Page 47 of Fury

Chevy sighs heavily before sticking a cigarette in his mouth and lighting it. The orange flame illuminates the inside of the car, and I roll my eyes, wondering where Donnie found such an amateur. If Xanthe was hiding out in the house we’re watching, she’d have spotted that for sure.

“I have a gut feeling about this,” he murmurs, releasing a lungful of smoke.

“Yeah? How come?”

“She came here a few times when I was following her,” he says thoughtfully, and I narrow my eyes.

“You were following her? Why?” My heart rate picks up while I wait for his answer. Chevy is the type of guy to watch a room and hear every little secret, just so he can sit on it until he needs to use it for his advantage.

“The boss had me following her every move before they met,” he confesses, and I almost breathe a sigh of relief, knowing he hasn’t seen us together.

“Does he usually get so invested in a woman?” I ask casually.

He smirks. “You have no idea.”

“What is it about her?”

“Man, you saw her, right?” he asks, laughing. “She’s fine.” I clench my fists at my sides. I don’t like him talking about my Xanthe like that. “The fact she held out on him,” he sniggers, “just made her more appealing. The man wanted to know what she was hiding in that tight little cunt of hers.”

I push the car door open and get out, slamming it hard. I take a few deep breaths to calm the racing adrenaline inside me then head towards the house.

I hear Chevy call after me, but I can’t stop or I might go back there and smash his head into the steering wheel. Instead, I raise my boot and slam it against the door, which pops open with little to no effort. It swings back, smacking the wall behind it, and I step inside. Seconds later, Chevy is behind me. “Fuck, man, this ain’t staking it out,” he hisses.

“I got bored,” I reply, turning on the light.

The living room is bathed in the golden light, and a man sits upright, shading his eyes. “Jesus,” he mutters, having clearly just woken up. “What the hell’s going on?” He’s wearing doctor’s scrubs, and I immediately wonder why Xanthe spent time here.

“Where’s Xanthe?” I bark.

He frowns. “Who the hell are you?” I grab his top and haul him to his feet. His terrified and confused eyes meet mine, and he gulps. “I don’t know where she is.”

“Call her,” says Chevy from beside me.

“I deleted her number,” he says. “She hates me.”

“Why?” I find myself asking.

He almost smirks. “Cos I shagged her friend.”

I shove him back onto the couch. “You two were a thing?”

He shrugs. “She was into me more than I was her.”

“For how long?” It’s way more than I need to know, and I feel Chevy’s eyes on me, questioning why I need this information.

“A few months.”

I grab his ID card off the table, checking the name and committing it to memory before throwing it back down. “Forget we were here,” I say, “or we’ll come back, David Chapman, and slit your throat.”

I head out with Chevy at my heels. “What the fuck was that?” he demands, and I wonder if he’s pissed I took the lead for once or if it’s because I went rogue without his permission.

I turn on him as we get to the car and shove him up against it. “Just because I’m compliant doesn’t mean I can’t fucking break your neck. I’m here because I always clear my debts, but your constant tone is fucking me off. You wanna find this bitch and sitting in a car for hours ain’t gonna work for me.” I release him and get in, slamming the door. “I need to fight,” I add. “Take me to the club.”

By the time we stop at Donnie’s underground place, I’m itching to break something. My fingers tingle with anticipation the second we step inside to the cheers of the baying crowd. My shoulders instantly relax, and the tension leaves me.

I spot Donnie by the changing room. He’s got a woman pressed against the door, and it doesn’t take a genius to see she doesn’t want to be there. I head over. “Boss,” I say in his ear, and he stills. I make eye contact with the woman and see she’s terrified. “She wasn’t there.”

“How do you know?” he spits, turning to face me. The woman sees her opportunity and rushes away.

---