Florencio's POV of chapter 24 before Parker visited him.

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"This is a bad idea," Sam told me for the hundredth time.

I tucked the gun under my sweatshirt so it was hidden. "I know," I agreed. "So shut the fuck about it."

Sam let out a sound of annoyance. "It's like you wanna die. He's got men everywhere. They could kill you. No—they will."

"He's not going to," I said. "He likes the chase." I knew this for a fact and wasn't afraid of Rudy. Or any of his men.

"You look horrible," Sam commented.

I sighed. I left my room and went down the stairs quickly. "Thank you, I know. Fucking tell me again." I showered, ate—when I had the time, slept—when I had the time. When I got to the door, I turned around and faced Sam. "Are you coming?"

"Do I have a choice?" He muttered.

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We pulled up to Rudy's house and I got out with no hesitation. It was small, on the outskirts of town.

The two men guarding the door looked at me and Sam curiously. Then they smiled.

"Come on in, boys," one of them said, opening the door.

Sam followed closely behind me. We walked down numerous hallways to find Rudy's study.

"We're not dead yet," I whispered, a joking tone in my voice. Sam was always so tense, on high alert when we did things like this.

"What? Oh, shut the hell up. I don't have a death wish like you," he muttered, knocking on the door.

The door opened immediately and Rudy stood there, grinning like he won something. A sick feeling settled in my stomach.

I pushed my way into his office, shoving him aside, to show him I had no intention on being the speck of dust on his shoulder.

I stopped abruptly when I saw Natalie sitting on the chair behind his desk. She wasn't looking at me. She was biting her lip hard, fingers twisting together. It was freezing in this house and her tank top and leggings weren't keeping her warm.

"I could assume you two have met," Rudy guessed, walking into the room. He walked behind the desk. He grabbed Natalie's jaw and kissed her on the mouth. She flinched but after that stayed still.

Rudy pulled away after a moment. He sucked in a breath. "I'll leave you two to chat."

I turned to look at Sam. He looked pissed he had to be alone with Rudy but followed him out of the room.

Once the door shut I asked, "why are you here?"

She smiled. "I'm just doing my job."

I scoffed. "With him?"

She slammed her hands down on the table, suddenly angry.

"T-this is how I make money. And he gives me a lot, okay? Don't fucking judge me, you prick!" Her voice was harsh, her cheeks a deep red.

My jaw clenched. "I'm not judging what you do for work Natalie. What can I say? I sell drugs. You think I'd judge you?" I didn't. I didn't care what she did to make money.

She leaned back into the chair and got comfortable. "You must still love me then. To care so much about me."

I smiled sweetly. "Yeah. I still do. Especially after what you did to me. How could I not be in love?" Her face fell. "Do you know where Rudy could have gone? I need to talk to him."

"I did love you, you know," she told me. "I really did. I didn't mean for what we had to go that far." She put her blonde hair behind her ear.

I tried to remember the feelings I had for her when I was eighteen but they were blurred.

"You asked me," I started, my voice low, "when we met to never judge you, trust you, I did."

"I loved him too! You had to have known that when he wanted me, I'd leave you." Her eyes turned red. She wiped her eyes. "I don't know what to say."

I knew when me and Natalie were together, she'd been in love with Luke, a dealer who had died in a drive-by shooting, but I thought she'd leave him for me completely. We'd been 'dating' for a year when Luke confessed he loved her and she left me. After Luke had died later that year they'd gotten together, Natalie tried to come back to me. I said no.

"Natalie, if you knew you were going to leave, why would you even get with me?" What she did to me made no sense. I had been trying to make sense of it since she left.

She shrugged hopelessly. "I don't know. I just needed someone to love after Luke rejected me." She wiped away the last of her tears and sniffled.

I let out the breath I was holding. "I'm sorry about, Luke." Despite everything, I never gave her my condolences.

I turned around and opened the door, but Rudy was already there, holding his gun out. It pressed against my neck. He walked forward and I had no choice but to walk back.

Great.

"Obsessed with me?" I teased.

Click. "Just enough to stay outside the door. Nice, isn't it?" Rudy looked at Natalie. "Get out."

She scurried out of the room, giving me one last glance.

I looked at Sam and he gave me the most knowing look one could. Fucking idiot, he was mouthing to me. He left the room, shutting the door. He was going to the car, get it started.

"What do you want?" I asked, smiling. "Drugs?"

"What do I want? What the hell do you want? Coming here uninvited. Talking to what's mine." The cold metal of the gun pressed harder against my neck.

"I'm here to negotiate. Figure out our money problem." I was being honest. We had a money problem. I wasn't here for that, though. Word around is that Rudy knows Tyler.

"Oh, the money that you stole?" He asked, his face hardening.

"The money that I spent," I corrected. "On drugs, for you."

"The drugs that never got to me!" Rudy yelled. He was becoming progressively more aggressive. I was becoming progressively more bored.

I pulled my gun out swiftly from under my sweater, pressing it against his stomach. He flinched slightly.

"You're fast," he observed. He slowly put his gun down and tucked it away. I kept mine up.

His eyes narrowed. "I know you're not here to talk about money."

"And you're smart. I'm done with small talk. Do you know Tyler?" I got straight to the point.

Rudy smiled. "Is he important?"

"Not to me."

His face lit up. "You know, hows that girlfriend of yours? Haven't seen her in a while. Would like to."

"Fuck off," I hissed. I spent the whole day trying not to think about her. Once I did, she was all I could think about until I eventually gave in and saw her. This was messed up, him bringing her up. "I know Tyler works under you." I had to get back to the reason I was here.

He liked his dry lips. "I'm not talking about my workers. Now leave."

"His name is Tyler Rose," I stated.

Rudy laughed but it held no humor. "Who the fuck are you talking to?"

"Maybe you've got a mole," I said, trying to throw him off. I switched the safety off the gun.

Rudy's eye twitched. "You're getting on my damn nerves Foster." He grabbed the gun quickly and I pointed it up, shooting the ceiling a couple times. With my other hand, I punched him hard in the mouth. He cursed and let go, taking a few steps back. I shoved the gun in the back of my pants, breathing heavily.

"You know what?" He spat, blood coming out the side of his mouth. "That whore you love so much talks about anything. Your adoptive parents were assholes, huh?" I kept my face cold. "Or what about your biological mom? She skipped town pretty quick after she gave birth."

"You don't know anything," I managed to say. My fist were shaking and my teeth were grinding so hard, I thought they'd shatter.

"Does your girl know how fucked up you are? A pretty face won't last forever." He wiped his mouth again. "You think hitting me was funny?"

"Hilarious," I replied. I took a few deep breaths. "Where can I find Tyler Rose?"

He was fuming. "You know what, Foster? Say hi to your mom for me."

Fuck it.

I lunged forward and smashed my fist into his face again. Rudy stumbled back into the wall and I crashed right into him, doing anything I could to hurt him. I was breathing heavily and all I saw was red.

He came back stronger and shoved me to the floor. He landed on top of me, throwing more punches. I grunted when the rings on his fingers cut my face. I reached behind him, grabbing his gun, putting it against his chest. He scrambled off of me quickly.

I got up slowly. I resisted the urge to wipe the blood off my face. "I see we're not getting anywhere."

"You're full of shit, Foster," he groaned, holding his face.

I threw the gun on the other side of the room and left.

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