Better When He's Bad
Page 36
“Officer King, it’s been a long time.” Novak sounded so sure, so cocky about thinking he held all the cards. My jaw clenched shut as Titus’s gaze snapped from his betrayer to the city’s most feared criminal.
“How many dirty cops you got on the payroll, Novak?”
“Enough. How does it feel to be on your knees, in your own handcuffs, in front of me, Titus? Your mother sure knew how to foster illusions of false hope in you boys.”
Titus’s gaze swung to me and I felt my knuckles crack even harder as my fists turned into steel balls at my sides.
“Shut him the f**k up, Shane.”
We both swore as Benny got to his feet and used his knee to crack Titus’s jaw shut. My brother’s head snapped back at the impact and a spray of blood shot out of his mouth. I narrowed my eyes at Benny when he laughed as Titus groaned and let his head roll loosely on his shoulders.
“When I’m done with you, I’m going to make you wish the only bone I broke was your nose, ass**le.” I made sure Benny knew it was a promise and not a threat.
Benny snickered and shoved Titus over onto his side with his foot.
“You always had a big head. You’re nothing special, Bax. If you weren’t his blood, you would’ve died in the joint just like every other worthless thief we’ve put there over the years. You always got a free pass and you should appreciate it.”
I cut a nasty look at Novak and motioned to Titus. “What’s that supposed to prove? He locked me up, let me rot for five years, just like you did. I owe him even less than I owe you. You think you’re going to drag him in here, threaten him, and I’m going to roll over and play nice? You don’t own me, Novak, and you never will. Kill him, I don’t give a shit.”
It was a lie, a bald-faced lie, but I refused to give Novak the upper hand. Blood was going to paint the Point in rivers of red, and as long as Novak was one of the ones bleeding at the end of the night, I didn’t—couldn’t—care about anything else.
Novak shook his head and moved around me so he was standing in front of Titus.
“You thought you had me, cop. Just like Race thought he had me five years ago. A legend doesn’t die that easy.”
Titus worked himself up into a sitting position and spit out a mouthful of blood.
“Good thing you’re just a man, then.”
“I am the man who runs this town. I’ve known what you had cooking up since the second Bax got out of prison. Race is a smart kid, but he’s just a kid and he doesn’t have what it takes to see things through to the end. Not like he does.” Novak hooked a thumb over his shoulder and I growled. I didn’t want this man’s admiration or praise in any way.
“So what now? You threaten Titus, you gloat that you knew about the video all along, you shoot us both? What’s the plan? Because only one of us is leaving this building still breathing.”
He laughed. “So arrogant. So sure of yourself. It’s a shame you had to waste all that passion behind bars for so long. It gave you too much time to think, broke down some of that armor living the life had built up around you.”
He lifted a hand and Nassir came around the side of the bar dragging a very unhappy, struggling redhead with him. I couldn’t look her in the eyes. This was the very thing I had been trying so hard to avoid.
“They shot Gus and Race.” Her voice broke, and out of the corner of my eye I saw her settle down and sort of just fold in on herself. “They hurt him so badly, Bax. I don’t think he was breathing.”
Nassir shoved her in Novak’s direction and I couldn’t stop myself from cringing when he grabbed her by her throat and shook her. I heard Benny laugh and it took every ounce of self-control I possessed not to murder him with my bare hands. He put his arm around my shoulders like we were pals and I went stiff. I finally clapped my gaze on Dovie’s and something inside me shattered into a million pieces that were sharp enough to make all of us bleed.
“She’s a fiery one. I can see why you like her so much.” Benny’s words landed heavy on the cement surrounding us and I could hear Dovie’s panicked breathing and my brother swearing and struggling, but I never took my eyes off of Novak.
He pulled a knife out of one of his pockets and the blade snicked out with a hiss that made fury boil so hot under my skin, I was surprised I wasn’t melting into the barren ground under my boots. Dovie’s green eyes widened a fraction and flicked from me to the blade. I wanted to scream at her that this is what my life looked like. This is what had ultimately been waiting around the bend for me, and for her, by association, because beyond all odds I cared for her . . . so much. I could see that knowledge and the power it gave him glowing out of the soulless pits of Novak’s eyes. If there ever was such a thing as bad blood, I was full to the brim with it because of this man . . . my father.
“What are you willing to do for the sister, Bax? You went to jail for the brother, defied me, walked away from all I had to offer you. Something tells me you would give anything for her to be safe.”
As long as I lived, as long as Dovie and even Race drew breath, Novak knew he would have a way to control me, a way to make me do whatever he wanted. Like a bolt of lightning from the sky, I realized the only way to take the power out of his hands was to eliminate what he desired. He was right that I would do anything to keep her safe, and there was only one option and for once it didn’t feel like making the hard choice at all.
I wasn’t a guy that could typically not see the forest for the trees, and right now all that glorious, gleaming green was all I could focus on. It was clear what had to happen. I either watched Novak torture and mutilate the one person in this world that had offered me love, kindness, and a second chance at being a redeemable human being . . . I either gave him the satisfaction of watching me suffer as he killed the only person I was ever going to love . . . or I took his power away. Men like Novak didn’t know what to do when they were stripped of control and I was hoping that was just enough to let Dovie get away from him. Novak’s obsession with having me under his thumb crossed over the border into insanity, and if I took that step, took away the one thing he wanted so desperately, I felt like it might just throw him off his game enough to buy my brother and my girl some time.
Sure, there was a good chance Dovie would end up dead after I destroyed the one thing Novak wanted more than power. But I told myself there was also a chance Titus could pull a trick rabbit out of his hat and get both himself and Dovie to safety. Either way, if I made the ultimate sacrifice, took away the prize that Novak was playing with such fragile and tender lives to win, I wouldn’t be around to see those I cared about fall at his hands, and that was a victory in itself. Not to mention I got to firmly f**k up his “own-Bax-forever plan” while doing it. I looked sideways at Benny, who was practically licking his lips in gory anticipation. I jerked my attention back to Novak when Dovie suddenly screeched in earsplitting pain. The razor-sharp edge of the gleaming knife looked so wrong against the pale expanse of her chest. The ruby-red trickle of blood that followed its journey made time stand still. I was not a man who believed in self-sacrifice, believed in the greater good, but for this young woman, for this good-hearted, strong, beautiful girl, I would give up everything. And I would make the world a better place in doing it. Even in a place like the Point, there could be too much bad, and with me out of the picture maybe that would level the playing field a little for the good people down in the trenches. People like Titus and Dovie. It wouldn’t be a sacrifice, it would be a courtesy.
I reached up and grabbed the arm Benny had tossed across my shoulders and pulled until I felt his elbow pop. Idiot. When he was screaming at me, I punched him as hard as I could in the kidneys and rammed my knee up hard under his chin, making his teeth snap together and blood start pouring out of his mouth. We struggled until I could get my hands on the gun he was gripping in his opposite hand. Novak was yelling, Dovie was crying, Titus was screaming at me to knock it off, and I knew there were no less than six or seven weapons pointed at me by the time I stood back upright. For good measure, while Benny was groaning and rolling around on the ground at my feet, I kicked him as hard as I could in the ribs.
Dovie was crying and scared, and I was going to make Novak pay for all of it. He narrowed his eyes at me and I watched as that f**king knife trailed the opposite path up the other side of her chest, making more blood and more rage.
“What are you going to do, son? I got your girl. I got your brother. I got Race and Gus. What moves do you think you have left? You think you can get a shot off before one of my guys shoots you where you stand?”
Dovie was crying so hard, the tracks of her tears were leaving trails through the blood that was now soaking the entire front of her chest. I wasn’t sure she could see me clearly, but I knew she heard me when I whispered, “I’m so sorry.”
“Shane . . .” Her tone was broken and lost.
“Bax!” My brother, on the other hand, sounded furious and apparently understood me and my motivations way better than I ever thought he did. “Stop!”
I met my own dark eyes as I stared right at my father, right at the future that could have been mine if I had just been a little worse. I lifted the end of the gun I was holding loosely in my hand until it was resting snuggly under my chin. This was the only way out for a guy like me. You didn’t come from bad blood, live a bad life, do bad things, and get to go out as a hero. No guys like me went out making the last bad choice one could ever make and hoping those you left behind were somehow good enough to get out of the mess you left behind.
“What the f**k!” Novak sounded pissed, and Titus sounded like he was trying to take the entire bad-guy army on by himself.
“You want me so bad that no one is safe while I’m still around. Shooting you doesn’t make anything better for anyone, but this . . . this solves a lot of problems. Everyone is safe and eventually Titus will throw your ass in jail, old man. This means I win and you f**king lose.”
Novak narrowed his eyes and I kicked a groaning Benny once more for good measure.
“You won’t do it.”
I lifted an eyebrow and tried to ignore the way Dovie was screaming at me and struggling in Novak’s hold. She was bleeding everywhere and my brother’s voice cracked from the way he was yelling at me.
“For her, I will.”
Novak swore and looked at me and then down at Dovie. I don’t know what his next move was going to be, but the gun felt solid and real in my hand, and if that was what it was going to take to make sure she got the life she deserved, a good life, a chance to get away from this madness, then I would pull the trigger.
“Something is different about her, Novak.” Nassir was an ass**le and I was going to make him bleed for bringing her here, but he had Novak pausing. “He’s not bluffing. He’ll pull the trigger for her.”
“No, no, no, no . . . Shane, no, please stop!”
That’s why I thought I was sure I could love her, could die for her. Even when things were the worst they could get, she was worried about me and not what this nightmare ultimately looked like for her.
“Please . . . you can’t do this to me.” She sounded so sad, so scared, but I knew an apology wasn’t going to cut it this time.
I shifted my weight from one foot to the other and cast a quick look over at my brother. He was on his knees, bleeding from all over his head and one eye was swollen shut, but he was still struggling with the two huge guys holding on to each of his arms. His eyes were locked on mine and I’m pretty sure he had tears mixing with the blood on his face—just like Dovie did.
“This is a mistake you can’t unmake, Shane.” I could barely hear him. I think he broke his voice screaming at me.
“It’s the only way out, for all of us. He’ll never stop. He’ll hurt anyone and everyone he can if he thinks it’ll get me to come to heel.”
“How many dirty cops you got on the payroll, Novak?”
“Enough. How does it feel to be on your knees, in your own handcuffs, in front of me, Titus? Your mother sure knew how to foster illusions of false hope in you boys.”
Titus’s gaze swung to me and I felt my knuckles crack even harder as my fists turned into steel balls at my sides.
“Shut him the f**k up, Shane.”
We both swore as Benny got to his feet and used his knee to crack Titus’s jaw shut. My brother’s head snapped back at the impact and a spray of blood shot out of his mouth. I narrowed my eyes at Benny when he laughed as Titus groaned and let his head roll loosely on his shoulders.
“When I’m done with you, I’m going to make you wish the only bone I broke was your nose, ass**le.” I made sure Benny knew it was a promise and not a threat.
Benny snickered and shoved Titus over onto his side with his foot.
“You always had a big head. You’re nothing special, Bax. If you weren’t his blood, you would’ve died in the joint just like every other worthless thief we’ve put there over the years. You always got a free pass and you should appreciate it.”
I cut a nasty look at Novak and motioned to Titus. “What’s that supposed to prove? He locked me up, let me rot for five years, just like you did. I owe him even less than I owe you. You think you’re going to drag him in here, threaten him, and I’m going to roll over and play nice? You don’t own me, Novak, and you never will. Kill him, I don’t give a shit.”
It was a lie, a bald-faced lie, but I refused to give Novak the upper hand. Blood was going to paint the Point in rivers of red, and as long as Novak was one of the ones bleeding at the end of the night, I didn’t—couldn’t—care about anything else.
Novak shook his head and moved around me so he was standing in front of Titus.
“You thought you had me, cop. Just like Race thought he had me five years ago. A legend doesn’t die that easy.”
Titus worked himself up into a sitting position and spit out a mouthful of blood.
“Good thing you’re just a man, then.”
“I am the man who runs this town. I’ve known what you had cooking up since the second Bax got out of prison. Race is a smart kid, but he’s just a kid and he doesn’t have what it takes to see things through to the end. Not like he does.” Novak hooked a thumb over his shoulder and I growled. I didn’t want this man’s admiration or praise in any way.
“So what now? You threaten Titus, you gloat that you knew about the video all along, you shoot us both? What’s the plan? Because only one of us is leaving this building still breathing.”
He laughed. “So arrogant. So sure of yourself. It’s a shame you had to waste all that passion behind bars for so long. It gave you too much time to think, broke down some of that armor living the life had built up around you.”
He lifted a hand and Nassir came around the side of the bar dragging a very unhappy, struggling redhead with him. I couldn’t look her in the eyes. This was the very thing I had been trying so hard to avoid.
“They shot Gus and Race.” Her voice broke, and out of the corner of my eye I saw her settle down and sort of just fold in on herself. “They hurt him so badly, Bax. I don’t think he was breathing.”
Nassir shoved her in Novak’s direction and I couldn’t stop myself from cringing when he grabbed her by her throat and shook her. I heard Benny laugh and it took every ounce of self-control I possessed not to murder him with my bare hands. He put his arm around my shoulders like we were pals and I went stiff. I finally clapped my gaze on Dovie’s and something inside me shattered into a million pieces that were sharp enough to make all of us bleed.
“She’s a fiery one. I can see why you like her so much.” Benny’s words landed heavy on the cement surrounding us and I could hear Dovie’s panicked breathing and my brother swearing and struggling, but I never took my eyes off of Novak.
He pulled a knife out of one of his pockets and the blade snicked out with a hiss that made fury boil so hot under my skin, I was surprised I wasn’t melting into the barren ground under my boots. Dovie’s green eyes widened a fraction and flicked from me to the blade. I wanted to scream at her that this is what my life looked like. This is what had ultimately been waiting around the bend for me, and for her, by association, because beyond all odds I cared for her . . . so much. I could see that knowledge and the power it gave him glowing out of the soulless pits of Novak’s eyes. If there ever was such a thing as bad blood, I was full to the brim with it because of this man . . . my father.
“What are you willing to do for the sister, Bax? You went to jail for the brother, defied me, walked away from all I had to offer you. Something tells me you would give anything for her to be safe.”
As long as I lived, as long as Dovie and even Race drew breath, Novak knew he would have a way to control me, a way to make me do whatever he wanted. Like a bolt of lightning from the sky, I realized the only way to take the power out of his hands was to eliminate what he desired. He was right that I would do anything to keep her safe, and there was only one option and for once it didn’t feel like making the hard choice at all.
I wasn’t a guy that could typically not see the forest for the trees, and right now all that glorious, gleaming green was all I could focus on. It was clear what had to happen. I either watched Novak torture and mutilate the one person in this world that had offered me love, kindness, and a second chance at being a redeemable human being . . . I either gave him the satisfaction of watching me suffer as he killed the only person I was ever going to love . . . or I took his power away. Men like Novak didn’t know what to do when they were stripped of control and I was hoping that was just enough to let Dovie get away from him. Novak’s obsession with having me under his thumb crossed over the border into insanity, and if I took that step, took away the one thing he wanted so desperately, I felt like it might just throw him off his game enough to buy my brother and my girl some time.
Sure, there was a good chance Dovie would end up dead after I destroyed the one thing Novak wanted more than power. But I told myself there was also a chance Titus could pull a trick rabbit out of his hat and get both himself and Dovie to safety. Either way, if I made the ultimate sacrifice, took away the prize that Novak was playing with such fragile and tender lives to win, I wouldn’t be around to see those I cared about fall at his hands, and that was a victory in itself. Not to mention I got to firmly f**k up his “own-Bax-forever plan” while doing it. I looked sideways at Benny, who was practically licking his lips in gory anticipation. I jerked my attention back to Novak when Dovie suddenly screeched in earsplitting pain. The razor-sharp edge of the gleaming knife looked so wrong against the pale expanse of her chest. The ruby-red trickle of blood that followed its journey made time stand still. I was not a man who believed in self-sacrifice, believed in the greater good, but for this young woman, for this good-hearted, strong, beautiful girl, I would give up everything. And I would make the world a better place in doing it. Even in a place like the Point, there could be too much bad, and with me out of the picture maybe that would level the playing field a little for the good people down in the trenches. People like Titus and Dovie. It wouldn’t be a sacrifice, it would be a courtesy.
I reached up and grabbed the arm Benny had tossed across my shoulders and pulled until I felt his elbow pop. Idiot. When he was screaming at me, I punched him as hard as I could in the kidneys and rammed my knee up hard under his chin, making his teeth snap together and blood start pouring out of his mouth. We struggled until I could get my hands on the gun he was gripping in his opposite hand. Novak was yelling, Dovie was crying, Titus was screaming at me to knock it off, and I knew there were no less than six or seven weapons pointed at me by the time I stood back upright. For good measure, while Benny was groaning and rolling around on the ground at my feet, I kicked him as hard as I could in the ribs.
Dovie was crying and scared, and I was going to make Novak pay for all of it. He narrowed his eyes at me and I watched as that f**king knife trailed the opposite path up the other side of her chest, making more blood and more rage.
“What are you going to do, son? I got your girl. I got your brother. I got Race and Gus. What moves do you think you have left? You think you can get a shot off before one of my guys shoots you where you stand?”
Dovie was crying so hard, the tracks of her tears were leaving trails through the blood that was now soaking the entire front of her chest. I wasn’t sure she could see me clearly, but I knew she heard me when I whispered, “I’m so sorry.”
“Shane . . .” Her tone was broken and lost.
“Bax!” My brother, on the other hand, sounded furious and apparently understood me and my motivations way better than I ever thought he did. “Stop!”
I met my own dark eyes as I stared right at my father, right at the future that could have been mine if I had just been a little worse. I lifted the end of the gun I was holding loosely in my hand until it was resting snuggly under my chin. This was the only way out for a guy like me. You didn’t come from bad blood, live a bad life, do bad things, and get to go out as a hero. No guys like me went out making the last bad choice one could ever make and hoping those you left behind were somehow good enough to get out of the mess you left behind.
“What the f**k!” Novak sounded pissed, and Titus sounded like he was trying to take the entire bad-guy army on by himself.
“You want me so bad that no one is safe while I’m still around. Shooting you doesn’t make anything better for anyone, but this . . . this solves a lot of problems. Everyone is safe and eventually Titus will throw your ass in jail, old man. This means I win and you f**king lose.”
Novak narrowed his eyes and I kicked a groaning Benny once more for good measure.
“You won’t do it.”
I lifted an eyebrow and tried to ignore the way Dovie was screaming at me and struggling in Novak’s hold. She was bleeding everywhere and my brother’s voice cracked from the way he was yelling at me.
“For her, I will.”
Novak swore and looked at me and then down at Dovie. I don’t know what his next move was going to be, but the gun felt solid and real in my hand, and if that was what it was going to take to make sure she got the life she deserved, a good life, a chance to get away from this madness, then I would pull the trigger.
“Something is different about her, Novak.” Nassir was an ass**le and I was going to make him bleed for bringing her here, but he had Novak pausing. “He’s not bluffing. He’ll pull the trigger for her.”
“No, no, no, no . . . Shane, no, please stop!”
That’s why I thought I was sure I could love her, could die for her. Even when things were the worst they could get, she was worried about me and not what this nightmare ultimately looked like for her.
“Please . . . you can’t do this to me.” She sounded so sad, so scared, but I knew an apology wasn’t going to cut it this time.
I shifted my weight from one foot to the other and cast a quick look over at my brother. He was on his knees, bleeding from all over his head and one eye was swollen shut, but he was still struggling with the two huge guys holding on to each of his arms. His eyes were locked on mine and I’m pretty sure he had tears mixing with the blood on his face—just like Dovie did.
“This is a mistake you can’t unmake, Shane.” I could barely hear him. I think he broke his voice screaming at me.
“It’s the only way out, for all of us. He’ll never stop. He’ll hurt anyone and everyone he can if he thinks it’ll get me to come to heel.”
