(Zane's pov for chap 13)

"I'm not going to have a body on my hands, so tell us where's the real things at?"

"Like I said I don't know you have to ask him."

"How do we know you didn't smuggle it? Or have him pawn it off?"

"I'm loyal to you! I always have been! I'll fucking ask him alright! Just don't hurt me, I have a family."

" aww, you have a family. I wonder what your wife would think if she found out you were off smuggling drugs. You got a kid?" I ask, leaning on the table across from him.

Of course I'd never do anything to his family, my guys wouldn't either. This is just to riled up to give us the money or the left overs.

"Yeah, two beautiful boys."

"That's sweet. Imagine one of them finding out their daddy came home after dealing some drugs and got scared when he realized he couldn't pay back every sent. You're a criminal, imagine saying bye bye to those beautiful boys. You don't want that do you? You seem like a good father, trying to get money to feed and house them.

"That's why I'm going easy on you, I got a soft spot for kids. When kids see someone they care about in pain, that hurts them, I've seen it. They need their daddy there, so you've gotta be there. Meaning you can't get put into the slammer, and you can't disobey us. So, talk to your buddy, and get the remains. If anything missing, you'll just have to pay us back. Is that fair enough?"

He gulps and nods repeatedly. I just won him over. I look up front and nod. Ginger slams his hand on the the van side three times. We start driving to his buddy's place.

"why do you like kids?"

I raise an eyebrow. Is this guy serious? He remains quiet while staring at me. I look over at Ginger, he just shrugs.

"I was an orphan. At age 9 I watched my parents die, I held onto my fathers arm as he passed. I know what it's like seeing your parent hurt and feeling hopeless and concerned. Which, is why I go a little easier on parents."

Ginger seemed kinda shocked to hear that, it's my turn to return a shrug.

"Nothing more to it than that. Just making sure no other kid grows up with a fucked parent. You are trying to do your best for your kids, I can tell you just did it the wrong way."

"Are you a father?"

"No," I laugh "hell no. Not in this shithole job. Not gonna make my kid go through what I went through. You can kill or get killed doing this shit, you make sure to not have a family while doing it. Take my word of advice, when you pay us back, start a part time job instead of this shady shit. It'll keep you alive for your kids."

He seems to have relaxed, so I do across from him as well. He's tied down on the van floor across from me. Ginger stands guard while I talk him through this.

"Then why did you start this?"

"You sure do talk a lot huh?"

He's silent, making me want to laugh.

"Why do you care so much?"

"Because you seem to compassionate for this job," he blinks slowly, almost tired. I would be too with the mental marathon we've given him.

" You need to be smarter about who you talk to when you do this. you sign up for a target on your back. start wearing a mask it'll protect you in the end," I look at ginger. "How much longer?"

"7 minutes"

I loo back over at the guy and smirk, of course he can't see that.

"You ready rookie?"

He nods with a stern face. It's silent until we pull up, I go with him up to the door. The friend was suprised seeing him, especially with me behind him. We've dealt with the friend before, I draw my weapon.

"Surprise motherfucker, I'm back," I smile. "Can't get rid of me that easily huh? I thought I told you to get off the street."

He's silent, but giving me a nice glare. I pull the gun up to my chest, giving it a small swing left and right.

"You gonna let us in or not asshat? We got places to be."

We step inside, and I let them do their shit. Soon enough I'm lead to the back where they stashed our shit. I have to make sure it's all there, so I scale it and some is missing. meaning they just need to give us the money, then we can pay them. If money is missing they don't get paid, they get punished. Thankfully they had the rest in payment. I use my mental math and give them 30% of the profit. They sold a lot, so that 30 may seem small but it's still more then average. $90, I let them decide how they'll split it.

And, without conflict, we take our guy back to big b. Easily resolved, no wepons needed, except a scare factor. That's what I do when I work, I hate it. Don't get me wrong, the pay is amazing. Because I'm so young, and I'm bad ass, Big B pays me more. Not to mention I'm his favorite. He's one big gay perv, who has an ex wife and a few kids.

No matter how much I try to forget Big B, and the people I worked with, the people I worked for, climbing my way to the top, the trauma, everything... I just can't forget. I remember every mission, every innocent person, every guilty person, every family member that reacted poorly to their loved one being beat for their crime, every child that worried for their parent. I remember it all. No matter how much I try to leave, I always go back.

I step up to the building. It's been a few months since I healed physically after my last mission. I need the money to put for doctor visited. I punch in the pin and the door unlocks, I push it open with my foot. No one ever uses the pin, no one is allowed. Except me. Big b gives everyone keys so he can take them away when they leave. You can always use the pin though.

He never changed it when I left, because he knew I'd be back.

"Z, is that you?" Mariana stands.

"Is Big B in his office?"

"I think so. Where've you been? They fell apart without you."

"That doesn't matter. I'm not staying for long," I shake my head and head to the stairs.

I waltz up the familiar stairs, memories flashing back. I shot my first gun here, committed my first major crime here, ruined people's lives here, got slashed here. I shake my head again, heading to the third floor now. Before I open the door I take a deep breath, I can still back out.

But I need the money.

I sigh and open the door. I walk forward to his desk. He's not at his desk. So, I sit, propping my feet on the wood. I have a feeling he's fucking a fling and bell back back. I lean my head back and close my eyes. Then I hear a door open, my head snaps to it.

"Holy shit. I knew it," the familiar baritone voice says. "Honestly, when they said you came back I didn't believe them at first," he steps forward, his shoes clapping against the metallic floors. "I knew you'd be back."

"You're cocky as always, Big B."

His grabs my chin with his rough fingers, I hate the touch. "You have no idea."

"I need to work a few jobs, I have some debt to pay off. But, I'm not staying. I have a family to be with, I can't rot away in this place and you know that."

His eyes look like fire, searching my face for truth and lies, then he smiles and let's go of me.

"No."

I laugh, a huge belly laugh.

"No," he crosses his arms, still smirking. "How bad do you need the money?"

My laugh stops, realizing he's serious. He may have a wicked smile on his face, but I know the tone.

"I mean, I could work a normal 9 to 5, but nothing pays like this. It'd take me longer to pay off my debt. Plus, I need some extra spending money for the bars."

"What, you got a hot date or something?"

"Hah, a date. Hardly. You know better than anyone you don't date with this background. Just some casual hookups."

"Are you the fucker or the one getting fucked?"

I swing my feet off the desk and stand, my arms crossing, matching his stance. He's a little taller than me, and he looks like a body builder. Meanwhile I work out regularly, this man works out every day hours on end to keep his shape and muscles.

"Why do you want to know? Attracted to me still?"

"I'll let you back on one condition."

"No sex. If all you want is my body I'm not doing this. You're too old for my taste, and I'm not a bottom," I grin winking.

"That wasn't it, but I am a little disappointed. You stay for at least 2 months. And you never come back when you leave."

I stop grinning, "finally tired of me, you don't want me back anymore?"

"Actually it's the opposite. You're to good, I've never had anyone as good as you. If you leave, I don't want you coming back because that means I'll loose you all over again. You are the bullet to my gun, a gun can't work without the bullets."

He knows that I always come back. He wants me to stay more than 2 months, which is why he's saying don't come back.

"I have a life to live. I do this on the side to stay functional in society. I can't never come back. I have to come back. You know this Big B," I lean back on the desk.

"I can't have you come back and forth. It's not good for the guys, it's not good for me and my business. When you leave this time you leave for good."

I run my hand through my hair, then look at the ground, then swing my head back and look to the ceiling.

"Let me do one big job, to pay off my debt. Then I'll think about taking you up on that offer. Just one big job, to pay off my debt, that's it."

"How much do you need?"

I add up the money from the hospital bills after my last accident, I add on 200 for my free drinks I got at the bar.

"$800"

"Damn, what's you do this time?" He strolls around the desk and opens the top drawer.

"Hospital bills from my last job," I turn my head over my shoulder to eye him. "I'm paying back my friend. He took me to his personal doctor."

"You didn't tell him how you got slashed?" He stops and looks up.

"He didn't ask, I didn't tell," I raise an eyebrow. "Don't think so lowly of me," I look forward again.

"I knew you'd stay loyal," I hear the drawer shut, then the clicks of his shoes. "One big job coming up soon, I'll keep in contact with you," he hands me an intractable phone, with my old mask and gloves.

"Give me some time to think about the 2 months. When the big jobs done I should have your answer. Will I be doing the job alone?"

"No, I'm not allowing you to be alone on this one. You'll still get the full 800, so don't worry about that. You'll be the head, of course, they'll just be backup incase you get slashed or shot."

"Who?"

"Ginger."

I roll my eyes and scoff, "has he been in charge since I left? How's he gonna react being second hand again?" I laugh out.

"It's only a one time job, he'll manage."

I nod, putting the mask in my back pocket as I stand straight. I slip on the gloves, flexing my fingers in the leather.

"These aren't my old ones," I saw flexing my fingers more. "What'd you do?"

"I upgraded them, they fit better now, don't they?"

"Yeah, they shape my fingers better."

"I noticed your trigger finger would get clipped at the time, so I needed to change them in order to lot leave evidence. Don't think to much about it now."

"Of course I wasn't. I don't sleep with old geezers like you."

"That's not what I meant," he smiles at my sarcasm, stepping closer to me. "Let me see your side."

"It's fine, I'm healed."

"Z, you know my rules. Let me see it."

I sigh and lift the side of my shirt so show the blistering red slash in my side.

"The stitches were removed, now I just have to let my body do the rest. In order for it to open again I have to have it cut open. So I'm fine to operate."

His fingers brush against the cut, I turn my head and sigh. I know what he's going to say.

"Okay."

My eyes narrow on him, "what?"

"Okay, you can do the job."

"Wait, I thought you would've said no."

"It's your decision you say your ready and your fine, and I can see that it's healing nicely, so, yes, you can do the job."

I stay silent. I really didn't expect that, not at all.

"Okay, get out of here before I change my mind. Don't show up unless I call you first."

I nod, "thank you Big B."

"Don't be getting fucking soft. Train hard until I'm ready for you, you hear?"

I agree and walk to the door.

"Your welcome," I hear before I grab the handle.

I pause, but shake my head and go forward, opening the door and jogging down the stairs.

"Are you back for good now?"

"Nope, never again." I say plainly and open the door. "Cya soon."

The door shuts behind me and I breath in the fresh air.