Desirable

~67. Smoke

"I'm on my way now," Bruiser looks out the window of the black Jaguar, "it won't be long until I'm there."

"Okay, that's good. Make sure you keep an eye out for him or any other dealers we know, we don't know if he's alone," Ed replies over the phone, Emily had left the room.

"Yeah, I can bet on the fact he isn't."

Melvin looks into the rear-view mirror, catching the man's hazel eyes for a second.

"Stay safe, make sure Louis and even Tommy's guys are aware too."

"I will, I'll let you know if I see anything. Speak later," Bruiser hears a small goodbye and hangs up the phone, looking back down at the screen.

A small smile pulls at Ed's mouth as he flicks through the contacts on his phone, searching for a specific name so he could update them of Bruiser's safe arrival.

Bruiser looks out the window of the car again, watching as the expensive houses flash by.

"All okay, Mr Edwards?" Melvin politely asks, glancing in the rear-view mirror again.

He lightly laughs at the fake name, "I'm all good, thanks Melvin."

He had asked Louis to pass on the name of Brandon Edwards, he didn't want anyone to know his real name. If Dean really had told Mason about Louis being in London, at least he thought it was only him. If he tried anything, the last thing he'd be expecting is to see Bruiser too. Louis had already told Tommy and Arisa about his name being 'Bruiser', but had told them to play along with the new name.

"If you don't mind me asking, what's going on? Mr Connolly hasn't told me anything and I'm a bit concerned," Melvin laughs too, trying to hide his anxiety in his strong accent. Bruiser could see right through him.

His eyes turn to the outside again, "To put it simply, there's a guy who probably wants to hurt Louis and we think he knows that he's in London."

"I see," his gaze hardens on the road ahead, "do you know the guy?"

"He was an old friend back in Atlanta, and Clementine's ex-boyfriend."

"Clementine.. Mr Smith's partner, Clementine?" Melvin recalls the familiar name he had heard in conversation - Louis often talked about the girl.

"That's right," Bruiser sighs, "when she moved down to Virginia, he became obsessed with getting her back. It was sick."

"So he's a violent man?" he glances in the mirror, looking at Bruiser's eyes. He looked serious.

"He can be."

The bald man nods in understanding, he often had to protect Tommy from people. It was usually after an evening at a nightclub that Tommy would find himself in a tricky situation with a few drunken men who didn't like his attitude. Melvin was the one to defend him, then escort him away from the scene. Needless to say, he knew how to handle such a situation.

"I wouldn't worry, Mr Edwards. You and Mr Smith are in good hands here."

"Well, that's not really necessary," he tilts his head, meeting his eyes in the small mirror. "We're hoping to run into him."

His eyebrows furrow with confusion, "You want to? Why?"

Bruiser's mouth twitches into a small smirk, "So we can stop him."

Melvin looks back out towards the road ahead, thinking over his words. He was hesitant about the unknown danger they were in, but he knew that he wouldn't let anything happen to Louis. He was close to the dreadhead, they had spent a lot of time talking and getting to know each other. He knew how much he loved and adored his partner and their daughter; if anything happened to him, they'd be crushed. Therefore, it was his priority now to keep him safe, so he could go home to his family.