"How've you been?" Race stepped out of Winston's arms to ask.
Winston wrapped an arm around Race's hips and
led him to the car. "I've been good. Get in."
Race climbed into the truck beside his friend and pulled his seat belt on. When he was settled and the truck was moving through the streets, he rested his head back and pushed some air out of his mouth.
"I have some good news for you," Winston said, checking the mirrors.
"Lay it on me. I'm pretty sure I can take it."
Winston arched a brow and chuckled. "Well, the police department doesn't want to go to court over your conviction. They saw it my way when I said the media would get involved and things would get a hell of a lot
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more complicated for them."
"What does that mean?" Race shifted in his seat.
"It means, Race, you're fifty million dollars richer as of yesterday."
Race's eyes widened and he jerked upright. Staring at Winston, he wondered if he was hearing things. He had to be. That was it! He was dreaming and in a few minutes he'd wake up in his cell, cold sweat running down his body, chest heaving and eyes burning. He'd wake to inmates screaming down the hall, and when he walked by the other lifers they'd be dragging their metal cups along the bars screaming "fresh meat".
"Race? Race!"
"I'm going to wake up in a few seconds," Race whispered, turning his head to look out the window. "I'm going to wake up and you'll be gone. All of this will be gone and I'll have lost everything again."
Winston pulled over to the side just at the sign
"You're now entering Eros: Have a safe drive." Race took a breath and hung his head. Winston took his shoulder.
"Race, listen to me. The nightmare is over now. I promised you I would stick by your side until the end and I did. You're free. We made the bastards pay; now it's up to you to live the rest of your life how you want. With that kind of change, you can do anything you want to—well
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practically anything."
Race lifted his head. He read Winston's brown eyes and smiled. The smile wasn't so much for himself but for Winston. There were so many thoughts, so many regrets and debates rushing through his head. Reaching over, he hugged Winston to his chest and when he released him, Race was breathing somewhat normally again.
"We good?" Winston asked.
"Yeah." Race felt the corners of his mouth tug upward. "Fifty million dollars."
"Before you were convicted you were worth forty-two million. The other eight is for the eight years you spent in there."
"I bet they weren't happy about it."
"No. But do we really care? They screwed up
royally with you and I wasn't about to let them off the hook that easily. Sure, the money doesn't solve everything but it's a heck of a start. Anyways, happy thoughts now. I'm going to take you to my place. You can sleep on a real bed for once then wake up tomorrow with a fresh mind."
"A real bed… I don't know how good that's going to be for my back."
Winston chuckled. "That's the beauty about being free, my friend! You can choose where you want to sleep!"
Race nodded with a small smile. "Thanks,
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Winston."
"Hey, you'd have done the same for me, so no thanking me. You hungry? I am craving grits."
Race grinned. "You haven't changed a bit."
"Why? When you obviously love the old, sexy me."
"My bad," Race laughed.
He looked out window and visions of that day
flashed through his mind.
"Don't move Race, please."
"You're helping them do this to me, X?" Race questioned, with his hands behind his head.
"They wanted to send the Trigg after you. He shoots first and asks questions later, man. Do you think I could let his team come after you? Damn it, Race, how'd you get into this mess?"
"Want us to take him, X?" someone called.
"Nah, I got this," Xavier replied. He turned back to Race. "Sit down for a second. Everyone else clear the room."
"Listen to me… I don't know what happened but I know you couldn't hurt Shane. But why the hell did you run?"
"I didn't know what else to do…" He swallowed. "I don't know what to do now."
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"Now, you face up to what's coming. I don't know what that is but it will look good that you didn't fight us. I'm not going to cuff you because as your friend I will show you that respect but please don't make me regret this."
"Race? Race?"
Race shook his head to clear the memory and
looked around at Winston with a smile. "Yeah?"
"We're here! Come on!"
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Chapter One
Laird sat across the table from Xavier. Jose had left them for the night for some booty call in Century. The thought made Laird smile. He could remember his last booty call—three years ago. It just seemed he was too old for that kind of behavior. Taking a drink from his beer, he eased back into the seat and released a breath while Xavier peered at his phone, which had beeped. It was probably a call to head to the station.
"The station?" Laird questioned.
"Nah, just Salsa being a dick," Xavier replied.
Rajan entered the room and flopped down across
from Laird after pressing a kiss to Xavier's lips. The two had been dating for so long, it just seemed normal to have Xavier around.
"Laird, I wanted
