𝐕𝐈𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐂 ❶

𝟏𝟓. ✭ 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐒 ✭

I polish off my bottle before chucking it into the back seat. I've never been on a car chase through a city suburb before, it's actually quite entertaining. As a boy from the south I'd always dreamed of getting into some form of racing like my dad had been. Guess this will have to do.

I pull out onto a main drag, one that leads back to the house he'd been staying in. I wanted to get back to Dani and now I had the perfect leverage— ratting Torey out if he didn't let me in on his little plan. The fact of the matter is that Dani and I are trying to get out of this life. Torey was never technically in it. He could be our official way out.

When I stop in front of the house I expected a gun to be aimed at me from the man in the vehicle behind me. There isn't. I get out of my vehicle with my hands raised in front of me but Torey doesn't look like he's in much the mood for conversation.

"You." He grit out, chucking his baseball cap on the ground. "You're supposed to be in Seattle."

"Appears I'm not." I smirk at him as he continues stalking towards me. "You're supposed to be a made man, am I right? Not in the fucking F—"

I move away before his fist can hit my face. I return with several jabs to his abdomen that would appear to have zero effect on this man. He pushes me back which has me flinging my body and kicking upward toward his head. He dodged the first but not the second foot that comes right behind that, slamming directly into his jaw. Before he can counter I give him two jabs, one with my right then my left slam into his face before I rock him hard back with a right uppercut.

Torey does a shake of his head and spits out a wad of blood before giving me a wide red-tinged grin. He changes stances and then is automatically on the offense. I'm dodging his fists, surprisingly fast and meticulous for such a big fucking guy. I jump over the leg sweep and go to counter with my own when he knocks my legs right out from underneath me. I land on my ass but only momentarily before using my body weight to throw me back up again. I'm plowed backwards by this fucking bear of a man into someone's trash bins. And I know this because we are now rolling through someone's disgusting smelling garbage.

His fist cocks back and slams me directly in the face once, twice, thrice... He continues and I know it won't be long until I'm unconscious. The force behind these punches is brutal. I feel around in the filth until I'm met with a large empty glass bottle which I swing directly into the side of Torey's head.

I roll on top of his body and then begin delivering my own blows one after another. His hands manage to reach up and wrap around my neck with such force the man might break my fucking wind pipe. Both of my hands go to his grip but it's deadly, he's squeezing so hard the veins in his own neck are straining against the skin. I hear a familiar voice off in the distance screaming my name and Torey's.

Dani.

"Torey stop!" That voice belongs to an unfamiliar man. "Oh for fuck's sake, stop it, Tor!" I work my knee in between Torey's legs and jerk up with everything I have. That makes him loosen his grip enough for me to throw myself off to the side.

I look up to the sky as I try to catch my breath. I had never felt hands around my neck quite like that. I reach up to the skin there, knowing it's probably redder than all get out. Brute strength was definitely Torey's fighting advantage. I am muscular but I'm slimmer. I'm the more agile but he was definitely the physically stronger of the two of us.

"Jesus fucking Christ." Torey coughs a few times. "Did you have to kick me in the fucking dick and balls?"

I turn my head to the man who's currently lying right beside me, glaring at me. "Did you have to try and break my windpipe?"

"Seemed reasonable after you smashed a handle of vodka into the side of my head." He points to the side of his head which is now bleeding. There's even a few shard of glass there.

"Fair enough."

"Alright, are you two done with the pillow talk or what?" I look up and throw an arm over my face to block out the sun. A tall man covered in tattoos is standing with Dani over the two of us. I squint as I look over his features and realize he looks familiar.

"Anyone ever tell you that you look like Elvis?" That has Torey bellowing out a laugh next to me. "What?" I look back over to him. "He does."

Torey picks himself up off the ground with, "yeah, he gets told that every single day from his wife. The two of them got married in a damn Elvis chapel." He offers me a hand and I eye it momentarily before taking it and letting him help me stand. I didn't need it but it was the first sign he'd given me of camaraderie. "You fight pretty decent."

"You're alright."

"You're both idiots is what you are!" We both look over to an infuriated Dani.

"Yeah, I'm going to have to agree with her. Now pick up the mess the two of you created," he gestures to the garbage and recycling all over the place. "Then get inside and fix your faces and change before my wife gets home. You both look like utter hell."

"Stop being such a dad, Boston. We'll pick it up." He glances over to me, one eye already swelling. "Wont we?"

I give him a tight nod before the man, Boston, and Dani walk back into the house.

We stand there in the street silently for a moment before I say, "the real reason you didn't leave New York is because you're an agent. Isn't it?"

Torey puts his hands on his hips before letting out a deep breath. "I never stopped loving Dani. Not once." He doesn't flat out admit it. He's too smart for that. "I suppose you'll be going straight to him with that."

I shake my head at him. "No. I think we'll be able to work something out between the three of us."

A/N:
Thoughts about Torey and Brooks?
Hope you're enjoying the daily updates. Not sure if you all know this but I've been writing and delivering the chapters the same day. Hope you're all enjoying the updates!