Page 21 of The Air You Breathe

Jane pushed me onto a chair while she flashed a light in my eyes and put a cold pack against my face. The dude with Jane offered some sound advice, that left me suspicious until Jane said he knew Cal and had trained with him. So this had to be Nathan. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing but I followed his advice that saved me from probably getting knocked out.

After I won the fight, Jane insisted she check my injuries and the only reason I went with her was because my face fucking hurt and I felt like I could trust her to make sure I was okay.

Walking into a room with Cal and his friends was a terrifying experience. I knew of Cal because I had seen plenty of his fights and the dude was a machine. His situation was complete shit; Lucio was a fucking shark and saw an opportunity to make some serious money.

When Jane told them she was going to fix me up, I almost said fuck it and left because Cal and Aiden were intimidating as hell. They never stopped glaring at me while Jane worked her magic. And I couldn’t help but admire how beautiful she was. When Cal growled that she was theirs it all made sense why they were so protective of her.

So that’s why they left Candy.

I said thanks to Jane, getting my ass out of there before they lost their shit. It wasn’t hard to see they were on edge about Jane being away from them and they had no idea who the hell I was—or maybe they did know who I was—so I got it. I can’t imagine what the hell Lucio did to make her tend to me, but I was grateful. She didn’t need to help me after the fight, either.

Walking down the hall, feeling my body getting a little stiff, I noticed Giovanni was by the “room” they gave me, looking worried.

“Fratello,” I said, to get his attention. I only knew a little bit of Italian, but brother was a staple among all the curse words.

“Fratellino.” He looked relieved as he called me baby brother. “I heard you won but also took a good hit.”

“It hurt like hell, but Jane looked me over and told me I was fine. She patched up the split in my cheek, gave me an ice pack and told me to take some meds when I got home,” I said, lifting my hand up so he could see her handy work.

“That's good, she bargained money off Cal’s debt to help you,” he said, looking around. That was one thing Giovanni taught me, was to always be careful of our surroundings. Just because we were Lucio’s sons didn’t mean we were safe, especially him since everyone knew he was his son.

“That explains why they were so tense when I was in the room,” I said, hearing the crowd from the fighting area. Cal must have just gone into the cage.

“Cazzo,” Giovanni cursed. “I have to go, the guy fighting Cal is pazzo and I need to make sure he stays in line. He almost killed the last guy he fought against. You should come by for dinner tomorrow. The piccolina misses you and Ava.”

Giovanni slapped my back, and he walked down the hallway. I was curious who Cal was fighting but I was also tired. Cal had never lost a fight and now he had a big reason to keep that record. I continued walking down the hallway, leaving out the door I came through. I made it to my Impala, throwing my bag in the back seat.

After I started the car, I pulled out my phone, texting Ava that I was fine and I would be home soon, when I noticed a few guys looking around a truck next to me. I instantly recognized one of them as Geraldo, making me suspicious as to who the truck belonged to.

I opened the door, standing and leaning on my door. “You guys need help?” I asked, trying to fish for information.

They looked at me like they had been caught, but relaxed when they noticed it was me.

“What do you want, Dev?” Geraldo looked at me with a bored expression, but I knew he was wary of me.

“I was just wondering if you needed help? Lucio had me sitting out here but didn’t say what for.” I said throwing out his name in hopes they would just tell me what they were doing, and I didn’t look suspicious.

“Boss just wants us to check on Cal and his friends' rides,” one of the other guys responded.

I nodded, “Makes sense, he’s been worried about them for a while.”

Geraldo narrowed his eyes at me. “How do you know what he’s been worried about?”

“I heard stuff and today, he asked me to play nice with Jane and the guys. Get them to trust me, you know.” I was really talking out of my ass, but if they were there to fuck with their car, I felt instantly protective over Jane.

“Is that why he had Jane be your nurse today?” Geraldo asked me.

“Yeah, he says they might trust me after this,” I said, keeping my face emotionless as I started Geraldo down.

“Makes sense,” He shrugged. “Come on guys, there is nothing to see here.”

“Nice KO today man,” one of the other guys nodded at me as he walked by.

Once they left, I felt uneasy about the whole encounter. It didn’t make sense that Lucio would send them toinspecttheir truck. I walked around the vehicle making sure they didn’t leave anything on it like a tracking device. When I didn’t find anything, I decided to stay and watch it just in case. Leaving felt wrong, and I owed Jane something, so I pulled out my phone and entertained myself until they came out.

9

DARCY

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