“Sure,” Cain agreed. “Now shut the fuck up. You're boring me.”
Cain could never talk about his feelings for more than a sentence without resorting to profanity and irritation. It was part of why we got along.
“You recognized their names?” I asked in the car. Cain’s memory for names and faces was legendary. It was too bad for a lot of people who would’ve happily paid for Cain to forget them.
He nodded. “A couple of my father’s men. Real low-level thugs. He’s not attached to them.”
“Too bad for them. Do you have any ideas where to find them?”
“Yeah,” he scoffed. “I’m calling them to get their asses over here. If I have to look for them, I’m going to be in a foul mood, and I don’t think they want that.”
He drove us back to the club, and on the way, he called one of the men to tell him that he wanted them to meet him there.
When they walked into the lobby, the men had busted knuckles and bad attitudes.
Cain turned a little chillier, even by Cain’s standards.
“Yeah, things got a little wild last night,” one of them said. “But that’s what those bitches were for. They were for using.”
“One of those girls wasn’t,” Cain said pleasantly. “She belonged to someone important.”
“Oh yeah, who? We’ll leave her alone next time.” He snickered. “As long as it wasn’t the cute blond. Between Dem and me, we ripped her vag into her asshole when we were pounding her. Grossest thing I ever saw. Anyway, I guess it’s too late.”
I saw red. Cain cast a warning glance at me.
“So anyway, who did she belong to?” one of the others asked, with a nervous look at Cain.
“Who did she belong to?” I demanded. “How about herself?”
The guy who’d just been bragging about the blond must’ve sensed danger, because he jumped up as if he were going to make a run for the door. I slammed into him, driving him to the ground before I even realized what I was doing. I punched him over and over.
The other two dogpiled me. In the distance, I heard Cain swear as punches landed on my chest and abs. I threw one of them off, and then felt the edge of a knife jab against my side.
Then it was gone, lifted off me, and Cain threw the guy across the room. He raised his gun and squeezed off three quick shots, two body, one head. The other guy who had dogpiled me tried to run, and Cain shot him twice in the back.
I would’ve thought it was overkill, but now I realized the guy under me was dead.
Cain stared at me over the bodies. “Did you just become a fucking feminist?She belonged to herself.What’s wrong with you? Did you pack a copy of The Feminine Mystique today instead of your nine mil?”
“They were assholes. It’s no loss.”
Cain raked his hand through his hair, looking perturbed. Then he sighed and shrugged. “I mean. Fine. But you’re not usually the one who kills people so lightly.”
I shrugged. Cain gave me a cutting look as if he saw right through me.
“Don't know why the fuck you've been talking to me about keeping a cool head,” Cain said. “You're coming pretty unhinged thinking about that girl, aren't you?”
“Haven't you ever thought Aurora deserves more than us and the nasty life that we can give her?”
“No.” Cain scoffed. “Because I deserve her.”
It would be nice to have his unshakable faith that he was worthy. Because as I wiped my bloody knuckles clean, I thought Aurora deserved better than us.
Chapter7
Aurora
My dreams that night were all nightmares.