you’re not here?” Lincoln can’t be here and in The Pit at the same time, so I told him to hire someone. He will be worse than me at making sure it’s the right person.

“I have three. At the end of the week, I’ll get one. See you later,” he shouts toward me as I get to my car looking around to make sure no one is watching me. This is how messed up my life is, looking over my shoulder wherever I go to make sure no one is ready to take my life.

Every day, I wonder if today is the day I’m going to die.

---