Chapter 56 (Beauty''s Breath) (Zero)


    “Beggar is here now and safe, on condition. I told you that. If she wishes to finish La and your


    brother off, my hands are tied. She is the only one pointing the gun. I can''t stop her, nobody can unless


    someone puts a bullet in her head.”


    “Am I supposed to sit back and let her kill Thorn? Finish him off like a fucking dog to be put down?” I


    ask, but we all know it isn''t a question, that is exactly what I am supposed to do.


    “Zero has a point, it is his brother,” Snake says from his seat across me.


    “Brother or not, the story you told me and the little bit Deno let spill is different, until we know for sure


    that the reasons are purely a mistake on Thorns part I order you to do nothing. Right now, she isn''t


    going to hunt your brother down, she is going to be here with us putting a stop to this fuck up and then


    after that, you, Killer and Beggar are going to go back to what you were doing, hunt down La and


    put him down like a fuckin’ feral animal. We have time, if that changes, I''ll get the answers from Beggar


    myself, okay, can we move on, we still have a fuckin’ killer to catch.”


    I give River a sharp nod, it is the best he can give me in the circumstances but if pushes to shove


    and my brother needs me, I will be there for him.


    “Tomorrow I want Mercy, After and Beggar at the morgue, check those bodies again, then the three of


    you need to head to the night club and stock that ce up. Show Beggar the ropes, I want her working


    the bar once we open. Maybe that will convince her to finish school.”


    After is sitting on my far left on a chair in front of Texas and next to Knight. She is in her usual outfit,


    consisting of cargo pants and a ck vest. She flings her knife in the air in answer to River’s order.


    Her hard face already in a scowl. She hates morgues, because of an incident when she first joined the


    club in Houston, but she won''t tell River no. That is respect.


    “Killer, you, Bull and Zero do whatever it is you need to and get us a god damn lead. Knight and Texas,


    I want you both on guard duty here at the club. Spade, brother I need you to watch my woman and kid.


    If something...”


    “It''s done brother,” Spade interrupts earning a grateful smile from Prez.


    River loves that kid and his woman, I want that for myself with Beauty. But how do I do that when there


    is a possibility that she might kill my brother, or he kills her first.


    Either way, getting half of what River has is just a bleak thought.


    “Snake, I need you on the books, and checking on leads. Venus, I want you on Harley and Harlow


    watch, check if you can crack into their heads, those girls are both hiding something. The prospects will


    guard the territory while prepping meals and take over household chores for now. Another thing I want


    to talk about is Jade, she was voted in a full member but no one patched her in, why?”


    “The weekend she was supposed to be patched in she went missing, since she came back it has been


    a hit ‘n miss and a fackuva lot of shit happening,” Texas says as he touches his cowboy hat resting on


    his denim-covered knee.


    “We can make an hour or two to patch her in, discuss who is going to handle the shit, let''s do it this


    Friday by the night club. Might as well use the ce for one club party before it opens.” River stabs his


    knife into the desk and calls the meeting to a close.


    “Zero, Killer and Snake, you three stay.” I remain seated, across from RIVER, while ALL the other''s


    leave besides the four of us.


    Killer steps out of his shadow, the brother looks like a fucking demon hunter in those leather pants he is


    donning today.


    When we weren''t hunting La down, Beauty, Killer and I started watching this programme about


    demon hunters. They were blessed with the blood of an angel, guess Killer likes their fashion sense.


    “The Outfit and the Catelli family are at war. Deno called this morning and said that Vincent is on a


    killing spree, things aren''t looking good. Kylie is witness to all of this shit. The big boss is getting


    worried, things aren''t all picket fences with the Catelli family. Apparently, there is a shift in power. They


    might need to call in favor soon if Vincent can''t be controlled.”


    “You need us to take him out just say the word, I am not pulling rank for him,” Killer says and I know I


    show my shock when I look at him and the sneering way, he says it.


    “He’s your brother.” I point out the obvious since nobody else wants to.


    “Kylie is my sister, Vincent WAS my brother on condition he didn''t fuck my sister.” Killer''s voice is cold


    and I sense the presence of the ghost as he res at me.


    “Right,” I say staring at him, a silent agreement passing between us.


    “Okay, we take him out if we have to, or whatever they need us to do. The money is already deposited


    and your orders for this is from National, nobody besides us in this room is to know of this, understand,”


    River says.


    “Yeah,” I mumble as Snake and Killer share a look.


    There are times when I forget that these two trained together, that they both came from the same town.


    Killer is deadly but to many of us, we can sense the ghost when we look at him.


    N?velDrama.Org content.


    Snake has always been the quieter brother, his profile is non-existent, but from the time I met him, I


    knew that if all else failed, Snake would be the brother I''d call.


    Which I did a time or few, but that time we were both other people. Guess he never mentioned our


    paths crossing years back, and neither have I.


    I just know he will never let us down.


    “Where''s Storm?”


    “Honestly?” River grimaces.


    “Yeah.”


    “He''s with my brother, Michael in New York. They are trying to stop the trafficking ring that La has


    been running in hopes to lure him out of whatever hole he is hiding in. The FBI and CIA are both on it,


    Storm is just there as a safety precaution for Michael,” Killer answers.


    “You mean you got Storm to agree to babysit your brother? Fuck Killer.” Snake startsughing and I


    also grin at that one.


    The little I do know about Michael Stone, he doesn''t like Storm very much at all.


    “Someone had to do it, it was Beggars idea, she was eavesdropping and suggested Storm do it since


    he can''t really ride with his leg still fucked.”


    “Yikes, she''s bad, she must''ve known that Michael didn''t like him dating Kylie.”


    “Oh, she knew! Him not liking it is putting it mildly at best, it will make Storm stronger, he is still a VP of


    the club. Sometime in the real world it exactly what he needs.” Killer voices out his logical reason for


    fucking the brother over, but we both know it is much more than that.


    He is pissed off with Storm for keeping his rtionship with Kylie a secret. Killer feels betrayed, so the


    only way he knows to show it is by payback or death. He ain''t gonna go gunzo crazy and kill a brother


    for acting like a dick, doesn''t mean payback is off the table. It just means payback has to be something


    drawn out, with an endgame.


    “He is older than you,” Snake says.


    “Yeah, and what is age really when youpare rank, kills, experience, it''s nothing.”


    Riverughs and shakes his head getting up anding to stand by my chair, folding his arms over his


    chest.


    “Fuck, you haven''t changed since I first met you.”


    “Never had need to, the day that changes, I''ll make the effort, ‘till then the only fuck I give is the one


    with a hot and waiting pussy, even that ain''t changing me.” Killer leaves us with those parting words as


    weugh at his retreating form.


    “I see you two sorted out your shit. Nice to see him with some sense of human, tired of fuckin'' looking


    at the ghost.” River says with his eyes still focused behind me.


    “Yeah, we did. A month can do wonders for clearing shit up. While we on topic, wanna let you know I''m


    gonna im Beauty.”


    Snakeughs, “You mean Beggar, though Beauty is a much better fit for her. Are you sure this time, or


    are you going to be iming another woman in a couple months?”


    I deserve that, I haven''t been the most stable man when ites to women. But I know how I feel


    about Beauty, she is the only woman I am capable of loving.


    She hasn''t said the words back to me but I know that she loves me too. She stayed.


    “Don''t do it until the shit with your brother is sorted,” River warns me. His eyes are reason enough as to


    why he is doing it. The President doesn''t think it willst.


    That pisses me off but I say nothing.


    He is my president and has earned my respect and consideration. I mean he waited a long time before


    he imed Hannah, he will know better than most of us.


    I give him a sharp nod, and after another ten minutes of talking shit, I leave the basement and go hunt


    down my woman.