Part 54 (2/2)

”I need a fight.”

”I told you I'd call you if I had something.”

”Then make something.”

”Wes, I can't-”

”Look, I'll fight anyone. I'll take anything. Half my usual fee, but I want to fight. Tonight.”

”I can get you a fight in two days, another big one like last night, and if you don't f.u.c.k up somehow, you'll be golden.”

”Okay, what about tonight?”

”Are you that f.u.c.kin' impatient, Wes?”

”I need the money, you know that.”

”Yeah, I know. Look, I can get something. It's not the usual place, and it's not the usual guys. I don't trust these guys, so... I dunno, bring a piece, and bring a friend.”

”I'm not worried,” Wes said softly.

”I'll make a call, let them know you're coming.”

”What time?”

”Two.”

”Send me a location when you've cleared everything up.”

”Yeah.”

”Thanks, Todd.”

”Yeah.”

Wes hung up first and slipped the phone back into his pocket. Todd was right to worry about him, to think that this was too much. It was lucky that he'd only been fighting guys who Wes either outcla.s.sed or got lucky and didn't have to fight long.

If the fights took more than a few hits, and he took more than a punch or two, then it wouldn't be a pace he could maintain. It wasn't as if he had much choice, but he would do what he had to do, regardless.

Wes let out a long breath. He couldn't keep fighting like this. He couldn't keep fighting every night, knowing that if he got a broken nose, it wasn't going to matter. He would still call Bradley the next day, try to show up with a big white bandage holding his nose in place.

It would paint a big G.o.dd.a.m.n target right on his face, which wouldn't be particularly helpful. How long could he keep it up? A month? A year? Not long. Not long enough to see the kids out of high school. Certainly not long enough to put them through college. Not long enough.

But there were no alternatives for him. n.o.body was lining up to make sure that he was doing fine, to make sure that everything wasn't going to s.h.i.+t. Would it matter if they did?

The fact was that he needed a meal-ticket that wasn't a constant risk. He'd considered it before. There were plenty of places that he could go to get regular jobs. Even places that would hire an ex-con for legit work. It wasn't as if construction was bad work, or anything. But it wasn't enough money. Never enough money.

The places he could make more were exactly the sort of people he'd come here trying to avoid. Falling back in with the same crowd he'd left New York to get away from was a one-way ticket back to New York, and as nice as it would be to see the girls, there was a reason he couldn't go back.

Wes settled down into his sofa. His hands hurt, and the wooden floor was stained with that idiot f.u.c.king a.s.shole's blood where he'd let himself bleed all over the d.a.m.n place. Couldn't these thugs at least have the decency not to get their blood all over his stuff?

He tried to gather up the energy to put everything back in order, but it was only a kind of halfway order anyways.

The idea occurred to him a few minutes later, while he tried to calm his nerves. There was an alternative. Something that he could do to make money. Free money, not much work involved.

Wes was no expert on the Yakuza, but Todd Bradley was a man with connections much higher up than either of them, and if he put out the call and got back that s.h.i.+mizu wasn't to be f.u.c.ked around with, that meant they weren't some hick, backwater family.

Minami was every bit the rich girl he'd pegged her for, but it wasn't her boyfriend's money. It was her father's. He could exploit that relations.h.i.+p, if he tried. No problem. He tried to muster up some moral reservations, but the fact was that he didn't feel anything like that. There was no time for morals, not when it was about his family.

The idea lit a fire under his a.s.s, sent him shooting up from the couch. He wanted to make something happen, make sure that she was on the hook. He knew she was; she'd come back twice in one night, and that wasn't the sort of thing someone did lightly. Not where he came from, and that went double for the daughter of some big Yakuza family.

She would come back eventually. Maybe even 'soon,' if he was lucky. Then it would be time to turn on the charm and see how much he could get out of her. With luck, he could do it without scamming her. He could talk to her about it, eventually. He'd tell her the truth.

Not right away, though. He wasn't a G.o.d d.a.m.ned idiot. When it was time to tell the truth, he'd do it, but first he'd have to get closer to her. Women didn't always like a man to have that sort of history. Men didn't particularly like it in their women, either.

Once she was on the hook, he'd be able to tell her, and she'd understand. Until then, he'd keep it from her as long as he had to. Because there wasn't any other option. He had a responsibility to those girls, and the fact that Minami might not approve didn't change the responsibility.

Wes forced himself to sit, forced himself to be still for another few moments. He needed to calm down, needed to dissipate that nervous energy somehow. Once he was settled in, he could start to plan. Right now he wasn't useful to anyone.

The relations.h.i.+p that was going to come was just like a fight. The first line of defense was his feet. Placement. Second were his hands. But master of everything was the ability to see things for what they were, and react appropriately. That meant being calm, and that meant being smart. It had worked for him in hundreds of fights, and it would work for him here.

All he had to do was calm down and think.

Eleven.

Minami Minami's breath went out of her lungs unsteadily. She didn't like feeling this way, and she sure as h.e.l.l didn't like that Wesley Park, underground fist-fighter, was the one behind it.

Father's business was Father's business. The sooner he realized it, the way that she had all those years ago, the sooner she could have her own life. The sooner she could get away from the world that she had no interest in remaining in.

But that wasn't going to be an option, not if he had his way. Minami knew that it was only a matter of time before Wes was going to get the hammer of the s.h.i.+mizu family dropped on him.

When he did, it wasn't going to be a case where he might be totally fine. He was, for all intents and purposes, already dead at this point. He didn't know it yet, but Minami, she knew.

That should have made it easier to leave him to his fate, and that was exactly what she'd intended to do. Return to her online life, her online friends, and get the h.e.l.l away from the madness that she'd been thrust into completely against her will.

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