Arranged love

The guy falls face-first on the floor, no longer struggling.

Titan bends down and checks for a pulse. “He’s gone.”

“Take care of him,” Bones orders and storms out, pissed we didn’t get the information we were looking for.

People pay us a lot of money to take care of their problems. Usually, the motherfuckers sing, telling us everything we need to know in hopes we’ll let them go. That’s never the case. You can’t afford to look weak.

“I’ll take him,” Titan offers, pulling out his cell from his back pocket. “Nigel is going to help me.”

“You sure?” I ask.

He nods, and I turn to Grave. He’s no longer texting on his cell. “I have to be at the Airport in twenty. I’ve got a fight tonight.”

Ah, now I understand why he was on his phone for so long. “I’ll drive you,” I offer.

“You guys stay out of trouble,” Titan warns. “I don’t want to spend my entire night digging.”

Titan tries to keep us all in line. It’s worse now that he’s married to Emilee. Bones lives and breathes Kingdom. I’m not sure when he last got drunk or even took a vacation, for that matter. He’s all business, all the time. Grave is a recovering addict with a pregnant girlfriend. And me? Well, I’m still trying to figure out who I am. Grave was my go-to party buddy. I could work all day here at Kingdom, then party all night-alcohol or drugs-and show up to work the following day just fine. Now that Grave is in a serious relationship, I have no one to go out with. It sucks, but I understand why he’s changing his life for the better.

“Let’s go, man. I can’t be late,” Grave says before exiting the room as well.

I go to leave but look at Titan. He’s now leaning back against the wall again, waiting on Nigel. “You sure you’re okay?” I double-check.

He nods. “Yeah.” His eyes go to the door and then back to me. “Keep an eye on him, will ya?”

“Of course.” Then I, too, turn and leave the room, knowing I may not be able to keep that promise, and the sad part is that Titan thinks I can.

ALEXA

“DO YOU COME here often?” I call out to my friend Jasmine as she drags me through a crowd of people.

“All the time!” She throws over her shoulder at me, her red hair slapping her face.

I look around nervously at the Airport. It’s not like any airport I’ve ever been to. No airplanes, no people traveling with luggage. Instead, it looks like a breeding ground for STDs and those gruesome murder scenes that you see on an unsolved murder mystery documentary.Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

You can tell that an airport once occupied this large facility, but it’s long been deserted and turned into what I can only assume is a playground for the scum of Las Vegas.

The Airport sits out in the middle of the desert, twenty miles from the Strip, but I’ve stayed away. Somehow, I let her drag me out here tonight. I needed new scenery, but I’m probably going to need a penicillin shot once we leave here.

From what little I know, Trey, Turner, and Tanner Mason own it. The three brothers obviously don’t give a shit about what goes on here. I’ve never met them, and I’m beginning to understand why. This just isn’t my thing.

A man bumps into me so hard it rips my hand from Jasmine’s. She spins around. “Hey, say excuse me, motherfucker!” she throws at the guy’s back.

He keeps on, not even bothering to look back. Thank God.

“Jasmine,” I hiss. I’m not one to back down, but I don’t know these people here. I’m kinda out of my element. I’ve lived in Sin City all my life, and I’ve never stepped foot in the Airport. I own a bar, and you hear chatter all the time, but I just thought the customers were exaggerating.

I was wrong.

“You gotta stick up for yourself here, Lex,” Jasmine goes on.

“Okay-” She turns and jerks me forward once again by my hand, cutting me off.

We make our way down a flight of escalators that don’t work and to an open area. It looks like it was once the food court, maybe. But now, a large bar runs along the right wall. A makeshift ring is to the right of it. People crowd around it like they’re waiting for something to happen.

“Legends Are Made,” by Sam Tinnesz blares from speakers that hang from the ceiling, and with further observation, I see black domes-security cameras. Well, that makes me feel a little better, but for all I know, they could be fake. Jasmine pulls us over to the bar, shoving others out of our way like she owns the place.

“Two shots of Patrón and two Long Islands,” she yells at one of the bartenders.

The guy with a ring in his nose nods at her and turns to start making our drinks.

“Why did you bring me here tonight?” I ask, placing my elbow on the bar top.

“Because you needed a night out,” she says simply with a big smile on her porcelain face. “You deserve it for as much as you work.”

I nod, unable to disagree with her. I’ve been trying to get a night off for weeks now. But when you own a business, you never stop. Not unless you want to lose money. And that is unacceptable if you ask me. If you want it, you have to fight for it. I’ve never had a problem with going after what I want. How will you ever know if you don’t try?

“Plus, when was the last time you got laid?” she asks.

I mumble, “Too long.” But I don’t want to make that mistake again.

“Exactly.” Bumping her hip into mine, she laughs. “Gotta get some D.”

I’m not here to hook up with anyone. Pretty sure no one here is my type anyway.

The bartender comes back over to us. “Here you go, Jasmine.” He calls her by name, and it just confirms that she comes here too often. He places our shot glasses in front of us.

She hands him her card. “Start a tab for me, please?”

“Got it, babe.” And he’s off again.

“I have cash …”

“Nonsense.” She waves me off before I can even finish what I was saying.

I sigh but don’t argue with her. Jasmine is the type of woman who gets whatever she wants. And going to war with her over a few drinks just isn’t worth it. I’ve known her for about a year now, and she’s one of my closest friends other than April. I’ve been friends with April since we were kids, but ever since she got pregnant, she no longer goes out. Her baby daddy is Grave-a Dark King. And he takes up all of her time. As it should be. She’s really happy, and that’s all I’ve ever wanted for her.

Jasmine has introduced me to a couple of other girls, one who happens to be married to another King. But again, I don’t get to hang out with them much. I like to keep my circle small. Plus, when you’re always working, it doesn’t leave much time for a social life.