Page 84 of Just Breathe

“Ah, Aiden.” Lucio looked at me like I was a prized possession. His slight Italian accent gave me Godfather vibes. “I’ll remind you again, you always have a job with me if you’re looking for extra cash. Nothing illegal too.”

“You know my answer is always no,” I replied, looking at Lucio not giving away anything.

“I’m sure one day it won’t be. Every man needs extra cash, especially when they’ve got a beautiful lady in their life,” His gaze lingered on Jane, making me really uneasy.

“That sounds like a man who is trying to compensate for something else and I can assure you Aiden needs no help for that.” Jane surprised me with her snarky comment.

Lucio glared at her for a split second before carefully putting on that fake smile. “Oh, I can assure you darling…”

“Can we just get this over with?” Callum snapped, interrupting Lucio.

“Always so impatient, Callum. I wouldn’t be making demands when you so clearly fucked up on our terms and agreement.” Lucio walked close to us. His proximity to Jane made me nervous he was going to use her as leverage to fuck with Callum.

“One fucking time, and we’ve never had a fight so close together. I’ve made you more money than I owe, but only what I win goes back to pay my debt,” Callum snarled, coming so close to Lucio, that two of his guys pulled him back by the shoulders. He was about to struggle against them when he noticed me shaking my head. We had to play this out smart.

“Those are the terms of our agreement. If you don’t agree with them now, that is not my problem,” Lucio stated like he couldn’t possibly be taking advantage of Callum, still monitoring Jane, like a predator.

“Let’s get this shit over with. What do you want?” Callum tried to calm down, but that look of murder was still in his expression.

Lucio stopped walking around, looking at Callum. We stood in silence as he continued to stare, then he took a glance at us three. I tensed because I knew he was going to fuck Callum over. He had been looking for an excuse to keep him chained to him. “Twenty thousand added to your debt and a lesson to make sure you don’t pull that shit off again.”

“Twenty thousand dollars?!” Callum snarled, pushing himself forward again before being caught by the two goons again, but Callum wasn’t having it. He launched a punch to the guy on the right.

I assumed he would add money to his debt, but I was more worried about what that lesson might be. I pushed Jane slightly behind me as Callum took down the other guy. Four other guys joined the fight, and I noticed Lucio talking to one big guy in particular. I itched to get into the fight but stopped myself, thinking about keeping Jane safe. Nathan angled himself behind Jane as I felt her grab my arm. I looked down at her, surprised at the ferocity in her gaze as she looked at the fight.

Callum took down another guy and was on his way to take another one down when the big guy landed a punch on him, making him lose his momentum.

“Are we just going to stand here and watch him get his ass kicked?” Jane snapped as she tried to push past me.

“Not so fast, Jane, this is his problem, and we have bigger issues to think about.” I angled her towards the two guys with assault rifles slung on their shoulders.

She struggled for a moment before she noticed the guns, then went slack in my arms. “We can’t just sit here and do nothing.”

I looked back at Callum as he was being held by two guys while the big guy punched him a few times. I noticed a glint of metal from one of the other guys coming closer to him.

“Stabbing him will not help you at all, not if you still want him making you money,” I growled at Lucio, pushing Jane behind towards Nathan and walking closer to the guy with the knife.

“We won’t hit anything vital.” The big guy turned around with a malicious grin, making me think he knew where to stab him.

“Aiden, don’t,” Callum groaned as he spit the blood out. His right eye was swelling shut, bruising started showing, and he was wincing as he rolled his neck.

I noticed Lucio watching the exchange with amusement in his eyes. He was waiting for me to fuck up so he could ensnare me in his web of profits. I sized up the big guy, debating if I could just snap his neck and hoped that Callum could get his ass in the car before shit went down, but I knew that probability was low.

The big guy stepped up to me trying to intimidate me or push my buttons, but I wasn’t afraid of much and I would not start being afraid now. He was slightly taller than me, probably a good thirty pounds heavier than me, but he didn’t have the training or experience I had.

When neither of us backed down, Lucio clapped like the fucking maniac he was.

“I love your savagery, Aiden, but this is a lesson that needs to be learned the hard way, apparently.” Lucio nodded to the guy with the knife.

“Fuck that,” I growled, pushing the big guy out of my way, when two other guys pulled me back and pointed a gun at my head. I froze, not wanting to die as I noticed Jane knee some guy in the nuts, and when he leaned forward, she kneed him in the face. She turned around and stilled when she spotted, I had a gun to my head. She looked to her left, shaking her head. I assumed Nathan was trying to get away from someone. I heard Callum grunt and I was afraid to look at what the guys did to him.

Lucio walked up to Callum, who was being held up. “Next time I won’t be so lenient, and I expect you to be well enough for the next fight.” He turned around and looked at the rest of us. “We can still work something out, Aiden. I’ll always have room for you and you too.” He winked at Jane, turning around going back to his car.

Jane flipped him off, catching the attention of a thug who glared at her. She looked behind her at the man who was still on the floor and looked back at him with a come at me bro look. Fuck. I think I just fell in love with her. She rushed towards Callum, not giving a fuck who was in her way, and I followed her lead, pushing the guys away too.

They left Callum on the ground, unconscious. His face was swelling to the point he was unrecognizable.

“Jesus Christ,” Jane murmured, slowly rolling Callum onto his back. I helped her, trying not to hurt him too much.

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