Page 2 of Homecoming

I just shrug, making both of us laugh, we both know that he’s right. He has known me since we were little kids, there isn’t much that he doesn’t know about me.

“Hey guys,” Alaric greets us as soon as we get in the car.

“Hey, man,” I reply. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. After a somewhat quiet period, I think things might be picking up again, and we might have a better chance of actually stopping Liam soon,” he replies.

“What about Blake?” I ask.

My brother is just as big of a problem as my father is, if not more.

“He will be taken down along with Liam; he’s involved, and we will take the whole operation down,” Alaric replies firmly.

“Good,” I reply.

My father, Alaric’s brother, Liam, is as bad as they come as far as criminals are concerned. He deals in pretty much everything that you can think of and doesn’t discriminate. Drugs, weapons, people, he doesn’t care; he will sell it all to the highest bidder. He is so prominent in the crime world that even just the sound of his name holds power, and if you are a known associate of his and preferred by him, then you are almost untouchable.

No one would risk retribution from my father.

It works the other way though as well, if you work for my father and you displease him, then he will end you, without remorse, and without hesitation. I would know, I have seen it happen when I was far too young to be witnessing things like that.

Alaric managed to get me away from him and, more importantly, my brother Blake. My father may have been bad, but Blake targeted me, he fucking hates me, and he let me know that he did my whole life. He tortured me, and I’m not talking about the usual sibling shit, I mean actual torture. He has nearly killed me, and if my father hadn’t found us when he did, I would be dead. So, I guess I do have something to thank the old man for. I think it might have been that incident that was the catalyst that Alaric used so that he could finally get me away from them. I don’t remember my dad putting up much of a fight, but then again, I was pretty fucked up at the time, and I don’t remember much.

I remember being in the hospital, slipping in and out of consciousness, and Alaric holding my hand tightly, whispering that he loved me, and saying that he was going to fix it to make sure that nothing like this could happen again. He also said sorry, but I slipped back into unconsciousness before I could ask him what he was sorry for, and so much time has passed now, it seems odd and awkward to ask.

Blake is Liam’s right-hand man, and whereas Liam has a few grey and shaky morals, Blake has absolutely none. He will kill you just for looking at him the wrong way. I remember when we were younger, he killed one of his best friends just because he was in a bad mood, and he didn’t even regret it. So, it wasn’t like he did it in a fit of rage; he knew what he was doing the whole time and still killed him.

Blake is a psychopath and is made even more terrifying because he was raised in the world of crime, and he has a lot of skills because of it. Skills that he utilizes regularly. He is a force to be reckoned with, and if I’m being honest with myself, he scares the fucking shit out of me. I have seen the things that he can and will do without a second thought.

Chapter Two

Atlas

The silence in the car is interrupted as Rage says, “What’s the job?”

I have never been more grateful to be pulled out of my thoughts than I am right now. I hate thinking about my fucked-up family unless it’s a case of when we are going to be taking them down. Anything else, and I shy away from it. Yes, I am more than aware of how unhealthy that is.

I simply don’t care.

“Can you remember that job we did a few weeks ago, where the informant told us about a meeting happening at a tiny bar?” Alaric asks.

“Yeah, of course,” I reply.

“The fucker knew that we were coming and escaped,” Rage replies.

I frown, “After he had caused a massive bar fight to distract us and slow us down so we couldn’t chase him.”

Alaric nods, “Yeah, that’s the one.”

“What about it?” I ask, and then add before he can reply, “Are we going after the same target? Did you finally manage to find him?”

“No, he is still in the wind. We have some of our best people looking for him, but he seems to have just vanished.” Alaric replies, his frown deepening.

“He’s not been spotted with Liam?” I ask.

Alaric shakes his head, “No. Which is really odd because he was with him pretty consistently.”

“Is he dead?” Rage asks bluntly. “That could be why no one has been able to find him.”

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