Chapter 129 – Lip's Guilt
The group living in this building—the Russians—were the one crew on this street nobody dared mess with.
They sold guns in broad daylight in the South Side.
And the cops never touched them.
That alone made everyone believe their backing reached straight to the sky.
The truth, though, was simpler—and scarier.
The Chicago PD had known about them for a long time.
They just hadn't moved yet.
Not because they couldn't—but because they didn't know where the weapons were coming from.
All standard U.S. military hardware.
Which meant one thing:
there was probably corruption somewhere inside the military supply chain.
And that wasn't a net you cast lightly.
---
"Relax. Everyone here is with me."
William spoke calmly.
Erin used every ounce of strength she had, but she couldn't budge him even a centimeter.
With one hand holding hers, William led her inside.
Just then, a black van pulled up outside.
Mandy, Nastya, and Lip stepped out.
The moment Mandy saw William, her face lit up.
She ran straight at him and wrapped him in a tight hug.
Nastya was just as excited—but remembering William's instructions, she stopped herself, only meeting his eyes in silent acknowledgment.
"William…"
Lip hadn't seen him in months.
He froze where he stood.
"Hey, Lip. Long time no see."
William looked at Lip's worn-down face and flashed a bright, unapologetic grin—the kind that practically begged to be punched.
"Fuck you!"
Lip snapped.
"Where the hell have you been these past few months?!
Do you have any idea how hard Fiona's had it?!
You piece of shit!"
Lip snapped.
For a split second, he completely lost control and lunged at William, fist flying.
But honestly—
to William now, Lip's movement looked like it was happening in slow motion.
William didn't even need to react.
Mandy and Nastya stepped in instantly, grabbing Lip and stopping him cold.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing, Lip?!" Mandy shouted.
"Fuck! Let go of me!" Lip roared, thrashing like a maddened bull.
"Let me beat the shit out of this asshole!"
"Lip!" Mandy yelled again.
"Do you have any idea that this job you're doing exists because of him?!"
That stopped Lip dead.
"What… what do you mean?"
"I mean exactly what I said," Mandy snapped.
"William told me to ask Ian if he wanted the job. We reached out to him first.
Ian didn't come—you did. Get it?
This job was meant for your brother."
Lip turned slowly toward William, disbelief written all over his face.
"Is that true?"
"Yeah," William nodded calmly.
"About ninety-seven percent accurate."
Which, technically, was close enough.
The job had always been meant for Lip anyway.
Otherwise, how would William have baited him?
And as for Ian—William had known from the start that Lip would never let his brother get involved in something like this.
"Fuck…"
Lip broke.
He'd thought this was his moment—
that his life was finally turning around on its own.
Instead, it turned out to be charity from the one person he despised most.
His pride couldn't take it.
"Let him go," William said quietly.
Mandy hesitated, studied Lip's face, then slowly released her grip.
Nastya followed Mandy's lead—after catching William's eyes and seeing his subtle signal—then loosened her hold as well.
For Nastya, this kind of understanding came naturally.
Being unable to hear meant her eyes and sense of touch had become her only connection to the world.
She didn't need training like a micro-expression expert.
Life had trained her.
Back when she couldn't read people well, she'd paid for it—often brutally.
So she learned.
After both women stepped back, Lip still stared at William with burning hatred.
"What? Still want to swing?" William said evenly.
"Then think about Fiona. Think about the pressure she'd be under without this job—having to carry everything alone."
No theatrics.
Just a knife straight to the heart.
And it worked.
Seventeen hundred dollars in rent.
That was reality.
"You'll get what's coming to you someday, William," Lip spat.
He didn't dare throw a punch.
Instead, he flipped William off and turned to leave.
"Oh—one more thing," William added casually, watching Lip's back.
"Best not let Fiona know about this."
That finished him.
Lip didn't reply.
He just walked faster, disappearing into the night.
Keeping William's role a secret weighed heavily on him.
The guilt was crushing.
Only after Lip was gone did Erin speak, her voice small and uncertain.
"Um… maybe another time?"
That was when Mandy and Nastya finally noticed the girl standing beside William.
"Who's she?" Mandy asked, more curious than hostile, eyeing Erin's unmistakably street-worn look.
"She's Margot," William said after a moment.
"Just call her Margot."
Out on the street, you used your street name.
That was only natural.
"Hi," Margot said, forcing a polite smile and greeting them.
Nastya raised a hand and waved.
"She's deaf," Mandy explained.
"She can't talk."
Before the moment could settle, another black van pulled up behind the first.
Svetlana and Tasha stepped out.
"Well damn," Svetlana scoffed.
"Look who finally remembers we exist."
At this point, her urge to complain had overtaken her fear of William.
After all, he'd dumped her here for nearly half a year.
Six months of constant anxiety—
terrified someone would discover the weapons stockpile in the basement.
She barely slept.
Eventually, she dragged a stretcher down there and slept right next to the guns.
That was the only way she felt safe.
"Well," William said lightly,
"I'm back now. Probably won't disappear that long again."
After seeing how wildly time could diverge between worlds, he wasn't eager to gamble again.
Who knew—next time he left, this place might jump forward ten or twenty years.
He wasn't afraid of time anymore—he was immortal now.
But the people here still mattered.
"Heh," Svetlana snorted.
"Doesn't really concern me, boss. You don't need to explain yourself to me."
She glanced around, lowering her voice.
"Let's get inside. There've been a lot more eyes on this place lately."