Moments: A BWWM Short Story Collection

XXIX. Loser (Pt. 4 of 5)

My head spun as I clutched Jam and Mike as tightly to my body as I could, gaze slowly rising towards Shawn as he looked down at his shoes. It was shock enough to be blindsided by Mr. Warren at a family restaurant, but the idea that a kind and generous man like Shawn would have a criminal record made no sense.

"First, I want you to tell Andromeda what you've been doing these last few years, Shawn." Mr. Warren said with poisoned smoothness. "Tell her what you really are."

The fabric around his gun grew taught, and Shawn swallowed.

"I... spent nearly six years in prison for armed robbery." he said, voice choked and hollow. "And the last four and a half has been spent living with the consequences."

Warren's goons chuckled to themselves, and I finally found my courage.

"You're lying! Warren made you say that! There's no way you were in prison!"

"My dear Andromeda, must you be so naïve?" Mr. Warren said quietly. "He's still got the tattoos to prove it. Take a look for yourself."

He nodded at one of his men, who pulled back the sleeves of Shawn's shirt to reveal a host of prison tattoos, each more condemning than the last. Warren laughed to himself as I shook my head in disbelief, but Shawn rallied.

"What else do you want, Brian? Name it and I'll do it; just let them go."

Brian Warren sighed, leaning back as his eyes roamed up and down my body.

"There's so much I want out of this pathetic little world, Shawn. After the time I spent in prison, I think I'm owed a little wealth and luxury. Of course, for every winner there has to be a loser, and you've found a big one in Andromeda."

"Why do you keep calling her that?" Shawn asked with a hint of anger.

"Because she's a slut, Shawn." Brian said. "My father scouted her fresh out of high school and she's been doing unspeakable things for my family's clients ever since. She's even more of a loser than you, and that's saying something!"

I burned with shame as I felt my boys tense in confusion. I could take Shawn finding out what I was, but having to explain it to Jam and Mike...!

"Take that back, Brian." Shawn hissed. "Right. Now."

Brian tilted his head at Shawn, a smile spreading his lips as he leaned forward to put his face up in his. He waited several seconds before giving a grave whisper.

"Take what back?" Brian asked. "That she's a loser who will never amount to anything? Or that she's a fat, desperate, worthless whore?"

Brian made the mistake of closing his eyes to laugh, and in that brief moment, Shawn pounced with a bellow and knocked Brian to the floor. Brian's men stumbled as the chairs tipped back, and adrenaline spiked through my body as I slid out of the booth with Jamal and Michael hand's locked in mine.

One of Brian's men jumped up to get in our way, only to stumble as Shawn and Brian knocked into him during their struggle. The second man moved to stop me, only for a gunshot to go off and send the entire restaurant into a panic.

It was pandemonium. People tripping over each other in their haste to get to the exits, waiters getting swept aside as waitresses screamed bloody murder, and all the while, Shawn and Brain wrestled for control of the gun on the floor.

The first man caught up to me just as I spotted an opening, slamming me to the ground as Jam and Mike fought in vain to peel him off me. The second man grabbed them by their shirts and lifted them up as I watched helplessly, only to freeze as his head turned to Brian, who'd raised his hands up as Shawn turned his own gun on him.