Page 95 of End It All

The airaround me seemed to be charged as we walked through the doors of one of the many hotels that was owned by the yakuza. The one we were at was run by Daiki himself. Each step we took further into the lion's den could be our last. The eyes on us made the fine hairs on the nape of my neck stand on end.

"You look like you're about to shit yourself," Harlow joked.

Leave it to him to point out my discomfort. It wasn't like me; confrontation was fun, killing was one of my favorite pastimes, but fucking with the chain of command only set my nerves on edge. I swallowed it down, reminding myself at the end of the day that Daiki hadn't just fucked with me, he'd put Blake in harm’s way.

I rolled my shoulders back, taking in a breath and letting it out slowly. "What’s the plan here?"

Harlow shrugged, tying his hair back in a low ponytail. "Did you have one?"

I stared at the elevator doors, the silence daunting as it started moving. I twisted around and jabbed a knife into the camera in the corner. "Not a single one. Just fuck some shit up?"

"That sounds doable."

I stared at him. How many times had we wanted to take on one of his brothers? For years, we'd plan out in grave detail how we'd ruin their lives and kill them so Harlow would be the one left at the top. And here we were, on the way to see Daiki, and neither one of us had a solid plan in mind. Laughter tumbled out before I could catch it. How fucking insane were we?

"Finally, you're almost back to normal," Harlow said.

Maybe I needed the constant chaos and insanity in order to function. I wasn't sure, but what I did know was that there was no going back. We were already in the elevator headed up to where Daiki currently waited.

"What’s going to happen to you?" I asked.

Harlow looked unfazed. "I told you already, Benito won't let anyone touch me." He met my gaze. "And you're not going down either. I'll figure something out when the time comes."

Wouldn’t now be that time? I swallowed the question as the elevator stopped on the tenth floor. A couple giggled but stopped the moment they saw us.

I hid my weapon and smiled at them. "Catch the next ride, this one is full."

The guy held his girlfriend close, eyeing us. We didn't wait to hear their response, instead I hit the button to close the door and continue up.

Ringing cut through the elevator music. Harlow grunted and pulled out his phone.

"You kept it?" I asked.

"I have a child at home, of course I kept it." He showed me the phone. Benito's face was covered in pink frosting on the screen. "I had it off this whole time. Figured now was a good time to check on the baby. Being a parent isn't easy. You have to schedule murder and what not."

There was something seriously wrong with my best friend. Then again, we hadn't had the best parental figures in our lives. Compared to them though, he was doing ten times better. "He can track you; you know that, right?"

The smile Harlow gave me told me everything I needed to know. The phone stopped ringing only for it to start up all over again. He was fucking with Benito and having fun with it. In fact, he probably wanted his husband to find him. They were a fucked-up couple, but there was no denying the love they had for each other. Again, I found myself envious of my friend.

"He's called over a hundred times, talk about obsessed," Harlow said with a grin on his face.

"Pretty sure you're just as bad," I muttered under my breath, not that Harlow could deny my words. He was wrapped around Benito's fingers too.

Harlow tapped the screen, cutting off the ringing. "Hey, asshole, I'm a bit busy."

I couldn't make out what Benito said as Harlow pressed the phone between his shoulder and cheek. He pulled out a few knives that had to be brand new.

"Of course, I'll tell you when I get back home. It will be a hot bedtime story. I'm going to need to be bent over the nearest surface the moment I walk through the door, though." He gestured for me to follow suit.

I grunted, slipping on the brass knuckles over my left hand and taking a gun with the other. I was an equal opportunist when it came to weapons. I had a knife stashed on both ankles, just in case I had to get real creative. Their conversation was thelast thing I wanted to listen to. I checked myself over, slipping out of the too-big coat. It was warm inside and it would only get in the way as I tried to fight. There was no doubt that when we walked through the doors, it would be a full-on war. Peaceful negotiations went out the window the moment Daiki tried to have me killed and ultimately put Blake's life on the line.

"Behave?" Harlow rolled his eyes. "I already promised Quincy I'd be on my worst behavior."

Bastard."Hey, don't involve me in you two’s kinky mindfuck games."

Harlow just laughed as if he was having the time of his life. The crazy fuck probably was, but I couldn't help but join in. I missed this. There were days after Harlow went to go live with Benito that I'd dreamt of us destroying the city together. Nostalgia wormed its way into my chest and wouldn't let up. But, there, in the back of my mind, I couldn't help but think about someone else next to me instead. Someone who was wild in a fiery kind of way.

I forced myself to focus as we got closer. Only eight more floors to go. Every single time I looked too closely, it felt as if it was moving at a snail's pace.