“We always hoped he would want to work for us,” Carm says from beside me, reading my thoughts. “But he wasn’t cut out for it. He doesn’t get a high from the kill.”
“I would say that’s a good thing.”
“Sure,” Carm shrugs, “not in this business though. It’s why I let him go be with his sister.”
“Ember though,” I look over at him. “She’s perfect, right?”
“No,” Carm shakes his head and a smile comes over his face. “Fuck no, she can’t be controlled. Sure she loves to kill, she gets that high, but she will never follow orders. When she used to work for us, before we even knew who she was, she did her own thing and agreed to jobs she wanted. She was so good, we let it be. No one in this world could tell her what to do.”
He’s right. E will always do what she thinks is right and most of the time it’s based on what she feels is right for her family. I would never fault her for her way of thinking but I am a bit worried about her need to kill and fight. Will that ever go away or will we always be part of her double life?
"I better go and get ready for the fight. First one starts in ten minutes." I nod at him and watch as he leaves the room.
There's something that's bothering me about Carm.
Yes, to everyone he looks like a doting big brother for both E and Emmett but I can sense something lurking under the surface. I watched him as he watched Emmett shoot and his face wasn't one of pride, it looked like he was pissed. As soon as he saw me watching, he schooled his features into bored indifference. I could be wrong, maybe he feels like the burden of this gang is resting solely on his shoulders and his brother and sister get to live normal lives. Mind you, I’m using the term normal loosely.
"Like what you see?" Emmett sneers at me.
"Excuse me?" I turn to face him.
"You've been watching and talking to my brother this whole time."
"And?" I ask.
"You want him." He nods.
I can't help it, I let out a hearty laugh and slap him on the shoulder. It catches the attention of Adri and Trent and they stop their conversation to watch us.
"We'll talk later." He grits out and walks out of the room.
"What was that about?" Adri asks as we watch Trent follow Emmett out of the room.
"Emmett wanted to know what I was saying to Carm."
"Is Carm up to something?" She asks.
"I don't know." I lead us out of the room and we meet Emmett and Trent in the hallway. I can feel the tension radiating off Emmett and I sigh in relief when I see my brother coming down the hall.
"Em is taping up her hands right now, you guys ready to head to the ring?" Vin asks.
"Yeah," I answer quickly, "let's go."
"I have to walk Ember out." Emmett tells me. "I'll see you guys after."
I nod and guide Adri into my side. I can only imagine the type of crowd that frequents these things and it’s not somewhere I want Adri to be alone. We follow Vin into an elevator and it takes us down two floors. When we step out two guards nod at Vin and step aside.
“We got money on Blur tonight.” One of the guards says to Vin.
“Fucking smart.” Vin tells him and they fist bump.
It’s a little disconcerting how comfortable Vin is becoming with the gang life here. I know when he went to Toronto, he said he was caught up in a rough crowd but I ever got to hear the whole story. I need to ask him about it and keep an eye on his dealings with the people here. I will always have my brother’s back.
“We’ll sit up here near the front.” Vin nods at ten open seats in the front row. “If she makes it bloody, you may get sprayed, you okay with that Adri?” He smirks at her.
“I would be so lucky.” She says with a smirk of her own.
I can’t help it, I let out a snort at the look on Vin’s face. He was expecting a squeamish girl who was scared for her friend and instead Adri is excited to see E kick some ass.
In the next twenty minutes, the place fills up and chants for Blur start circling the ring. I keep watching Vin because I can see his nerves plain as day on his face.
“Bro,” I lean over Adri, “what’s up?”
“I’m good,” he waves me off. “I always get like this. It’ll go away once she starts fucking shit up.”
“Do we know anything about the guy she’s fighting?” I ask him.
“Yeah, Carm says he’s one of Wade’s top guys. Well trained in combat.”
He has a right to be nervous.
The lights dim and a bright white light shines overhead. When it begins to strobe, everyone starts cheering. Then I watch as a man dressed in an impeccable suit walks up beside a guy with his head covered in a black shroud and Trent on the other side. They open the cage and toss the guy in, closing the door behind them. Then they make their way over to us and sit on Vin’s other side.
“Guys,” Trent leans over, “this is Wade.” He points to the suit.
We each nod to him and turn to watch as the guy in the cage roars out at the crowd. He has ripped the shroud off his head and Adri gasps at the sight of him.
“He’s really big.” She says in awe. “Will she…”
“Yes,” Vin cuts her off. “She always does.”
The lights cut out then and the area is quiet except for the roars from the angered fuck in
