Page 23 of Last One Standing
“Because I ordered it.” He clenched his fist. “I will knock sense into him if I have to. You and he are to stay away from those guys. Next time I see either of you near any one of them, I’ll make you both wish I’d left you on the streets.”
“I want to see my brother, Brick.”
“I’m thinking the two of you need time apart. Your rebellious ways are rubbing off on him. He’s an impressionable young man. Give him a few days with Tank, and I’m sure he’ll change his ways.”
I clenched my teeth, and with all the force I could muster, slapped Brick across the face. “Pika is untouchable, that’s the agreement we made. You fuck me, beat me, tear me down whenever you get the chance. And I stay, I put up with it because you keep Pika safe. But you’ve broken that promise, Brick. The one thing I held on to. The one thing that made me endure you.”
He slowly panned his head to face me again. A trickle of blood dripped from the corner of his mouth and a monster stared back at me.
“Endure me?”
“I want to see Pika.”
He gripped my arms, spun me and slammed me onto the mattress. My brain rattled unpleasantly but it was better than a wall.
“Maybe both of you need to remember where you’d be without me, without my generosity. You can go ahead and endure me from this room for a bit.”
“You can’t keep me prisoner.”
He leaned closer to me, his lips brushed against my ear. “I own you, Kona. I’ll do whatever I want.”
He got up fast and I tried to scramble after him, but he was too quick. He shut the door and when I went to open it, I realized I couldn’t.
“While you were in the shower, Lips put a deadbolt on the outside of your door. And don’t try to go out through the window. Someone will be sitting right under it. I’ll let Cindy know you’re sick and to cancel your shows this week,” he shouted from the other side of the door.
As soon as I heard his footsteps move away I collapsed on my bed, pressed my pillow to my face, and screamed.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
ANGEL
My phone kept vibratingin my pocket, but I couldn’t answer it. My hands were in sudsy water washing up some new medical equipment we’d gotten in. While growing up I’d wanted to be a doctor, but that was derailed when bigwig lunatics killed our foster parents and sister. We’d all had one focus and that had been to take them all out. By the time we succeeded, too much time had passed. Now, I just did what I could if someone was hurt here. There were limits to what I could do, however, and I tried to research and figure out new things.
“Shit,” I snapped the second my phone began vibrating again.
I pulled my hands out of the water, dried them quickly, and then took out my phone.
“What?”
“So pleasant,” Shep’s gravelly unamused voice hummed in my ear.
“I was busy, what’s so important you felt the need to keep calling?”
“There’s a kid at the shop, he came in and asked Lizzy if Angel was here. He seemed nervous, I dunno. She had him take a seat but you should probably come by.”
A kid? “How old is this kid?” I was already running up the stairs from the basement.
“Maybe fifteen, sixteen—not real sure. Looks familiar, though.”
I grabbed my keys and went to the garage. “Did he say what he wanted me for?”
“No, Lizzy just had him take a seat and she came and told me.”
“Okay, I’m in the car, be there soon.”
I got to the shop and entered through the back door. Shep was rolling dough and gestured with his chin.
“He’s out there, JJ is sitting with him.”
