The Pain That Grows Us

Chapter Twenty-Five

"You fucking owe me." Max grumbles when Amara is inside and the door is closed locking us out.

"You are just getting started." He really is going to fucking kill me.

"No." he groans, head falling back.

"I need you to stay here, with Justin."

"No. Justin doesn't need to get anywhere near this shit."

"I wasn't asking you on this one Max. I was telling you." He has to know that I wouldn't put Justin in harm's way, that I wouldn't want him here if I didn't think this was the best place for him. If I didn't think he was safer here with Max and I than at the house with everyone else.

"How safe is the basement?" He asks, trying to find something he likes about this idea of mine.

"Sound proof according to Ryan, and with the right provisions a comfortable place to sleep for a night or two."

"Danny stays here when you are out. This isn't a one man job. There are too many casualties here Jack."

"I fucking know that. I fucking know." I breathe out.

"So Father calls a impromptu meeting last night, and then this morning Sanchez just so happens to come around here?" he shakes his head, "I don't like how this is going."

"I don't like it either." I tell him as the red car drives by again, Sanchez isn't going to let this place go. Not when he thinks he has a chance of taking it from us because of his connection with Amara. We might have to use Jason as bait eventually, even if I don't like the idea of it.

"Father wouldn't go behind our backs would he? He wouldn't strike a deal with the likes of Sanchez to get rid of us, right?"

"If I knew what went on in his head we wouldn't have been surprised yesterday." But I would be lying to him if I told him the thought hadn't crossed my mind this morning when I was talking to Sanchez. If I hadn't had that thought over and over again this morning while he was out with Amara and Ryan and I were grilling Jason.

"Are we going to have two wars on our hands come the new year? Am I going to be looking over my shoulder wondering who I can trust and who I can't, because I can't fight two wars. Not when I have Justin to take care of." Max doesn't let others see this side of him ever, the one that fears the worst and is afraid like a little boy is afraid of the boogeyman. But I get to see him like this, I get to know what makes him lie awake at night, because I lie awake at night for some of the same reasons. One of them being the safety of Justin.

"We can talk about this later. When I don't have some of Sanchez's guys driving by every twenty minutes, and a house full of people wanting to know what the fuck is going on."

"Fuck, Jack. You might as well throw me to Sanchez now and let him kill me, because I don't want to hear whatever it is you are going to tell me later."

"Trust me, I wouldn't say it unless I had to." I shove my hands in my jean pockets as he pulls out a pack of cigarettes and lights one.

"Having you sober again is nice. But I liked it better when Ryan came to me and asked me what the fucking plan was, cause at least then I knew what was going on."

"Where is Damon?" I ask, guess my brother's secret is out of the bag. At least I know that I am not so easy to replace.

"Collecting some money. Zane is at the garage. Danny is watching Justin's school, and you know where Ryan is."

"Yeah I know where Ryan is." I glance back at the house, I should get in there before he scares them all. "Where is Alice?"

"The one place all of us should be. School." He exhales the smoke he was holding in his lungs.