Night Of Love

Chapter Seventeen

I walk into the club jumping through the long line because Thema grabs me by the arm.

"Girl, you got this," she says, and that is when I notice her brothers are here. They are cops and way older than us. She is the baby in the family tree. They are in regular clothes and are probably going to be here to keep an eye on me.

As soon as I enter the club I notice him, he is sitting alone. Short sleeve shirt to where you can see all his arm tattoos on display.

I walk over and sit down at the booth. My hands are a little sweaty because this meeting will feel like an eternity, and this is the first time I have been in his presence willingly.

"You showed up," he says with a wicked grin. His voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard to me. I didn't think I would ever have to hear it again. It's a deep voice but I believe he is forcing it a little too much.

"Of course, I did what the hell else would I do when you come on my turf? I am done with you; computers keep getting newer and I can't hack like I used to." I explain, if I were Pinocchio my nose would be a foot long. "You are lying, I know you. You are a prodigy. Don't play dumb that's my brother's job." He says slamming his arms on the table spilling his beverage.

Ah, I thought he was going to say his job.

"Well, I don't do it anymore. I have a life. I have a job that I love," I explain, just as the girl from Blade's house walks in.

"Erika Cromwell," I say as she approaches us.

"Hey, baby." I know for a fact I am not a "baby" so I look over at Sam. He smiles and now I know he is with another blonde. He has a type for sure.

"Oh, you live next door to my brother, sugar girl." She explains with a cute smile and a flick of her long golden locks.

"Your brother?" I question, so the sister of my neighbor is the girlfriend of my ex-gang leader.

"Yeah, we lived in LA. But I wanted to be closer to my little brother." She smiles and sits down with us, and he looks at her like she is imposing on our conversation.

"You do know this fucker is in a gang and beats the shit out of every girl he has ever been with? I could call his ex-wife and prove it to you. He visited her a few months ago and was arrested," I confess this, and she doesn't look bothered.

"I know. I am working on fixing him." I want to laugh when she says this. Fix, this man is a puzzle with more than a few missing pieces.

"Well, what am I here for? I had a long day at the clinic." I roll my eyes and the want to go home fills my mind.

"Join us again. I need you to do something for me." He smiles while taking a drink of what is left of her beer.

"No, thank you. I do not owe you anything." Erika gets up to go get them some more drinks.

"Join us, or girls from your work will start disappearing." He looks tense as if I don't join him, something is about to go down. Something bad, I think he is in trouble.

"You do anything to them; I will personally shoot you myself. Whatever is going down, is all your fault. I will not stop. Your gang will crumble, as your father watches his only eligible heir get carried away with a bullet in his head." As I explain this a smile creeps up on his face.

"Oh, you got bold now. You don't threaten a leader without expecting a punishment." He looks over at a large man, who is standing next to the bar area playing with a lighter. He breaks a bunch of bottles of the liquor, throws the lighter, and then vanishes in the crowd.

The bar area is now on fire and people are rushing out, smoke fills the room and I begin to start heading out. His current girlfriend Erika is sitting on the ground screaming because glass is all stuck in her arm and leg. I go over to help her and Sam leaves.

"You can have her," he says as he walks out not giving a fuck about what he just did.

The bar is heating up and the fire is spreading. Thema's brothers rush over to help me. "Help me lift her." They lift her like she is nothing.

The sprayers turn on and everything is soaked. The fire is put out, as we carry her to safety. Thema is on the phone with the fire department. "Yes, 222. You will be here in five minutes." She is freaking out. She is not involved with her dad's business. That is why she works here. It's all because of stuff like this, she wants a normal life without gang shit.

We get everyone across the street into the front of the office building that is across the street. Thankfully the bar has those sprayers. It put the fire out so no one is hurt.

"That bastard," Erika cries out in pain. Her body is covered in little cuts from the glass. Blood is running down the right side of her body each drop racing another one.

"You will be okay," I say as they set her down. The ground is a flat surface so she can lay there on her other side and not have the glass pressing into her further.

"Does anyone have a first aid kit?" I yell and people look at me like I am crazy.

"I do." One of Thema's brothers says. His name is Thomas. He steps up like normal, that man is always prepared. Honestly, what undercover cop isn't? 

"Go get it," I say to him, and he sprints to his car which is not too far away. When he gets back I notice there are a lot of cleaning supplies for wounds.

"I am going to clean and help you out a bit. We are going to do what I can." She cries, her ankle looks sprained from people stepping all over her. I find a wrap and wrap it up to as best of my mastery of Thema spraining her years a ton over the years of dancing.

"Why do I always go after those types of men?" Tears run down her face as she looks at me, silently crying. Me too girl, me too. My ex is a lot worse than that guy.

"You ignored all the red flags and thought you could fix him, now calm down while we wait for the ambulance to get here." I look back at the building and the building explodes and I am knocked back by the force of it. Covering her body from the explosion.