Page 10 of Razor's Edge
“Speak for yourself. We haven’t seen Little Red lately. You keeping her all tied up somewhere?” Pretty Boy asks, wiggling his eyebrows.
Duck doesn’t say anything, just glares at him. I’ve been so lost in my shit that I’ve completely missed what’s going on with my brothers. Fuck. I pray after this, things will be better, and I can finally get back to spending time with my brothers instead of hiding in my cave to avoid them and the she-devil that makes my life a living hell.
“Will you boys sit and shut the fuck up so you might find out why you’re here?” Prez asks, trying to hide his amusement.
“Okay, well, considering Razor looks like someone not only killed his pet, but someone made him watch, he might finally be ready to tell us what the fuck is going on. We all know this started long before the shit with Star and Starla,” Torch states, glaring at me.
Torch and I have never kept secrets. We’ve always been honest and upfront, no matter what or why. Hiding this from him has hurt him more than it has anyone else. I can’t change what I did. All I can do is be honest and not ever do it again. I mean, he can’t be pissed at me forever, can he?
I sit back in my chair, making eye contact with everyone as I speak. “About a year ago, I got curious about what was going on with my little brother, and before you ask, yes, I have a little brother that Prez set up with my mom’s sister before he brought me in. Anyway, I hadn’t talked to or heard from him since that day, just like we all agreed.”
This is going to be a hell of a lot harder for them to understand since no one had any idea I had a brother.
“I found him. Only to find out he ran away from my aunt and uncle’s house at seventeen, and they hadn’t heard from him since. I took what little information they could give me and did what I do best. I eventually found him in South Texas, just an hour and a half north of the Mexico border.”
“Fuck, man. There aren’t many people who live that close to the border for good reasons,” Duck says, looking worried.
“You aren’t wrong. I soon found out he was trafficking drugs and women and laundering money through the spa he managed for the Revera Cartel.” I finger quotes the word spa. “I tried and tried to get him to stop and come here with me to get out of the game. He kept telling me he was trying, and it wouldn’t be much longer. He acted like he wanted out when he found out Star was pregnant. I later found out he was using me. He wasn’t trying to get out, but trying to get in with us to run the Revera products through our area on the way to and from New York.” I stop, trying to rein in my temper because I’m pissed I let that little fucker play me the way he did.
“So, what you’re telling me is the best IT man in the country got played by a little shithead and his whore?” Duck asks, vibrating with anger.
Women being trafficked sits harder with him than the rest of us because of Little Red. I don’t say anything. I drop my elbows onto my knees and rub my temples because he’s not wrong, I did get fucking played, and there are days I suspect Star is playing me. She’s too okay with everything going on to be the scared woman who did the cartel dirty. I’m starting to believe she had more to do with my little brother’s death than I previously believed.
“Duck, that’s enough. Continue, Razor, so we can figure out how to clean this shitshow up,” Prez snaps.
“About two weeks before Duck came home, my brother called freaking out because he, Star, and the baby were on the run. He told me they had been skimming off the top of the profits and cutting the product in ways that Revera didn’t approve of so he could use more. He told me he was hiding in some run-down hotel in Utah.” I look over at Prez with pleading eyes. “He was scared, Prez. He was begging for help for his woman and little girl. I had to help them. So, I started looking into the Revera’s to find a way to help him. It took me a minute, but I finally found something, only it was too late. I called his phone, and Star answered, sounding scared, telling me that my brother was dead. She and the baby were hiding in the bathroom in the bathtub.”
I see the moment everyone realizes when that call was. “Yes, that’s the night I stormed out on Edge. I had to save what was left of my family. Now the more I search and look, the more I believe Star was behind it. I just haven’t been able to prove it,” I finish.
“I still don’t understand why you didn’t tell us what was going on. If the Revera’s are looking for Star, bringing her here causes us all problems. Damnit, Razor, I’ve got a fucking baby on the way.” Torch speaks so calmly. I’ve fucked up beyond belief.
“I know, fuck, I know! I didn’t have a choice. Starla is innocent and doesn’t deserve any of this,” I say, still trying to make it okay that I did what I did.
“You could have told us the damn truth. We would’ve fucking helped you. I mean, fuck, you’re our brother,” Pretty Boys says angrily.
“By finding and reaching out to him, I was already breaking my word,” I shout, coming to my feet so I can pace the floor.
“Son, what do you mean by that?” Prez asks, leaning on his desk with a look of confusion.
Why is he asking that question? He’s the one that told me I couldn’t have contact with my brother anymore, and now he’s playing fucking dumb?
“When we got back to the cage after leaving my brother with my aunt and uncle, you told me this would be the last time I’d see my brother. To not reach out or even check on him. That was best for him and me. You fucking made me give you my word I wouldn’t reach out to him,” I growl, leaning on my hands to come nose to nose with Prez.
It’s taking everything I’ve got in me not to throttle this fucker for playing stupid. How could he not remember telling me that? What the actual fuck?
Prez slowly comes to his feet, never losing eye contact. “First, you are going to take a motherfucking step back. You do not want to fucking go there. Second, that is what was said, but it wasn’t because it’s what I wanted. It was what your aunt and uncle asked. I just relayed the fucking message. And let’s get one thing very fucking clear: I didn’t agree with them that you both didn’t need each other. It was the only way they’d take him in.” He pauses for his words to sink in before shutting down the dad in him and putting on the Prez hat.
“I’ll let what happened today slide. You boys have been doing a lot of this stupid shit, and I think it’s time I show you fuckers who is still in charge of this damn club.” Prez finishes so calmly that a shiver goes down my spine. This man is not one to mess with, and add in the fact that we keep testing his patience, I suspect things are going to get ugly fucking fast.
“Wait!” I shake my head. “You’re telling me I’ve been lying, hiding, and keeping secrets for nothing? That you’d have helped? No, not just helped, but supported me in finding him?”
“Yes, son. We are not just a club. We are family, and that’s what family fucking does,” Prez says.
I need a fucking drink. I can’t fucking do this. I push my way through my brothers, going straight for the bar. I find a newer club girl wiping it down. I knock on the wood, not saying a word motioning for her to give me a shot. She pours one without question. I slam it back.
“Leave the bottle,” I demand as she goes to put it away.
I sit there until the bottle is gone, and my brothers have started to party. I need to get the fuck out of here. I need time and space. Coin and Pretty Boy talk about going to the local strip club. That sounds like a fucking bad idea, but anything is better than this right now. Star hops from one brother to the next, acting like the whore she is.
