Page 34 of Disobedient Pawn

“Top three teams, please come to the podium.”

We made our way over to the large blocks set up like an Olympic medal ceremony, but I kept my eye on the other two teams the entire time. My senses were tingling, I didn’t know why, but I didn’t trust them.

Hawking Shores was called up first, and then Meadow Grove. We were the last to take the center spot and waved for the crowd as the officials came over with the medals. We’d no sooner had the medals placed around our necks when someone approached one of the officials and whispered in his ear. As his eyes flicked up to us, I knew this was it. Whatever they’d put into motion hadn’t been stopped, and my knuckles cracked as my hand rolled into a fist.

Like a slow-mo horror movie, the official held his hand out for the microphone and asked for quiet.

“It has come to our attention that illegal substances may have been used. Pending further investigation, Wayward will not receive the gold medals this evening. We will require all the medals from today until our investigation is complete.”

“What the fuck!” Nash exploded off the block and stomped toward Austin. I jumped in his way and gripped him hard.

“Don’t. Not here. There are better ways to deal with them,” I whispered.

Nash stopped pushing against me, but he growled under his breath. “This is not over. I worked too hard for this. If you fucked up my chances for the world’s qualifier, there will be no place you can hide, that I won’t find you Austin. No one humiliates me like this. No one.”

NOVEMBER 7 – SUNDAY 10:00 PM

Nash

Crack.

The punch snapped my head to the side, but I didn’t move from the spot.

“No one humiliates this family!” My father bellowed. “Ya, let that sniveling piece of shit humiliate us on national television.” I knew the second hit was coming. He always did them in twos or threes.

He hit me again, and once more, I held my ground. My jaw was used to the abuse, and what would’ve knocked me on my ass a year ago now felt like a tickle against my skin.

“I’ll teach him a lesson,” I said.

My father’s finger, with the wide gold ring of our family crest, was pointed in my face. He’d left an impression of the ring in my skin more than once.

“You’ll do more than that.” The bookcases rattled like they were terrified of my father’s wrath as he stomped across the floor to the small bar in his office. Grabbing one of the decanters, he poured himself a glass and glared at me across the room. “I want you to kill him.”

It was sheer will alone that kept the shock off my face. “You want me to kill Austin for making an anonymous call to officials about my team? We don’t even know if it was him.”

Taking a healthy gulp of the dark liquid, he walked behind his desk and sat down. “Nash, even if it wasn’t him we need to remind all those pompous pricks who they are dealing with. What they did was signal to every other influential family that they could walk all over us. He made a fool of you which means he made a fool of me. You should’ve known they were planning something. So this is your mess to clean up. You will kill him, and it will send a message that we are not to be messed with.”

“I know he was is an asshole and did a fucking piece of shit thing, but this is excessive even for us,” I argued. “I can break both his legs and teach his family a lesson without killing them.”

My father’s fist slammed down on the desk, and a little bit of his drink spilled out over the side of the glass.

“You will do as I say, and maybe you’ll learn to be prepared for an attack from anywhere. We are the Collier family, and one day you’ll sit where I am. You have to be prepared for anything.”

“How was I supposed to know what they were going to do?” I held out my arms in disbelief. Did he think I was a fucking mind reader?

“You know, by knowing your opponent.” His finger stabbed the top of the desk. “When you sit in this spot, everyone is your enemy. We don’t have friends. We barely have family. What we have are alliances and agreements. The girl I plan on marrying you to will strengthen our hold, but that won’t happen for a couple more years. In the meantime, you need to be vigilant in how you represent the family.”

The white-hot anger that was boiling in my system was getting ready to spill over, and I knew that would only lead to more punches to the face or a trip to the torture room. My father wasn’t above torturing his lessons into me. Instead, I marched for the door.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“To follow orders like the good little soldier I am,” I said and flung the office door open with a bang. “I won’t be back tonight.”

Pulling out my phone, I hit Liam’s number, and he answered on the first ring. “What’s happening?”

“The initiation has been bumped up to tonight. Have everyone meet me at our spot in an hour, no excuses.” I hung up the phone, not wanting to hear any possible objections. I stomped down to my room and hit the button for the fake drawer in my dresser to pop out, revealing an array of weapons. Pulling out two nine mils, I loaded the clips and tucked them in the back of my jeans before concealing the drawer once more.

My father said dead, but he didn’t say how. He wanted a public display, and I’d give him one.