Saved By My Step-Brother

Chapter 4 - "She's heard too much."

"Can I ask you something?" Mike's ears flickered, and he slowly nodded his head, staring up at her from the kitchen table. She had spent the night at his place, and was preparing breakfast for the both of them as Mike sat, blowing the air of cigarette around the condo and yawning occasionally, bare chested with only pyjama pants. That was when she noticed the long tattoo across his back, along with a scar towards his lower back. They had had s*x a few times, and every time he had spoken the name of August, and although she was not exactly appreciative of that fact, she was merely annoyed, and not mad since they had only met a few times and there were no feelings between one another. However, she was curious, hence why she continued her question with, "Who is August?"

Mike felt his throat clench, and she immediately noticed his muscles become tense. His gaze turned away from Ella, who piled the bacon and the omelettes onto the plates, and turned off the stove. She grabbed a few glasses and juice from the fridge, and marched towards the table where Mike sat. He shrugged his shoulders when she raised an eyebrow and said, "Nobody you should worry about."

Ella chuckled, placing a plate in front of him before sitting across from him, and grabbing the foods she wanted. "Don't flatter yourself, I am not worried at all. Simply curious as to why her name is continuously called during sex."

After blowing the smoke from his lungs, Mike sighed and faced her, "A girl that I've been crushing on, for some time."

Ella stood for a moment, grabbing mugs and filling them with hot water, making some tea for the both of them and placing it in front of his plate. He had not yet grabbed some food, but she did not question it. When she returned to her seat, she asked, "You don't seem like a guy to be shy, why don't you talk to her?"

"I have," he chuckled, remembering all the fights he had with August, and the first time he met her. He also remembered what she had told him at the hospital, and instantly his heart clenched. Those were not images he wanted to see at the moment. "I guess she didn't like me enough not to leave."

"She left?" Mike nodded. "When's the last time you saw her?"

"Six years ago."

Ella blinked in surprise, "That was a long time ago. And you still have feelings for her?"

"I guess I do," he muttered, shrugging his shoulders. He did not want to have feelings for her, and he wished he could forget her entirely, but oddly enough, her features displayed themselves in his mind without his consent, and caused him to miss her. Even having s*x with other girls always brought him back to her, as Ella had noticed.

She began biting her food, satisfied by its taste before continuing their conversation. "When's the last time you spoke to her?"

Mike cleared his throat, sensing this conversation heading towards a dark path that he did not exactly want to enter. However, speaking about it did lift weights off his shoulders, and blew the smoke from his lungs, smudging the small end of the cigarette against the side of his plate before leaving it on the side. He reached for another in his pocket, and lit the end, needing to feel a stronger buzz before being able to speak about this. It relaxed his nerves, and all the racing emotions that were hard to face when speaking about August.

In all honesty, he did miss her. However, the other side of him wished she would burn to death, drown in her own blood or raped until she fell unconscious and never woke up. It angered him how she decided to simply pack her belongings from the hospital, and leave. As if not even him had mattered to her. He wanted to grab her by her neck at times, and demand answers as to why she left, why she forced all of them into a gloom that they did not deserve. Hence why, the cigarettes controlled the hatred that also filled in his bones when thinking of August.

"A few days ago," Mike murmured, remembering her shaky breath as she begged for him.

Ella puckered her lips,"What did she say to you? Was it a confession of loving you and wanting to come back?" She dove into her own assumptions, "She probably told you she missed you, and wanted to f**k you so hard that you'd faint. Did she call you daddy—"

"She said help me," Mike's voice had lowered, and the manner he stared at the ground in such a daze caused Ella to stop chewing, and simply observe his absent features. "She said I don't want to die, and help me." Ella's eyes widened, and when Mike noticed her scared expression, he instantly smirked and reached towards his food, "Just kidding."

"That's not funny," Ella pouted, "That was really scary. What if that actually happened though?"

"It wouldn't," he laughed, "She's fine. She called me to tell me that she'll be coming back, that's all."

"You're probably really excited."

He nodded his head, "I guess I am."

After their breakfast ended, and Ella stretched out her arms, yawning before placing the plates in the sink, she began cleaning. However, as she rinsed the plates, Mike came behind her and pressed his body against her back, and she felt his pecker against her butt. She giggled, "Right now?"

"I just wanted to let you know how just looking at you makes me feel—"

"Mike, what the f**k?" They both heard, and the door slammed shut. Mike instantly rolled his eyes in annoyance, blowing the smoke from his lungs and turned around to find William marched in, with his arms out wide aggressively. Mike narrowed his eyes in his direction, and William did the same. "How dare you leave without me?"

"I keep forgetting that he has one of my f*****g keys," Mike hissed under his breath, and Ella found it amusing, as she began chuckling.

"How dare you leave without me?"

"I had business to take care of—"

"With her," William screamed back, crossing his arms childishly. "How the f**k could you just leave me like that, I had to sleep on Eric's couch and it was so uncomfortable."

"Next time, just walk."

"Or maybe you could give me the ride you promised," he lifted his chin proudly, "And because of that, I drank a whole beer."

Mike snickered, not believing a single word of it, "You didn't, you wouldn't tell me if you did."

"Well I did, and there's nothing you can do about it."

Mike's eyes darkened, and the threatening features that sharpened his face, caused a sudden fear to absorb William's nerves. He took a step backwards, feeling his palms suddenly become moist as Mike approached him. "Did you really?" he scowled. Instantly, William's head shook rapidly, and Mike began chuckling, ruffling his head, "That's good."

"Whatever," he murmured.

Suddenly, Ella posed a great question that made Mike's eyebrows raise as well. "How'd you get here?"

"Eric dropped me off—"

"Party people!" Liam stormed inside, barging in as if everyone was drinking and chugging hard liquor, "What's up everyone!"

"Do you have to come in yelling," Mike grumbled, "It's still the morning." James, Dave and Eric followed behind him, and then came Cole who nodded his head in his direction. Mike did not like a crowd in his condo, and seeing them all here was making him reconsider all of their friendships, especially Liam since his screaming bothered Mike to the point that he wished to make a hole in the wall.

Mike raised an eyebrow, observing his waving younger brother, as if this invitation had been planned already, "What's going on Eric? And why the f**k is Rami here?"

"Hey, I could be of some help too you know!" Rami growled, marching in the condo behind them.

William attempted to escape from Mike, not wanting to explain why everyone was here, but Mike reached for the back of his collar and pulled him back, "You stay put." He faced Eric once more and said, "What's going on?"

"They're all here to help."

"Help with what?" Mike asked, confused.

Eric seemed distressed as he murmured, "Help with August."

"You told them?"

"Well yea—" Eric flinched when Mike interrupted him by screaming.

"I didn't f*****g ask you to tell them, did I?" Mike bellowed, and the entire room fell silent, and even William was a bit scared to approach, and Ella wrapped an arm around him, pulling him back from them.

Eric paused for a moment, staring at the murderous gaze from his older brother, before frowning himself. He only did this to help, since facing Dante and his people would not be an easy job, and attempting to get August out from under him would be rough as well. Eric squeezed his fists, but his voice was still quiet as he said, "No but—"

"Then why the f**k did you?" Mike glared at him, his teeth gritted as he held back punching his brother. A guilt ran over Eric, who began playing with his fingers.

"Mike, please calm down."

"You're a f*****g disgrace Eric."

"Woah," Cole intervened, approaching the both of them with sweat along the side of his face from the tension in the room. With raised palms, he placed himself between them and faced Mike, "He only did this so we can have a better chance finding her."

"That's not the problem."

"Then what is the problem?" Dave asked from the couch.

"He shouldn't have said anything to you guys to begin with," Mike roared, "And you're f*****g lucky everyone is around or else I would have—"

"You would have what, Mike?" A deep voice spoke from behind Eric, and as they turned around, Mike scoffed, examining the man as he marched inside the condo.

Mr. Hawk had aged a bit, white strands on the side of his head, but he still had a head full of hair, and he kept his built. Through the years, since his business had been growing and became much more dangerous, he had acquired a few more scars he did not have before. He had a long s***h across his back, from the knife, and a gun shot wound on his right shoulder, his lower abdomen, and his leg. He also had a scar on the side of his face, near his jaw, and his hair had grown longer, reaching his jawline, but he gelled the front backwards; the style made him appear to be a hot rebellious dangerous Dad. Many young girls gawked at him as he passed by oftentimes in the streets, similar to the reaction of Ella, her breath being caught in her throat.

Behind him followed two other underground famous drug lords, their real identities being confidential, that even Mr. Hawk did not know their real name. The first that walked behind him went by Sunzo, an older man with a head fully gray, but a built like an athlete. The next was Lotus, an ex-veteran who had lost an arm, but did not complain much about it.

Mike glared in their direction, "Eric told you guys too?"

"No," Mr. Hawk chuckled, shaking his head, "The wind did."

"You think you're funny?"

"Mike, calm down," Ella insisted, placing her palm on his shoulder. Instantly, Mike felt a warm wave wash over him, and his nerves relaxed, causing him to hold his jaw clenched, but not responding. Instead, his eyes turned sharply towards Eric, than he scoffed, twirling on his heels and marching towards the couches.

Mr. Hawk greeted Eric, but frowned when he met the gaze of his step-son, "What are you doing here William?"

"I want to help August too."

Sunzo laughed, jumping on the couch and squeezing between Dave and James who frowned in his direction, "He's too young, he'll get killed."

"You never know," Cole shrugged his shoulders, "He could be used as a diversion."

"Or even bait," Lotus hissed creepily.

William felt uneasy by that, but when Mr. Hawk placed a hand on his shoulder and kept him in place with a proud smile on his face, William knew that there was no longer taking back his word. "Of course you can help us," he beamed, pulling the cigar that had been on the edge of his mouth, "We'll teach you how to use a gun."

"Hell no," Eric protested, "He's a kid."

"So?"

Mike inserted himself again, "It's too hard on him, he's too young for this."

"I had you doing opium at twelve," Mr. Hawk laughed, "And you both turned out fine. Maybe not Mike, but surely Eric. I'm sure using a gun isn't as bad."

"Unless he has to shoot someone," Eric added, standing by his first opinion. "He's not in this Dad."

"I'm partially his guardian, am I not?"

"That doesn't make this right," Mike said.

Mr. Hawk shrugged his shoulders, "Nothing in my business is right. And besides, I trust William."

William's face became a slight shade of red as Mr. Hawk ruffled his hair. He loved his step-father, wanted to be as confident and bulky as him, with such sharp and terrifying gaze that even Mike could not match. As Mr. Hawk made his way towards the couches as well, he signalled for James to stand, and so he did. He took his seat, and crossed his ankle above his knee, sighing.

"Everyone's here, so we can start this meeting can't we?"

"What should we call this mission?" Lotus asked with excitement.

Mr. Hawk shrugged his shoulders, and a few people in the room mumbled underneath their breaths ideas for a title. However, the one that spoke was Ella, and all their heads turned towards her.

"I heard the name August pop up a few times so why don't you call it mission August," she said softly, and the silence replied to her. She was unsure what they were all thinking, but she gulped in uneasiness, not seeing any satisfied expressions.

Instantly, she shrieked in fear when Mr. Hawk suddenly reached on his waist and pulled a pistol. He pointed it directly at her, and it brought the people into a chaos. Everyone jumped up, except Lotus and Sunzo, and Mike leaped over to his father, grabbing his wrist before he could shoot, "What the f**k do you think you're doing?"

"Mr. Hawk, holy f**k," Cole cried stressfully.

William yelped, Rami chuckled, and Dave as well as James remained quiet in uneasiness, unsure what was occurring.

Eric leaned forward as well, "What the f**k Dad, put the gun down."

"She's heard too much."

"She's on our side," Mike shouted through gritted teeth, glancing towards Ella who had her hands raised defencelessly, and her breathing had quickened. It was apparent from the grimace on her face, that she was scared, and any normal person would be.

Mr. Hawk tilted his head unsatisfied, "So she's going to help us?"

"No, but don't kill her."

"Then she knows too much," Lotus grumbled.

Sunzo yawned, "Kill her, then we can get started."

"Are you guys insane?" Eric cried, "She's my secretary. Don't f*****g shoot her, f*****g idiot."

"Is she going to help us then?" Mr. Hawk added once more, his voice much more stern.

Ella gulped before yelling, "Yes!" It was obvious she was scared, but similar to Mike, Mr. Hawk hated liars.

Therefore, before she could say anything else, he said, "Rami, cover William's eyes please. William, hold your ears shut." Rami did that immediately, without needing to hear this again. It was strange how calm his voice was, following the fact that he intended to murder someone.

"Dad!" Eric screamed.

He pressed the trigger, and the gunshot resounded across the room. The last they heard was Ella's shrieking scream.