Page 89 of The Air You Breathe

“I think chopping his dick off and having him choke on it would be good for me too.”

I laughed, thinking that might just be the perfect way for him to go. Dev got ready for work while I checked on some stuff on my computer. He came into the dining room in coveralls, grabbing his keys and wallet off of the table.

“Have you ever thought about what you would want to do if Lucio wasn’t in the picture?” I asked Dev wondering what would happen with all of us if Lucio went to jail.

“I like working at the garage, but I think I would like to take on bigger projects like restoring some classics. Why do you ask?”

“I was just wondering what life would be like for us afterwards,” I said, looking at the plans I had to build a house. I had designed it in hopes that it would help me win Darcy over. The land was already purchased, and it paid to have friends in construction.

Dev’s brows furrowed, looking away from me, “To be honest Evan, I don’t think about the future because it's one less thing to be disappointed in when something that I want doesn’t happen.” His voice was gruff.

“Not anymore, when all this shit goes down, we will plan our tomorrow,” I said, mustering all the conviction I could.

“I hope so, I gotta go, I’m going to stop by for some coffee.” He looked like he had a lot on his mind, so I just said bye. I knew once Darcy was on board, he would be too.

Walking up the stairs, I got ready to go to the club early today. I set my last piece of information in motion yesterday, and all I had to do was wait for Candy.

After I got ready, I dialed her work phone number and asked for her, pleased when they said she called in sick today. Now, here's to hoping she does what I needed her to do.

I made a few other phone calls, checking on Lucio and where he was at. After Geraldo went “missing”, the number of people that he kept close went down dramatically. He was starting to crack, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up yet.

Before I made it into the club, I checked in on my sister. She was getting ready to go to school, looking exhausted but extremely happy. She was finally chasing her dream, making all my hard work worth it.

I left the house feeling like this was all going to be ok in the end. I drove to Monroe in no rush, enjoying one of the last warmish days we were going to have for a while. I pulled up to the club, parking on the side. When I walked up to the door, it was open.

Goddammit someone didn’t lock up correctly.

The parking lot was empty when I drove in, and it was way too early for anyone to be here yet. I listened from the door to see if I could hear anything but doubted my earlier assumption when I realized no one would be stupid enough to steal from Lucio.

My gut was telling me that this was the moment that could change everything. I walked back to my car and called Saul, but he didn’t answer. I returned to my car to grab my gun from my glove compartment, slipping it into the back of my jeans.

I dialed Dev and he immediately answered. “You okay?”

“Did you see Darcy this morning?” I asked, hoping he would say yes.

“Yeah, she was good,” he said, as I heard tools falling.

“What's wrong?”

The sound of a gun cocking made me freeze.

“Evan?” Dev said before my phone was ripped from my hand.

“Walk to the cage,” the voice snapped. When I turned around it was Paolo with so much anger on his face. He was a part of the crew that Geraldo kept close.

“Paolo, do you even know what you're doing?” I asked, not moving. My phone kept ringing, knowing it was Dev freaking out .

“Lucio said you killed Geraldo.” The gun was digging right against my head, I was dead at this distance.

“I didn’t kill him,” I said, because in a way, it was the truth. I sent him to his death, but I didn’t actually kill him.

“Go to the fucking cage, you liar.” He pushed me towards the door, staying close to me. If I could get enough space between us, I might have a chance. The door opened and I noticed another one of Geraldo’s men sneering at me. He pushed me all the way in and now there was no chance I was getting out of this.

We walked in silence as I scoured my brain for any possible way to get out of this. Even if I got out, I knew there was always a reason for me to come back. My family was here and there was no doubt Lucio would use them to get to me. The cage was dark as we walked down the pathway to the center.

“Evan.” Lucio’s voice made me nauseous.

“Lucio,” I said, keeping a cool exterior, even though I knew I was pretty bad at looking emotionless.

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