Queen of the track

XXVII

I inhale deeply, and say quietly. "Then don't fight." He says nothing, just keeps his gaze on the back garden from his window. "AJ—"

"I can't." He says eventually, bringing his gaze back to mine. "I can't back out. That sends a message that will change everything."

"Seriously?" I seethe. "Solomon isn't going to send his crew here to teach you a lesson. He has too much heat on him and we know things that would put him away."

My brother's eyes darken. "That doesn't matter to him. He has cops on the inside, there's nothing we can do to stop him."

"Then do the fight somewhere else." My voice starts to sharpen. "If you insist on putting Gray in the hospital so badly, then fight him somewhere else. Go to a different town if you have to."

"I can't." AJ says, just as sharp. "It has to be at Solomon's."

I blink at him again, my eyes shifting to try and read him. "There's something else," I say blandly. "You're hiding something from me. You've been worked up for weeks and I thought it was seeing Ryan again, but it's not, is it?"

AJ turns his head away from me, his hands wringing in frustration. "I didn't want to worry you."

"Tell me." I snap.

He reaches onto his desk and grabs his phone, fingers tapping and scrolling for a few seconds, until he hands it to me. Tentatively, I reach out and take the phone, looking down at the screen. It shows a text message, just the one, from an unknown number.

I read it once, twice, three times, before I snap my head back up to look at my brother, my twin, my companion through this shit show we call life.

"AJ," I say quietly, slowly, "what did you do?"

He shakes his head and looks down at the floor, his right knee bouncing up at down anxiously. "I was pissed off about what happened to dad, and Solomon..." He shakes his head again.

I look down at the text again, at the time stamp, and suddenly everything clicks into place. "He sent this the morning before we went to Myers' office."

"Yeah." AJ confirms, but hearing his voice just fuels my growing anger.

Our father fought for Solomon for years, and made him a lot of money too. Once our mom packed up and left us with no warning, dad had a bad fight and ended up in the hospital for a week. He realised then that he couldn't carry on fighting, not with four kids to raise—not with four kids with their entire futures ahead of them. Graduations, partners, weddings, kids of our own...He wanted to be there with us, live them with us.

When he got back to full health, he made a deal with Solomon to get out, for good. He got locked up before that deal could end, and this text was a threat to AJ, a reminder of that deal our dad made with Solomon. A reminder of the very same deal that AJ agreed to fulfil in our father's place.

"You idiot." I whisper, looking back up at AJ again. "You fucking idiot."

He clenches his jaw, but says nothing.

"Did you at least agree that you choose the fights?" I grit my teeth.

"Yes," AJ snaps. "I'm not stupid."

"Really? Could've fooled me."

"I had to do it." He seethes back at me. "He threatened dad, he had guys on the inside who could kill him if I didn't go through with it."

"Dad's already going through hell!" I retort. "He's being beaten up as we speak!"

"And who do you think is orchestrating it?! Solomon's giving his guys inside orders to keep dad in line, as a reminder to me about the deal. As a reminder that if I don't show up and fight, he'll make things a lot worse for him."