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“Just so long as it doesn’t come at a cost of killing your wife and kid.” Road got to his feet. “I get it.”
“No, you don’t get it. Clearly, Golubev’s mentality has still rubbed off on you because you’re not seeing the bigger picture.”
“We’re done,” Road said.
Brute opened his mouth but there was a knock at the office door, and there was only one person with that playful knock. “I’ll see myself out.”
Road stepped past Faith, giving her a slight smile before heading toward the kitchen. Being woken up with water splashed on his face wasn’t ideal, and as he went to grab some coffee, he saw Tank in the kitchen, alone.
A lot of the brothers continued to struggle around Tank. The brother had changed a lot since his return. Road felt guilty for not being able to deal with the shit he dished out, but the truth was, after seeing Tank, everything had hit a little too close to home.
He wanted to reach out and touch his own face, but instead he went straight to the coffee machine.
“Not even a ‘good morning’?”
“No man should have to be able to think in the morning without his hit of caffeine.” He took a sip, and nearly spat it out. It tasted so bad, but it certainly had woken him up.
“What the fuck has Faith done to the coffee?” he asked.
“Not Faith,me,” Tank said.
“Why the fuck are you making coffee?”
“Because you evil bastards didn’t offer, and in case you didn’t know, every time Faith made the coffee, it would make her sick, so now she doesn’t have to worry about it.”
Road hadn’t known it made her feel sick.
“So, I guess you better just enjoy it, or get used to making your own.”
It had woken him up, and he held his cup, about to go straight to his room, but instead decided to go to Tank. He sat down. Tank had a pile of pancakes on his plate, bacon, scrambled eggs, and what looked like a drizzle of maple syrup.
“You had Faith cook for you again?” he asked, about to steal a piece of bacon but getting his hand slapped in the process.
“This is not yours,” he said.
“Duly noted, but I don’t think Faith is going to be allowed to cook for me.”
“I heard what happened. You decided to do something stupid and I’ve only got one question for you. Was it worth it?” Tank asked. “You look like shit.”
“I always look like shit.”
Tank waved his fork back and forth. “You see, that’s where you’ve got it all wrong. Yeah, you’re not the pretty boy you once were, but you’re still intact. You’ve got your shit together. You’re strong.”
“Are you trying to date me?” Road asked.
“Do you know what it’s like to listen to a woman getting raped repeatedly, begging for them to stop, and being refused?”
Road didn’t know what to say.
“Or having your teeth removed, but before they do that, they crush them in your skull, so shards of teeth stay within the gums?”
Road didn’t need to ask about that. They knew Tank’s teeth had been removed through his torture, but a trip to the dentist and some X-rays had shown the extent of the damage. Tank had been through much more—a month of sheer torture—and it was only Brute taking Faith, and then handing her back to Sergey that had freed their man. They’d not been able to get to him.
It was why whenever Tank ate, he’d been in pain. Until he saw the dentist, he’d only been able to consume canned soup. Once Faith returned, she prepared his food, all fresh ingredients, and it seemed Brute and Faith treated Tank as their child.
“Don’t you want to make them all pay?”
“I do,” Tank said. “I want to stare into Sergey’s eyes as I take him apart, limb from limb. It’s why I’m studying my biology books, and I intend to learn some medicine. He is going to stay alive while I do it.”
