Randy licked his lips and grimaced, probably from the giant swollen cut on his lip. “Dillan doesn’t just do poker in the back of his club. He also runs an underground fighting ring.”
I cursed, softly this time.
“Yeah. I about peed my pants when he told me that I'd have to fight to pay back my debt. Those guys can be ruthless.”
I needed to move around. I couldn’t just sit there. Nor did I want him to see my face when he dropped the bomb he was holding. I was too tired and worn out to keep control tonight. So, I stood up and started fixing us a couple sandwiches. At least he kept a well-stocked fridge.
“Did it work? Did it pay off your debt?” Did I sound as defeated as I felt? Utterly dead inside.
“Most of it.” He cleared his throat. “I have until Friday to pay back the rest before the next 50% hits.”
Ah, interest, my nemesis. “Want me to hack into his system and leave a virus? He’ll never know who it was. Might buy you some time.”
Randy snorted but didn’t say anything. We both knew I would never do that. I mean, I could. I caught hackers for a living. I hacked into many places to test our clients’ security systems. Hell, I hacked into a financial company this morning, right in front of them, just to make a point. Kurt, the Senior partner in the room, nearly had a heart attack when I pulled that out of my rear. To his credit, he supported me and let me run with it. We now had a new client, and I got a free lunch out of it.
All was quiet until I set the overly stuffed sandwiches, baby carrots, broccoli, and ranch, on the table. Randy was a crap eater, I had to force the veggies on him every chance I got. He only had these things because I frequently hacked into his grocery delivery order and added them. Which was also why there was a package of cookies sitting on the counter, right where he could see them. He knew the rules, which was why he picked up a carrot first.
We ate in silence, and I replaced our beers with bottles of water. It wasn’t until I was nearly done that I brought up the subject.
“How much?”
“10.”
I set the last of my sandwich down and leaned back. That was just about what I had left in my savings account. The one I had set aside to buy me my own car soon. I wanted to pay at least half down, making lower monthly payments.
It only took one look at my bruised and broken brother to make up my mind.
“This is the last time.” It would have to be. I couldn’t keep doing this. Financially or mentally.
He nodded quickly. “I swear.”
“Where is Dillan? Where can I find him?”
That got Randy’s attention real fast, his eyes had already started wandering over to the cookies. “What? Why?”
I snorted. “Because I’m going to make sure he gets the money this time. That’s why.”
“He will, honest. I don’t wanna fight again, or have BoBo hunt me down.”
I snorted, choking back a laugh. “Who’s BoBo?”
“The guy they send to make you pay.”
Yuck. “Randy, I love you, and you know I want to help you. But the only way that is going to happen is if you let me do it this time. I don’t want you going anywhere near that place again.”
He looked like he wanted to argue, but wisely chose not to. He gruffly gave me the instructions on how to find Dillan. I’d never heard of Club Indecent, but considering I wasn’t really a club person, that wasn’t surprising.
As he spoke, I traded our now empty plates for the pack of cookies. Randy waited until I grabbed one before he did. Somebody was playing nice tonight.
“Have you seen a doctor yet?”
“Yeah, a couple of bruised ribs but at least nothing is broken.”
I snorted. “Except your face. What about work?”
“I told them I caught covid again, which will give me about a week to get better.”
“You didn’t need to show them a test, prove it?”
He waved it away before grabbing a second cookie. “Nah, they don’t really need it anymore. No covid leave either, it's just regular sick leave. I don’t use much of that anyway, so I have the time.”
I sighed and leaned on the table. The late hour was really beginning to weigh on me. I mean it was nearly nine… yeah, I heard that too. Not even 30 yet and I wanted to be unconscious by 9pm. Nor did I know the name of one of the hottest clubs in LA.
I needed a life.
Outside of the virtual world.
Randy looked at the time on his watch and pushed himself to stand up. He swayed a bit, so I jumped up to help. He didn’t want it, but I did it anyway.
“Are sure you’re alright? Do you want me to stay here tonight?”
He huffed and leaned over to kiss the side of my head, since we were close to the same height. “I’m fine, Pixie. I just sat in one position for too long.”
I frowned, more at the nickname than anything else. Only Dad called me that, he was the only one I let get away with it. And Randy knew that.
I locked the door behind me after I left and sighed. I really hoped he learned his lesson this time. I wasn’t even mad at Dillan for making my brother fight. Maybe if something had been broken, or he had been permanently injured, I would feel differently. But no. I was forever optimistic, and that would be my downfall.
