Fight by London Casey, Ana W. Fawkes Page A

X crew? ”
    “ Yeah, ” I said. “ I mean, I ’ ve
seen them. I ’ ve never dealt
with them. I know them and the Red Aces have had some history. They like to
fight. A lot. I wouldn ’ t be
surprised if your boss was involved with them. ”
    I didn ’ t mean anything by it, but Tripp jumped and stormed
away from me. He walked to the water and kicked at a wave as it slithered into
the shore. We were barefoot, walking, and any thought of something soft, sweet,
or romantic was long gone out the window.
    Slowly, I approached Tripp. “ Sorry. ”
    “ Don ’ t be, ” he said. “ You
might be right. Maybe. I don ’ t
know what to believe anymore. ”
    “ So
Stoney set all this up thinking it would get your boss down here? ”
    “ Yeah, ” Tripp said. “ He thought Aldo would come in
and bring muscle. Even that doesn ’ t
make sense to me. Why the hell would Aldo give a damn? ”
    I swallowed my answer and let Tripp
figure it out.
    “ Maybe
he is involved too, ” Tripp
said. “ But sending me …” He then looked out to the
water, his face angry. “ I ’ m just a casualty in all this. I ’ m here to check on things,
report back, and then die. ”
    I reached for Tripp ’ s hand. I squeezed it. “ No. You ’ re not going to die. ”
    He ripped his hand away from me. “ What do you know? ” He looked at me. “ In my business, if you lose, you
die. And … I lost. I lost my
last fight, darling. For what it ’ s
all worth, I should be dead right now. Trust me, I ’ ve seen it. ”
    Tripp started to walk and I went
after him. “ What do you
mean you lost? ”
    He stopped. “ I lost a fight. I was taking on some guy. I had the
fight in the bag, too. But then someone took out a gun and shot Aldo ’ s son. Almost fucking killed
him. Put him in a coma. My eyes were on the shooter, trying to figure out what
to do. ” Tripp looked at me. “ One second. That ’ s all it took. The other guy got
a shot on me and rocked me. The thing with fighting, darling, is that muscle
and size look nice, but a punch is a punch. The right punch to the right spot
could knock anyone out. A lot of times guys get hit and go down and it ’ s when they smack their head on
the ground, that they go out for good. ”
    I could see the pain and even
embarrassment in Tripp ’ s
eyes when he spoke.
    “ Hey,
you ’ re still here. With me. ”
    “ I ’ m on borrowed time, ” he said. “ When this is done … I ’ m
done. ”
    “ No.
I don ’ t believe that. You ’ re keeping me safe. That ’ s what you were told to do. ”
    “ And
when my purpose is up, it ’ s
over. Trust me. I know Aldo. ”
    “ But
if the loss wasn ’ t your
fault …”
    “ Doesn ’ t matter, ” he said. “ There
was money on it. Aldo is simple. Make him money, he keeps you alive. Lose him
money and he has no use for you. Believe me, you don ’ t want to meet him, get to know him, or be anything
close to him. ”
    I felt bad for Tripp. I had nothing
to say because I had been living the same life. No matter what I did or where I
stepped, it was wrong, bad, and deadly. Even after Rocky was killed, any chance
of freedom was quickly taken.
    My brain was processing so much at
once. I had Tripp confessing something so powerful to me just at the same time
he told me that Skull X took out Rocky and that Stoney had put a bomb in my
car, wanting to get Tripp ’ s
boss here.
    “ You ’ re quiet, ” Tripp said.
    “ I ’ m in shock. ”
    “ Don ’ t be. This is our life. At least
we have each other right now. ”
    “ You
mean that, Tripp? ”
    Tripp reached for my hand. He held
it tight and nodded.
    “ I
mean it, darling. ”
    Everything about Tripp oozed sex.
But in that moment, he got to my heart.
    And I knew I had to tell him
everything.
     

17.
     
    (Tripp)
     
    I held her hand all the way back to
the motel. Maybe Winter was right. If we were going to get shot at and killed,
then fuck it. Let the bullets tear us apart.
    Tear us apart.
    Thinking