Liam and Mikey are walking through the elevator doors just as I’m heading out. Mikey sent me a text to let me know that he’d found him and he was fine, but it’s still a relief to see him back here. I wrap my arms around his neck. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” he says as he hugs me back.
“Good,” I pull back from him. “You gonna be okay on your own downstairs tonight?”
He nods and I turn to Mikey. “I need you with me.”
“Where are we going?” he asks with a worried look on his face.
“To break some faces,” I wink at him and his face breaks into a grin.
“Aw. Why can’t I come then?” Liam asks.
“Because, someone needs to watch the club. And you’ve slacked off enough for today!”
“Fair enough,” he replies with a roll of his eyes. “I’ll just go get changed. You two don’t have too much fun without me now.”
“As if we would,” Mikey says before we both step into the elevator.
We ride down to the basement and get into the car in silence. I feel Mikey’s eyes burning into me as I drive out of the parking garage. “What?” I say as I turn to him.
“I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve that. I felt like shit all day.”
“Forget about it.”
“Where are we going?”
“To find some assholes!”
“Yeah, well that narrows it down,” Mikey laughs.
“Those pricks from Angelino’s have been causing trouble again is all. I thought I’d pay them a visit. And now you are too.”
“But isn’t this like using a pneumatic drill to crack a walnut. Can’t our bouncers deal with this?”
“Yes,” I frown at him. “But I want to.” It’s true that dealing with some local low-life bouncers from a club in Brooklyn that is about a quarter the size of ours is way below our pay grade, but they have been bothering us for a while now, and it needs to be stamped out before it escalates. Besides, sometimes I just need to let off some steam.
“Oh, I see,” Mikey says with a grin as he rubs his hands together expectantly. “I haven’t done this with you for a long time.”
“I know.”
“I should push your buttons more often,” he chuckles to himself.
“Don’t!” I warn him.
A little over half an hour later, we pull up outside the club in Brooklyn. It’s not open yet but the bouncers are already showing up for their shifts.
“What’s it to be? Fists or we brought weapons?” Mikey asks.
“Some brass knuckles should do just fine,” I wink at him as I nod to the glove box.
He takes out a brass knuckle with a blade on the end and holds it up so the metal catches the light. “Nice. These new?”
“Conor got them a few months back. Hand me mine,” I say and he reaches into the box and pulls out a second one. I slide it onto my right fist and we climb out of the car. The bouncers hanging around outside spot us as we walk over the road and they shout for their colleagues who walk around the side of the building.
“How many you think there are?” Mikey asks.
“At this time of night. Six. Tops,”
“Then why do I count eight, bro?” he replies as another two come out from inside.
“Six? Eight? Who gives a shit?”
“Fuck me, you are in the mood for some fun, aren’t you?” he chuckles to himself.
“Yep,” I nod as I start to jog over the road. One of them jogs towards us, not quite sure yet why we’re here. He is brought up to speed pretty fast as I punch him in the jaw with the brass knuckle and knock him out cold.
That rallies his colleagues into action and amidst some hollering and whistling, the remaining seven men come running towards us.
“Here we go,” Mikey flashes his eyebrows at me and we run towards them. I punch the biggest one in the stomach as he reaches me and he drops to his knees before I punch him in the face and his nose busts open. The rest of the men surround us, but Mikey and I have faced much tougher odds and much tougher men than these before, and we make short work of them in less than ten minutes. They lie on the floor around us, groaning and clutching their broken limbs and faces and I stare down at them.
It was a simple brawl. That was all I came for and it released some of the pent up tension I’ve been feeling these past few weeks. I look around for Mikey, who has one of the men on the floor. He straddles his chest and rains blows down on him. I watch for a few seconds and when he doesn’t show any signs of letting up, I jog over to him and put my hand on his shoulder. He doesn’t stop though. I’m not sure he even knows I’m here.
The guy on the floor no longer even has a face and is most definitely dead, but it doesn’t stop my younger brother laying into him like he’s fighting for his life.
“Mikey! Come on, son. We need to get out of here.”
He turns and looks at me, blood spattered over his face and a look in his eyes that I haven’t seen for a very long time. I grab his arm and pull him up, just as one of the men from the floor stumbles over and looks at his dead workmate in horror. I grab him by the throat and squeeze. “You know who we are?” I snarl at him.
He nods, his eyes wide with fear.
“You tell anyone who or what you saw here tonight, and I will hunt you and every single member of your family down. You understand me?”
“Yes, Mr Ryan.”
“This is the end of it. Right here. Right now!” I hiss at him and he nods his agreement.
I drag Mikey to the car and we jump inside before I drive us away from the place as fast as the jeep will take us.
“I saw him, Shane,” Mikey says as he stares at me. “I was punching that guy but I saw his face.”
“Who?”
“Patrick Ryan!” he spits the name out as though it leaves a bitter taste in his mouth.
“You feel better?” I ask him.
“Yeah,” he nods.
“Good. And I doubt they’ll be giving any of our bouncers any more shit. So, mission accomplished!”
Mikey leans back in his seat and closes his eyes and I drive us back to our apartment.
