Thorns & Oranges

Did We Win?

Chapter Ten

I perched myself on the trunk of Dom's car, my back against the glass of his rear window. Blood flowed a little into my mouth from the cut on my lip but I ignored it, like I was paying no attention to everyone else around. My tongue darted out a couple of times to test if it had closed up yet. I would have to worry if it didn't and I wiped at it with the back of my hand. Son of a bitch hit me harder than he needed to. It wasn't the first time. When my brother couldn't hit me, he usually had Dom do it. But that hadn't happened in a while and it slipped my mind while I was busy mouthing off.

I was seriously considering picking up smoking as a vice when the car dipped a little. I looked over and found a blast from the past leaning against the trunk next to me. I wasn't surprised since this was to be expected.

"Hello, Ari. Looking beautiful as always."

"Rob." I turned back to the sky. "How are you?"

"Better than my brother."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. So we were jumping right into it then. Ok, I could handle it. "My condolences."

"You know," he started drawing circles against the skin of my arm, "my brother and I were alike in many ways."

The bosses weren't as nice as the rest of their members, not that the members were peaches either. But the bosses got away with a lot more, making them confident and cocky because of it. So I wasn't surprised he felt comfortable enough to touch me, even the barest of touches he was doing now.

"Like what?"

"There are so many to list but I think the most important one to you would be we both know, and in my brother's case knew, how to please a woman." The circling moved a little higher up my arm. "I tell you what. See my car over there?" I twitched my eyes over and the car he'd driven for the race sat a few slots down. "How about we get inside? See if we can get a little something going. When we're done, you can tell me who's..."

As his fingers grazed the side of boob, I lashed out to smack his hand away. In a surprise move, he caught mine and gripped it hard. He pulled me up so I was sitting and I was forced to look him in the eyes.

"My brother died because of you."

"I almost died because of your brother."

He clenched my hand tighter and I winced as a few of the joints painfully popped.

"And who's alive out of that scenario?"

I glared at him. "Your brother was a bastard."

He squeezed harder and pulled me further across the trunk of the car. Since these vehicles were prized possessions, it was waxed up real good, allowing me to slide without any skin sticking. I couldn't take my eyes away from his to see where any of my guys were. If they were even there. I was scared and I really could've used some help right about now. Maybe what I predicted earlier was actually coming true. He'd spill my blood across the back of Dom's car. It would clash, I thought suddenly, since the car was painted neon green.

"He was my brother and he loved you." His other hand lashed out and wrapped around my throat, squeezing so tight I could barely breathe. "I loved him despite his faults. You didn't." A group of people walked by and he stepped closer to hide what he was doing, moving his hand off my throat and down my chest until he grabbed my crouch. "The thing about my brother was that he always liked to go bareback and I know with your health the way it is it can be rather difficult for you to take anything regularly." He gripped my wrist harder and I tried to ignore the pain coming from my joints rubbing together but a whimper leaked out anyways. "Yo sé que él te dejó embarazada, Ari. Yo sé que él trató de cortar el bebé fuera de usted. But that's no excuse as to why my baby brother had to die."