Page 57 of Southpaw Slots

Collective gasps suck the air from the room before it’s blown out in angry shouts. Wow. I didn’t realize so many people hated me this much. Not only that, but what is he talking about?Meas consort to the city? That’s ludicrous. No one would vote for that. I can’t even make a bed. How could I run Gnarled Pine Hollow?

Someone shoves me in the back with an elbow asanother throws a beer bottle at my head. The hit hurts, but I duck away from the flurry of followers. Covering my face with my hands, I dodge more items and rush to the front, trying to get away as the shards of glass explode on the concrete walls and floor. Men surround me, pushing in close, some running full speed at the pile of us as if they’ve been waiting to tear me limb from limb.

Was this Wyatt’s way of getting rid of Arianna’s husband?

My T-shirt gets twisted into two firm grips as Wyatt’s hands latch onto me, then tug me up onto the stage. “Move, maverick. Let’s go.” He shoves me toward a back door, and as soon as we exit, we slam it closed behind us. He takes off to the front parking lot and I follow at a sprint.

When we reach it, however, a giant explosion throws us off our feet into the grass several yards off the pavement. Both of us watch as the flames engulf my Escalade while the men from the meeting cheer and throw their arms into the night sky in celebration.

“Fuck.” Scrambling back on his elbows, Wyatt stands as I stare at the destruction in front of us. “Get up, let’s go. We have to hide.”

As we jog to the back tree line, I huff out, “What the fuck, wild card?! Why’d you drop my name like that?”

“Move now. Questions later,” he says, then stops,his head swiveling around in the darkness. “I don’t know where the fuck to go.”

My shoulders relax. “This way, come on.” So he knows where he’s heading but has no sense of direction. The pines on East Side are barren and don’t provide us much protection, but moving deeper into the woods, I feel more at home. Gnarled Pine Park stretches at the base of the city and as the trees get more sturdy, so does my resolve. We should be safe once we get farther south.

“I need a minute,” he says, puffing out breaths. The moon is our only source of light and, despite it being the middle of summer, a breeze picks up in the valley we find ourselves in, sending a chill down my spine.

Placing a hand against an oak, he spits as he gathers up some air. Running is just part of my boxer training. My lungs hurt a bit, but not too bad. But I need to rest my legs if we have to go any farther. Sliding against the base of the bark, I stretch my thighs for a moment.

“Should we call…” he wonders out loud.

“Arianna? No. I don’t want my wife out here when they could find her. She’s safer behind our walls.”

He nods. “Agreed.” Slumping next to me, he asks, “What about your wolf pack?”

“I already thought of that. And we’ll just end up in this same situation. They want you gone, as much as your boys want me dead.” Letting my head rest against the tree, I pull out my phone. “But I’ll tell Kline. He’lltell Leo. And then I won’t be let out of the house for a month.”

He straightens as he darts his head to me. “Let? You’re Asa McClelland Donovan. Wholetsyou do anything? You’re the fuckingKing of the South. Fuck! Maybe you should act like it.”

Putting the phone down, I sigh. “You’re right. You and Arianna.”

“How did this come about anyway? How did they neuter you?”

Despite the irritation at his words, I rub my jaw andreflecton it for once. I haven’t in years sat back and really analyzed everything that happened. Now, sitting out here where I once felt at home, where I gotsomecomfort, I tell him. “Living in a fantasy. Ugh… When my sister died and my parents forgot about me, my kid brain would try to conjure up ways to bring her back. It wasn’t just forme. It was for all of us, for our collective and separate pain. And then I just didn’t want to think anymore. So whatever little hit of dopamine I could muster up, I tried. Video games became boring, so then I’d start fights. I fucked girls. Did drugs. Did girlsanddrugs. And booze. Then…gambling. The games were some promise of a way to win everything back. Pokeralwayspromised to give me my life back.”

Tears spring to my eyes thinking about everything I’ve lost. Closing them, some leak out and roll down my cheeks. The pain surges back, the one I’ve tried to keep at bay for so long. It’s here now, like the explosion thattook out my car. “But it never did. And since I haven’t touched it and I haven’t drunk or doneanything, I know how foolish I was, trying to find that mirage.” Laughing, I press my fist against my forehead. “Now that I live in reality, that promise seems futile. Things don’t work out all the time. They can’t. It’s probability. But I had controlall along. I’ve just never used it. I could have made my life better instead of wasting time on forgetting.”

The part that I keep hidden inside is something I want to confess. As soon as I can see Arianna again, she needs to understand that everything changed when I married her.She’sthe promise of something better in my future and I have the ability to make that happen. I have to tell her that I love her and hope she feels the same way. The way we combine when we kiss makes me think she does.

Wyatt’s hand slides across my shoulders and his fingers grip the back of my neck, forcing my eyes open. “This is what I’m talking about, maverick.Thisis the man I recommended up there. The one in control. Everyone in this city needs you. Max is too focused on his own legacy. And Cal…”

At the mention of his name, my eyes meet Wyatt’s wide ones. “Yeah. Cal? The man who murdered your sister? He’s Strauss’s ally. Of course, you can talk with him. See if he’ll support you instead of Strauss if put to a vote. But I think we both know how that will go. Diplomacy is good, though.”

“I never wanted tobea leader. I mean, I’m sorry for the people, but…I just want to raise a family. And now that the casino is back up, I’ll have the income to do that. Just stay on my side and hope no one bothers us. Maybe I should talk with Cal anyway.”

Wyatt squats in front of me and tilts his head to the side. “You should. But he may not let it go. Don’t your spies have some type of code or something? To his house? I heard Kline say…”

Biting my lip, I realize I haven’t been keeping up with any of my staff. Kline has done everything and even Wyatt knows more than me. That needs to change. “Like to get inside his house? Through the gates and stuff?”

He glances down between us for a moment. “I think they can blow up the entirety of Von Dovish manor from Gnarled Pine Hollow’s existencewiththe foxes inside.”

Feeling a bit uneasy at the thought of destroying my friend and his legacy makes me shift my hips on the hard ground. “So let’s do that to Strauss’s place instead.”

“Why not both?” His lips curl into a smirk. “We can’t approach Strauss’s manor. He’s got the high ground and hasn’t left his place in almost a year. Though Freidenberg did a decent job of taking out some of his men. Butthisis what I’m talking about, Ace!You’rethe man for this job.” Settling back on his butt, his eyes maintain focus on mine in the dimly litspace between us. “I want them gone. I want the entire family line incinerated. Like they did with me.”

My brow furrows at him. “What do you mean?”