Page 5 of When Sinners Dare

He slowly raises his hands, then shakes his head at the guys around me. Creep and Dexter back off first, and the rest follow like the good soldiers they are until there’s a free route to the door. So I walk for the bar and throw whatever money I’ve got in my pocket at Joe, apologising for the mess I’ve made.

“Good luck, kid,” he says.

And then, with one last look back at my past, I’m out on the sidewalk with Jonny's Glock tucked in the back of my jeans and a stab wound in my gut.

A long breath gets hauled in, and I start walking for Angelique’s bar.Ash’s serving when I get there, still looking as good as she did eight years ago. I tap my bloodied side when she notices me, so she flicks her head at me to go out back and wait. I’m through the doors and climbing up onto the cooler unit within the next minute or so, pulling down the box of medical supplies she always has with her.

My shirt gets taken off, and I look around at the deep wound in my side. “Motherfucka.”

“Well, shit, Kai,” Ash says, walking in. “A few daysout and this already?” I nod and watch her wash her hands, then hiss as she gets her fingers right in the cut. “Move that crap out of my sight.” I move the gun laid beside me, unloading the magazine and sliding it away from her. “You’re lucky. Could’ve been worse.” She digs around inside the box, pulling out whatever she needs to stitch me up, and then gets on with that without any other conversation.

“So,” she eventually says, covering the area in some gauze and tape. “Nice ink.” I look down at my own artwork and nod, then wince as she sticks me with an injection of some kind. “You get that inside?”

“Yeah. Passed the time.”

“Looks like you hit the gym up, too.” She moves away to clean her hands again, wiping them down with a towel after. “And now what? Jonny’s still got you now you're out?”

“No, I’m done. Moving away tomorrow. Just needed to get some things said to him.”

She laughs lightly. “And getting stabbed for that was worth it?”

I grab my shirt and slip it back on, ready to get the hell out of Houstonand on with my new life. “Yeah.” No gangs anymore. No problems chasing my ass. No orders. Just a regular nine to five and weekends to chill out in. Might just get on my Scout and see some of the west coast before touring Europe. “Thanks for this.” She nods and reaches to put the box back on the shelf as I tuck the gun back in my waistband. “Ash?”

“Yeah.”

I turn back from the doorway I was heading out of. “Why don’t you just go back to med school? You're good.”

She looks away, fiddling with the towel. “You know the answer to that.”

“It wasn’t your fault.”

“Yeah, I keep trying to tell myself that, but he was my husband, Kai. Mine. And these skills weren’t enough to do shit. He died under me. Don’t think I’ll ever get past that.”

“But he wouldn’t want you like this.”

“What Brent wants doesn’t mean a lot now, does it? He’s dead.” She walks past me back out into the main bar. “Besides, I couldn’t afford it even if I did want to go back. Jonny’s guys take too much of a cut each month.”

“They what?” She sighs and gets behind her bar again.

“Things have changed out here, Kai. We have to pay for protection now.”

“Protection from who?” She tilts her head, a drained fucking smile coming with the move. “Jonny?”

“Yeah. He makes sure we pay, or he trashes the place.”

Temper comes racing back, making me slam the bar with my fist. “Should’ve killed the fucker.”

She chuckles and puts two shot glasses on the bar, filling both to the brim with Jack. “Yeah, well, looks like you didn't. And that was the right call after where you’ve been. You would’ve been straight back in there. Where are you going now?” I frown and pick up my drink. “You’re not going to tell me?” My head shakes. “Right. Guess that’s it then.” She tips her own drink down her neck. “You’re the last piece of Brent I had and now you’re gone, too.”

A sliver of buried guilt slices through me as I watch her saying that. I don’t owe her a damn thing, but I was Brent’s best man at their wedding. His friend, I guess. As much a friend as guys like us are, anyway. None of us care much for friends. What's the point? Life happens. People die. Or betray you. We're all better off alone. And I’m not having her know where I am, anyway, because if she knows, and they get to her, then they’ll be able to get to me.

My frown gets deeper. “Get me some paper and a pen.” She does, and I scrawl my new number on it, passing it over to her. “Save it under anything but my name. You ever need me, you call. I'm not far from the Alamo.”

She nods and looks at the number for a solid five minutes, then lights it up and lets it fall to the floor at her feet.

“Yo, babe!” some guy shouts from a way down the bar. “Two Buds.”

She smiles at me one last time and walks off towards him. “Take care of yourself, Kai. Keep that pretty face outta trouble.”

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