5
JACE'S POV
It was Christopher.
For the first time in a long while, his voice was not commanding respect.
He was begging.
Christopher was pleading. In a loud voice that showcased his panic. I could practically hear the fear in his voice even though I couldn't see him at the moment.
Enzo turned to me, then grinned.
"That's what happens to cheaters."
When he opened the door, I literally flew out after him.
In front of the car was Christopher surrounded by two men and the unsmiling guard Enzo Romano had referred to as Fred.
Peering closely, I could see the blood on Christopher's face. His eyes, which had been perfectly normal a few minutes ago, looked sunk in, as if he had been in a car accident.
"Please…. please…"
"We got this from his office, boss."
It was the case that contained the profits that we had made that night.
"And the gun shots?"
"He called his guards on us. We took care of them, boss."
"Good."
Without as much as a word, Enzo passed the suitcase to me. I stared at him with wide eyes, unable to believe what was happening before me.
"How much did you make in total tonight, you fat lying piece of shit?"
Christopher touched his eye in an effort to prevent the blood from getting in, but Fred swatted his hand with a resounding slap. He moaned, a moan that sparked pity in me even though I hated him and I was the one being cheated.
"Ten thousand…ten.."
Without warning, Enzo stepped forward, and flung his arm.
A sick silence reigned as flesh struck flesh. Silence that was broken as Christopher began to wail in excruciating pain.
"I will ask you one last time. How much did you make tonight?"
When Christopher spoke, I found myself wondering if this was still the same man who, just a few minutes ago, had been threatening to let me go if I didn't stick to the terms he offered.
The Christopher begging on his knees was a different man entirely.
"Twenty thousand in total…twenty."
Enzo raised his hand again, and Christopher swore, his voice breaking totally, his body rocking with pitiful sobs.
"I swear it. That's the truth. Twenty."
Enzo's hand came down, and I watched him inspect his fingers which had two rings on them.
"You made twenty thousand dollars tonight in profit, and how much do you give the fighter who made this come to pass? When I speak to you, you answer."
Another slap made Christopher's head snap backwards, and I moved forward with the aim of helping him. A glance from Enzo stopped me in my tracks.
"Two thousand…"
"Two thousand five hundred dollars? What kind of a man are you?"
Enzo continued inspecting his rings as he spoke.
"What kind of man makes twenty thousand and gives the men who did eighty percent of the work two thousand, huh?"
The disgust on his face was the same way I had felt when I was in Christopher's office a while ago.
"Well, cheaters deserve everything that comes to them. You may have been cheating these boys for years, but tonight they'll be the ones cheating you. Everything you've made tonight is theirs. Are you listening to me?"
I watched Christopher nod in fear, his hands trembling at his sides.
"Good. You will never ask them for the money you've made tonight. And if anything happens to them after this, I will erase every Christopher in Louisville until I find you."
One of the men offered a handkerchief to Enzo, which he grabbed, then proceeded to clean his bloodied fist.
"Let's go, boys."
I slipped into the car, the case filled with money in my hands.
I stared at it in disbelief, my heart pounding in my chest. To think that I had twenty thousand dollars cash on my person when a few minutes ago, I had just two thousand five hundred was overwhelming.
I turned to see Enzo smiling at me as he lit another marijuana filled wrap.
"You like what just happened tonight, don't you, Jace?"
I nodded, swallowing hard.
Of course I liked it. Apart from the excessive bloodshed, I was happy to have money for my mother's prescription. The money would go a very long way, helping me settle foodstuffs and groceries for a month or two, at least.
"I promise you, you'll receive two times the amount in your lap at the end of every month if you consider the offer I'm about to present to you."
I swallowed hard before nodding, the sound and sight of money so close within my grasp making me nearly lose all sense of reasoning.
"I want you to work for me." The pause after his statement of intent only made the clattering of my heart in my chest increase further. He billowed smoke into the air, looking out the window before looking back at me.
"I have a lot of enemies, Jace Wilder. Enemies I made as a child. Enemies I made as a teenager. Enemies that I'm still going to make on my deathbed. Have you ever heard the saying, he who lives by the sword dies by the sword?"
I nodded, trying to compose the trembling of my hands.
"Yes, my life is that saying. I've made so many enemies that I fear for the life of the people I love. My family."
Another pause that made my insides crawl with unanswered questions.
"My daughter has just come of age. She's as stubborn as a mule, and always wants to have her way. In her words, she wants to lead a normal life. I want that for her too. But how can I give her a normal life when her father is the definition of abnormal?"
He billowed smoke into the air, and at that moment, I knew why people feared him.
Enzo Romano didn't only wield power, he wielded the ability of eloquence and speech. A man who could talk was already a leader.
"I want to give my daughter her best life. And at the same time, I want to protect her. That, Jace Wilder, is where you come in."