Reverence

Part 10

"That was Xavier on the phone?" Ray shot up, pacing back and forth. "Why didn't you let me say something?" She angrily asked. I found the strength to sit up, and she was so angry, her affection vanished. "Because I knew you'd get this way. If you want this to go smoothly, you have to play it smoothly. Let me go, alone." I say. "And let me figure this out. Let me, work my way into this, okay?" She grunted out in frustration. "Dammit, Bruno!" She crosses her arms and turned her back to me. "You know I'm right, and you're so used to doing shit at your own pace. At your own level. That needs to stop. You will get yourself killed. And I have grown close enough to you, where I cannot allow that to happen." I say, grabbing her hand. "Trust me."
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I walk into the bar with sunglasses on and a baseball cap, a simple and casual look to accommodate the weather today. I saw Xavier sitting at the bar, sipping on who knows what. I walk over to him, and order my drink. A glass of Bourbon on the rocks.

"Bruno is that you?" Xavier opened his arms for a hug. "What do you want, Xavier?" I ask uninterestingly. "Is that how you greet an old friend? You never treated like this." He scoffed. "A friend doesn't send his muscles to beat me nearly to death." Xavier took a sip out of his drink. I took my glasses off, and exposed my bruised face, along with pointing out my bruised lip. "Is this what a friend does?" I asked. "It's all business, Bruno, and to be very honest, this business isn't for you. So I'm telling you right now, leave, while you can. This is a dangerous game." The frustration grew rapidly along with the anger and adrenaline running through my body.

Play Music Here

"I heard you've been hanging with the new bounty hunter." He chuckled. "Look man, she's more dangerous than I am. She's ruthless." He said. "Why are you doing this? This drug trade bullshit? You were on the road to doing big things. You were prepping for law school, now you can't even follow the law." I said. "We were friends, Xavier, yet you send your bitches to my room, and beat me. She's dangerous? You killed her husband and baby! Who kills someone's child! You're a sick son of a bitch, Xavier, and I know damn well, if that were my family, I'd kill you with my bare fucking hands." I raised my voice. I didn't care who heard me. Heads turned, and eyebrows raised.

"Her husband, Brian stole from me, from us. That business trade shit, was going down hill, LAPD was on our asses, and we were extremely fucked." I wasn't buying into his bullshit. "Why did you use me as bait, to cash in your own check?" I softly asked. He sighed. "It wasn't something I wanted to do. You were already a big buyer, and we depended on you. Brian and I had gotten into a scuffle about who was handling the money irresponsibly, so I said, to make up for what we lost, we could use you, because you were already buying from us. If we didn't do it, if I didn't do it, everyone would've been dead, including Ray."

He called the bartender to refill his glass. "You didn't question regarding why you sent your people to my suite to beat me down." He licked his lips, hesitating to answer. "Answer me, goddammit!" I shout. He cut his eye at me, "They were sent to get Ray. Not you, but I knew you'd be with her. I needed you to understand that this is not a game. This is real life and death shit, Bruno. If I wasn't a friend, I could've had them kill you, but no, you're sitting here, right here, right now, hopefully with a new state of mind. Ray is evil, Ray is dangerous, and if I'd be damned Ray is manipulative to me or you. She will get into your head to fall right in her lap." He put his lips on his glass, "She's a dirty cunt, who can rot in hell, if you ask me. Besides, she walks around talking about how celibate she's been since Brian died..." he chuckled at the thought, "I'm surprised she didn't get pregnant again to replace the things she lost. Like that baby of hers."

I slapped the glass out of his hand and cuffed his shirt. Guns were cocked back by other customers. This wasn't just any bar, this was Xavier's bar. "Don't you ever, and I mean ever, speak of her that way again. Or I will kill you." I say close to his face. Xavier chuckled at the threat, but wasn't threatened. "You're skating on thin ice, Bruno." He gently laid his hand on mine, easing me to let go of him. "Let us make a deal. A parlay perhaps?" He straightened his coat. "I'm not here for the jurisdiction bullshit, Xavier, just let her live her life." I say. "Now Bruno, you're smarter than this. You know she won't stop, and you know you can't stop her. I suggest we all take the parlay, and have a discussion." He said gently.

The glistening in his eyes, it wasn't him. It wasn't the Xavier that I knew for the past fifteen years. "Just promise me, you won't hurt her." I say with a shaky voice. "And promise me, we will always be friends." He stuck his hand out to me, "An honor is an honor, and I have never broken that with you. What do you say?" I looked down at his hand, and I was discombobulated whether if I was shaking hands with the devil, or the man that allowed me and Ray to live. I had to think about that.

"We will always be friends."

The trust and honor given to Xavier, did not set well with Bruno. He couldn't bare to trust him anymore, not after the destruction he has caused. An eye for an eye, yet a soul for a soul. It was the final stance.