But they are the only people I know in Ellicottville, a town where someone else might want our territory’s business.
They have a son, Storm.
Thinking of him makes my chest tighten.
We met once, and right after, my arm was pulled out of socket.
But that was back in Virginia, both of us teenagers.
It meant nothing, and all the nights I dreamed about him and all the desire I had about wanting something I couldn’t have, it all meant nothing too. Girlhood infatuation; little more.
Besides, my uncle always told me Storm wasn’t part of any of this. And when he wanted me to move here, and I dared bring it up, the proximity of Ellicottville to Stone Fell, he told me Stormdidn’t live with his parents anymore.You’ll probably never see him again, Lydia.
Maybe I still think about the funeral home where his fingers found my throat when my own were broken but… He’s irrelevant now.
The only person in my world who doesn’t answer to me when it comes to our business is Berlin, and Berlin wouldn’t OD my brother.
So who fucking did?
Berlin told me I needed to keep in mind it was probably unintentional and Lele chose to take the drug.
Berlin knows better. Sure, we keep the Flynn name quiet and ourselves out of the mouths of even most dealers in this area, let alone Ellicottville, but someone knows something.
If it was an attempt to get to me, it’s fucking working.
My stomach aches as I punch again.
What if Lele owes someone money? What if his life is the price he’s meant to pay in exchange for the debt? I’ve heard of it, sure. Revenge that won’t rest until blood is spilled. But it wouldn’t make sense. Wehavemoney, and Lele isn’t the type to cause a blood feud. What we don’t have is trust in anyone or anything else.
I hit once more.
Again.
If Lele dies…
Again.
Again.
My knuckles ache.
“Lydia, relax.” Eve’s voice cuts through my thoughts and the fact I’m rampaging on the bag.
I step back from it and drop my arms by my sides, shaking them out. They feel like they weigh a thousand pounds but I didn’t realize it until now.
My chest heaves and I open my mouth, gulping down air in the vast air conditioned room on the top floor. I blink the sweat from my eyes, then wipe the back of my forearm over my temple. The hardwood creaks under me when I take another step back, firmly coming to this room, this moment, and not sporadic, useless thoughts of Friday night. The fear in my heart. The way Lele felt as he shook in my arms.
I stretch my neck and glance at the ring in the center of the dim room. It’s black, like nearly everything in here but the flooring and my midnight blue boxing gloves and shorts. I use it all to ground myself.
“You good?” Eve asks me and I turn to face her. She’s a few feet from me, her hands on her curvy hips, deep blue eyes locked on mine. Her hair is raven black with streaks of silver-gray, and it’s twisted into a single French braid which trails down her back. She has on a white crop top and black booty shorts and it’s fascinating, looking at someone without ink for a change.
I nod once, then bring the band of the gloves to my teeth and rip the Velcro apart to get them off. After it’s loose, I brush it off with my gloved hand, drop the glove, then take off my other one and drop it to the floor too while I circle my wrists, still beneath black hand wraps.
Once upon a time, my uncle would break my fingers when I fucked up. It made me never take them for granted.
It made me never fuck up again.
“You acted like that bag had killed your brother,” Eve says casually.
