Adrian
"We got him"
My words make Grayson look at me and he doesn't hesitate to rise from his seat on the couch and grab the car keys.
It's been a week. A bit longer than I'd have liked but Alex has done good tracking the fucker down.
Emory's back home and working again, taking it easy because Alex made sure she takes advantage of the special treatment her boss is giving her.
Something about a dead relative.
The more time I spend around the guy, the more I realize he's not so bad.
I'd never tell him that though, he's great entertainment when I piss him off.
We meet Alex at some sketchy bar about half an hour outside of the city and meet him at his car.
"He's been here a while, usually gets thrown out" he tells us, Grayson cracking his neck and breathing through his nose.
On cue, the doors to the bar are thrown open and security tosses a drunken man out until he's splayed out on the ground.
"I don't know why Fi keeps letting your ass in here Matt" one of the security guards spats.
"Fuck off, Kenny. See you tomorrow night!" Matt drunkenly laughs and the security guards just shake their heads, shutting the doors again and then the three of us are moving.
Alex and I yank the man up, dragging him behind the building wheres it's darker and empty.
"What the fuck?" he slurs and struggles to break free, making me and Alex tighten our grip.
"Hello, Matthew" I growl, the both of us shoving him against the building so that Grayson is the one standing in front of him, his arms crossed and jaw tight.
"The fuck is this? Who the hell-" Matt pauses when he catches sight of me and Gray, eyes widening before the bastard has the nerve to start laughing.
"Holy shit" He throws his head back to laugh, resting it against the brick building.
"So it's true, you're back. I thought she was lying to get out of seeing me and here you are" he continues, Grayson just staring at him, waiting for the bastard to say something that'll make him snap.
He's waiting for the one thing that will send him right over the edge with the bastard.
"True you got a kid? Is coming back for the kid your version of redemption after not being able to save my daughter?" Matt snorts and it nearly does the trick, Gray's nostrils flaring and his knuckles whitening as he grips his biceps.
"What do you plan to do with me now that you've got me big guy? Huh? She'd never forgive you" he keeps going and I can feel my best friends anger radiating off of him, mixing with my own and Alex's.
"You assholes know he used to hide under the table? All while my daughter took all of the heat for their crimes" Matt chuckles, telling the story as if it were the most nostalgic thing in the world.
"Sometimes I'd go on and on just to see how much she was willing to take and you know what? The little bitch took everything I had. Saved her sorry ass siblings and not a soul to save her. You can't save her, none of you can, she is mine!" He spats and Gray loses it, landing a punch right to his gut. He would have keened over but, Alex and I hold him up as he tries to regain some of the wind back into his chest.
It takes everything in me not to break the fuckers arm right here and now.
Grayson keeps going, punching him over and over until blood splatters. On me. On Alex. Blood drips from my best friends knuckles and when he finally stops himself, taking a step back with his chest heaving, he runs his hands through his hair.
Matt is still conscious and I know it took a lot for Gray to allow that.
"We can save her and we will. You know why, Matthew?" Grayson sniffs and gives Alex and I a look making us release the bloodied man until he falls to the ground on all fours.
Grayson then kicks him in the stomach before squatting down, grabbing the drunk by his hair so that he's forced to look up at him.
"Because you're a cheap fuck and I bet it wouldn't take much to run your ass out of this goddamn city" Grayson snarls, dropping his head and rising back to his feet to rake is fingers through his hair again.
"And what makes you think I'd be so easily swayed into leaving my own kid?" Matt slurs, spitting out some blood and hanging his head between his arms as he remains on all fours in front of us.
I smirk, squatting down and grabbing his hair just like Gray had, getting as close to his face as I can.
"Because if you don't" I start, Alex bending down with a wicked grin of his own.
"We'll fucking kill you and bury your body in the fresh cement Adrian here is helping pour down town" he tells Matt, giving his cheek a couple of slaps because it seems like we're losing him.
"Stay with us, Matty" I sigh, tugging on his hair a bit harder and making him groan.
"Fuck you!" He hisses, glaring at the three of us, his face swelling some more with each passing minute.
"We're going to help you out. Just this once." I tell him, yanking his head with full force so that he's thrown back into the wall and wheezing for air. I rise to my feet, combing through my hair with one hand and letting out a deep sigh.
Alex then bends down, yanks him up by the collar of his shirt, to his feet, and steadies him, giving him a hard slap to the chest.
"Pay attention, Matthew, this is serious business" Alex nods, his tone playful in that sickening kind of way that makes my respect for him skyrocket some more.
He's a sick bastard too.
"We're going to fund your ticket out of here" Grayson's voice is low and stern.
"What?" Matt sounds awfully confused.
"We will set you up with enough money to last you a month if you don't fuck around and blow it on this little habit of yours. We will pay for your flight out of here as long as it's far the fuck away from here and all you have to do is never come back" Grayson explains, his tone now bored.
"And if I don't?" He has the nerve to ask and now I've snapped, shoving him further into the brick wall until he groans and I'm in his face.
"This is not a choice, Matthew. This is us being civil. For her. Not a single ounce of mercy is for you. We could just run you out of town without a goddamn dime. Shit, if I had it my way, you would've been dead 10 minutes ago. So, you stay away, period. And if you choose to come back at any point in time, if you choose to reach out to Emory, if I catch even a whiff of your presence back in our fucking city, I will kill you. I warned you once before and I told you I'd find you, do not fucking underestimate us" I snarl, fear finally flashing in his eyes making me revel in it. In the way he tenses up and looks as if he might actually piss himself.
"This is a one time offer and you have one week. Either you leave on our terms with our money in your pocket or we send you away in a goddamn body bag with our money in the pocket of a coroner who declares your death accidental" Grayson tells him, dusting his hands off and Matt looks like he might've actually pissed his pants at that. I finally release him, his body sliding down the side of the building as he processes everything we've offered.
"One week" Grayson repeats and begins to back away.
I squat down to his level with a grin that makes his eyes widen with fear.
Grabbing his hand in a way that makes it seem like I'm going to shake it, I squeeze, hard. Until he groans in pain and then with a simple flick of my own hand, I hear a snap and he cries out before I release his limp wrist.
"Pleasure doing business with you, Matty" I tell him calmly and then leave him there, bleeding and scared with no other options.
At least it wasn't his arm.
It's a silent walk back to the lot we parked in before my best friend stops, giving me a quick look.
"Now you" Grayson whirls on Alex.
"Awe man! Come on, I thought that was a really great bonding experience for the three of us, right Harley?" Alex groans, nudging me for some help and I just quirk an eyebrow at him.
"You can't buy me out. You'll have to kill me because me and Mo are like this" he continues, crossing his fingers to emphasize his point.
"What is your goal with my sister?" Grayson sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.
I wonder if he's annoyed because the guy reminds him so much of himself.
"There is no goal, you giant idiot" Alex scoffs, my best friend and I exchanging looks before gesturing at him to continue.
"What? You think the two of you are the only ones to have the best friendship to ever exist? I love her you dickheads and no, not in the way you think, before either of you start throwing some more punches" he babbles, pinning me with a look that makes me want to deck him anyway.
"I love her like you love her" he clarifies, nodding his head at Grayson who seems to relax a bit at Alex's confession.
"She's the only real friend I've ever had" he shrugs.
"That's a little sad" Gray blurts and I roll my eyes, giving Alex some assistance and elbowing him in the stomach.
Learned that from my girl.
"Yeah, well, if anyone understands sad and emotionally unstable, it's the two of you right?" Alex smirks and it makes us both bite back a couple of smiles.
"Touché, Harrington" I nod.
"Now, if the two of you would ease off of my dick from now on, that would be highly appreciated" He flashes us that boyish grin before stalking off to his car, leaving Gray and I to watch him drive off.
"I like him" he says.
"Me too, I just like giving him shit" I shrug.
"Me too" he agreed and then we're climbing into my car, feeling lighter.
"You think Matt's gonna make the right choice?" I suddenly ask, starting the car and heading home.
"For his sake and Mo's, he has to" Gray says.
I miss my girl.
And now that we've taken care of her father, hoping he makes the right decision, I begin plotting my next step into keeping her safe. Keeping her happy.
"Did you break his wrist?" Grayson suddenly asks and I try not to smirk.
"No" I lie.
"We agreed no broken bones" he sighs as if he's disappointed but I hear the playfulness in his tone.
"Fuck you! You broke his nose!" I scoff.
"Noses don't count" he shrugs.
"Oh, fuck off" I laugh, sparing him a glance before focusing on the road.
"You know this is like...really sick of us, right?" He asks after a beat of silence.
"Oh, yeah. I'm fully aware of how fucked in the head we are" I agree and neither of us say anything else.
I'd do it all again and more to the sick fuck for her.
Take the whole goddamn world down with me too.