"Will you be able to do the job this time?" Frank asked looking at the man who sat in the driver's seat.

My gaze moved to the figure that sat there - lanky, blonde buzz cut. "Yeah," he replied.

He made eye contact with me in the mirror and his features were startlingly familiar - Kaz?!

He shook his head subtly at me and I wasn't sure what he was trying to tell me but I assumed he didn't want me to shout out, "Hey, bud. Remember me? I saved your life. Maybe you can return the favour?" So I kept quiet.

Frank shrugged and opened the backseat door before sliding in next to me.

Silva slithered into the passenger side. "Go," he stated with authority.

Kaz sped off, my back lurching in the process, aggravating my injuries further. I took my hoodie off and tied it as tightly as possible over the gash in my leg. I wasn't sure when I'd be able to get medical attention, but I knew I desperately needed it.

Silva turned around and watched me with curiosity. I waited for him to speak and when he didn't, I decided to pitch in. "You know, fighting Lucas won't do a thing to get you the title back."

He scoffed, turning back to face the road, "You don't know a thing about honour."

"And you do?" I retorted, "Sorry, I wasn't aware that it was honourable to drive while under the influence and shatter spines. I wasn't aware that kidnapping was some form of a good deed."

He whipped his head back to look at me and I reminded myself that I wasn't dealing with someone who was stable. I had to watch what I said around him. "I mean, I'm sure you do have honourable traits," I added as an afterthought, chuckling nervously.

Kaz coughed in the driver's seat and I turned my glare towards him. If he wanted attention, I could give him attention. "Hey, weren't you fighting this guy in an underground fight a few months ago?" I asked, addressing Silva.

Silva waved his hand in dismissal, "I pay people to fight and we rig it so I win. It makes the bets much more worth my while."

So Silva had been rigging his underground fights? I had seen Kaz almost pummelled to death. That had been staged? Silva was even more insane than I thought he was.

"Honourable," I muttered, but Kaz swerved at that moment my head ricocheting off the seat making the throbbing much worse. Kaz threw me a glare in the mirror. What was his problem? He was the one driving the kidnap vehicle. "Hey! You mind, buddy? Just a concussion victim sitting here."

I saw Silva withdraw his hand from his belt where I caught a glimpse of a hand gun. Had he been about to shoot me? Or threaten to shoot me? Was Kaz on my side? I was so confused and my head hurt too much to be thinking this hard.

Silva sighed, "I didn't intend to hurt the boy. But what I find more valuable than honour is taking care of myself first. It's no secret that I was born on the streets. I learned from the streets. You do anything to survive. That is something that will be lost on you."

I didn't bother responding because I actually valued my life so I just sat there and tried to figure out where we were going. My phone was still in Lucas's car. I wondered if he had found Daniel yet. I wondered how Daniel was doing.

My mind wandered to Silva's childhood and how much effort Lucas had put in to teach fighting classes for youth just like Silva. How many kids had he helped from becoming like Silva?

Suddenly, the car came to a halt in front of an old, abandoned building. "We'll wait here until it's fight time," Silva stated as he got out of the truck. "If he knows what's best for you, that is. We'll soon know if we have the right person."

He disappeared inside the building and Frank was next to exit the car, "Well, I already crashed the car since you were too chicken shit to do it. I think you can handle this on your own." He followed suit and entered the building himself.

Kaz turned around to look at me, "Are you okay?"

"I'm just peachy, Kaz. Thanks for asking," I snapped sarcastically as I swiped at the blood leaking out of my forehead for good measure.

"I'm sorry, okay? I didn't know he was coming for you today." His brown eyes rang with sincerity but it did nothing to ease my heart.

"So if I was anyone else, you would have rammed their car down?" I asked as I raised my eyebrows.

He shook his head in frustration, "Silva's not that bad. He takes care of us. He's loyal."

"He beat you to a pulp. He left you to die. If I remember correctly, I was the one who called the cops that night. I was the one that bandaged you. Maybe you should owe your loyalty to me," I huffed and crossed my arms in frustration.

Kaz said nothing, only hung his head and avoided eye contact. After several painful minutes, it was too much to bear. "Are you going to help me bandage this? Or does that betray your loyalty to Silva the Maimer of Children?"

"I'll help you," Kaz spoke softly as he opened his door and walked around the door to tug mine open as well. He held his hand out for me but I ignored it and dealt with the excruciating pain reverberating from my leg. I needed to get it looked at.

"Thank the lord," I muttered as I stepped out of the car relying on one leg.

We entered into the building and I looked around at the decaying structure with pursed lips. This just made me feel like I was living in some kind of Bond villain's story.

Kaz pointed to a torn, greying couch for me to sit on. What a kind gesture. I sat anyway because I couldn't feel my leg anymore and I was genuinely worried about amputation.

I peeled back my already soaked hoodie from the gash and grimaced at the amount of blood still pouring out of the slit. "I need to stitch it up."

Kaz jumped up and headed to a room in the corner, coming out with an ancient looking medical box. He pulled out a needle and thread and antiseptic and I began to get to work, cleaning the area out as well as the needle.

Kaz surprisingly remained next to me as I began to thread the needle, watching me wordlessly and as I stitched the area, he almost reached out for me as if he wanted to comfort me but thought better of it.

After a tantalizingly painful procedure sans pain medication. I leaned back, bloody, sweaty, and exhausted. I closed my eyes for a moment, my chest heaving from the pain. "Why do you do this?" I asked Kaz as I opened my eyes and saw him already watching me with concern.

He shrugged and broke eye contact, "I've had a hard life. All of us have. When I met Silva, the promise of something better, something more was too good to pass up. Sometimes you're in something for so long you become blind to it."

"Something better and something right isn't always the same thing."

His piercing gaze connected with mine for a moment, "I know."

"It's time." Silva's hard voice interrupted, reminding me of what was to come and I shuddered in anticipation. Or maybe from blood loss, I really wasn't sure. He eyed my leg with disdain before disappointedly looking at Kaz. "Number one rule?"

Kaz straightened his posture automatically, his frame rigid, his eyes harsh. "Look out for yourself."

~~~~~

This is short because I know some of you were unhappy about leaving the chapter on a cliffhanger!

I was originally going to make this chapter super long so that I finished it here and did the epilogue next but I'm going away until Friday and didn't want this hanging over my conscience.

So basically, I sacrificed having an even fifty chapters for all of you. You're welcome.