Page 18 of Tracker
“Good.” Without giving any warning, Atticus punched Zeus right in the eye. A malicious smile spread across his lips as he got a second hit in before the shock passed. The guy sitting with Zeus jumped to his feet. Atticus got the perfect throat chop in beforethe man could make a move. He hit the floor with a satisfying thud.
Zeus still hadn’t recovered, but he was on his feet.
Atticus landed another punch to the ribs. “So you think you’re someone, huh?” With Zeus bent at the waist, Atticus kneed him in the face. “You think you can play with Tracker’s feelings. God’s gift manipulating the friend who trusted him.”
Throat-punch guy gasped for air but still managed to talk as he rolled to his knees. “He did what to Tracker?” He gasped again. “I know you didn’t toy with my brother.”
Atticus’ evil smile grew. Ha, Zeus had two people to answer to.
Zeus held up his hand and sat. “Hold up. What? I saw the two of you on your little coffee date. How am I the one playing with someone’s feelings?”
Oh, the rage was growing. Zeus not only toyed with Tracker, but now he wanted to play victim. “Fuck that shit, motherfucker. I’m not one of your little fuck buddies. Your pretty face doesn’t manipulate me the way it would Tracker. He trusted you. He obviously loves you. You did that.” The words came out with so much venom, they surprised even him. “But it took you all of two days to take him from best friend to just another conquest. You promised him he was special.” He fully intended to swing again, but he was snatched from behind. Atticus didn’t hesitate. His training was in control. He threw his head back and felt a satisfying crunch. The vise around Atticus loosened. He wouldfeel that shit later. Now he was nothing but rage and adrenaline. When he turned his attention back to Zeus, Zeus’ expression cut through the blind fury fueling him. Even bleeding and with bruises already forming, he looked devastated. “He really was just innocently drinking coffee, wasn’t he?”
The question sounded rhetorical, but Atticus still responded. “Yeah, dumbass.”
Zeus shook his head. He probably still saw stars from the hits he had taken, even though he was oddly calm. “Shit.” He blinked and focused on Atticus. “Tracker really thinks I used him and walked away.”
Atticus rolled his eyes.
Zeus stood. Atticus readied himself to fight again.
“I need to talk to him. Goddamn it. The club is opening.”
Muscle dude crawled into a chair and sat, still holding his nose. “Go. I’ll stay. Don’t let my brother get hurt again. Fucking Kung Fu Hussle over here will be the least of your problems.”
Zeus didn’t seem bothered by the claim. He still looked gutted as he headed for the door without looking back.
Atticus sat and took a swig of Zeus’ unfinished beer. He eyed his bleeding new friend. “Who are you?”
“Foster.” The name came out sounding muffled.
Atticus gave him a sharp nod. “Atticus. Nice to meet you. Did you bleed on the back of my thousand-dollar shirt?”
Ice-blue eyes stared at him as if he were crazy. “I’ll buy you a new one.”
A smile exploded across Atticus’ face. “You’re Tracker’s brother, huh? I see a resemblance. In the face, anyhow. Well, when your nose isn’t broken.”
Foster snorted and then winced. “You’re one insane dude, aren’t you?”
Atticus shrugged and took another drink. He swallowed before responding. “I’ve been accused of worse.”
“By better,” Foster added.
Atticus eyed Foster’s body. “Now, I didn’t say that, did I?”
The way Foster looked at him nearly made Atticus cackle. Yeah. One more guy who knew he was totally batshit insane. Just another day.
Zeus couldn’t get to Tracker fast enough. He tried calling several times. Each time, it rang once and disconnected. It took Zeus a minute to realize Tracker wasn’t declining his calls. He was blocked.
“Shit.” Zeus punched the steering wheel. He felt blood trickle down his face. Thankfully, he couldn’t feel a damn thing through his panic. When he reached Beau’s property, Zeus regained enough sense to realize Tracker had likely also alerted security to keep him away. He could hardly charm anyone with the way Atticus had handed his ass to him. Zeus investigated everyone who applied for membership at his club. He should have gone with his gut and blocked his application. Atticus, aka Marty, had a terrifying background, but so did Zeus. He had thought he wasn’t one to judge, and Marty always behaved. Damn, he had made a ton of fucking life-altering mistakes lately.
Zeus chose a gate he didn’t normally use. He hoped Tracker had only had time to tell the guards closest to his place. Zeus held his breath. No one stopped him. Still, Zeus found a semi-hidden spot to park and walked the rest of the way. As he approached Tracker’s place, he spotted Shadow storming his way toward Tracker’s door. Zeus dipped out of sight. He wished he hadn’ttexted Shadow since he hadn’t let Shadow know exactly how wrong he had been. Still, something inside him told him to wait. He moved to the closest window so he could hear exactly how bad things were.
“We need to talk about Zeus.”
Tracker groaned. “Please don’t. I don’t have this in me today.”
He heard a chair being dragged across the floor. “Nope. We’re doing this. Why in the hell were you having coffee with another man?”
