Chapter 7 - The Truth
"I don't feel right about this Johnny." Shaundi said, "Can't you just confront her?"
Johnny and Shaundi stood around the corner on the ground floor of Purgatory, waiting for the Boss to move from the bar.
"No fucking way. And get both our asses handed to us?" Johnny said, "Just wait until she gets up and walk and grab her jacket; you know she always takes it off."
They watched as the Boss downed the last of her drink, laughing with some other gang members. She pushed her glass back before getting to her feet, walking to the toilets.
"Bingo." Shaundi smirked. As quick as she could, forgetting all about Johnny, she smoothly walked past the Boss' chair, swiping her jacket. Johnny looked at his watch nervously - time was ticking.
"What you up to, Gat?" Pierce asked, making Johnny jump slightly.
"Me? Nothing much, man, just hanging out."
"Do you wanna get some beers in? I know a guy who brews his own which is supposed to be pretty tight. His girl got some bud on the DL too."
Johnny glanced up to see Shaundi motioning for him, the Boss' jacket back on her chair.
"Er, I'll have to take a rain check on that, P. Here, take eighty dollars and stock up, a'ight?"
Pierce stared down at the crumpled notes in his hand from Johnny before shrugging.
"O-K. Whatever you say, man."
Johnny quickly walked over to Shaundi, hiding behind a pillar.
"Well?" Johnny hissed, his voice quiet.
"The last text he sent her was about half an hour ago confirming that they were meeting at Parthenon Ruins in ..." Shaundi checked the time, "Fifteen minutes."
"Parthenon Ruins, huh? That's just facing South of the Brotherhood's hideout."
Shaundi lowered her eyes at Johnny.
"What you got planned, Gat?" she asked suspiciously.
"Something." he cryptically replied, "Thanks for your help, Shaunds, I really appreciate it."
He quickly kissed the top of her head as a sign of gratitude before heading out of Purgatory and to the garage. Walking past the bar he saw that the Boss was already gone.
Johnny's foot pressed harder on the acceleration and his hands gripped tighter around the steering wheel as he thought about the Boss and Maero. Him kissing her, Touching her. Making love to her...
Johnny smacked the steering wheel in rage, before he spotted a Brotherhood car heading in the same direction as his. He made sure to keep his distance and stopped short when the red car did. Maero stepped out of the vehicle as Johnny's mood clouded over. He was about a two second walk from the location, a good enough spot for to hideout. However, then a younger looking boy got out from the driving seat. If the Boss' and Maero's meetings were in secret, why was he bringing someone along for the ride? He slowly got out of his car and crept towards the Brotherhood one, near enough to hear the voices.
"So pick me up in about 2 hours, okay? I'll have that shit locked down."
He heard Maero chuckle and then retreating footsteps. With his pocket knife flipped out from his person, Johnny had to time it right. Suddenly, he jumped up, grabbing the younger gang member and pressing the cool knife to his throat as he watched Maero disappear from view.
"Scream and I will kill you." he hissed to the now shaking boy, who nodded slowly. Johnny, still with a grip around him guided him to a dark alley way, throwing him in the corner and threatening him with a knife and a gun which was concealed under his shirt.
"I want every detail and I want them now. What do you know about Maero and the Boss of the Saints?"
"I'm surprised you didn't get ill after all that prancing about in the rain." Maero laughed, holding hands with the Boss.
"Tough as old boots me." she replied, before turning into him so she could kiss him. The pair stopped in their tracks as their lips collided, Maero pressing his hands around the Boss' waist to hold her closer. She hummed against his lips, smiling. The man pulled away, placing his forehead against her own with a devilish smirk on his face.
"Have you thought about my proposal?"
The girl bit her lip, hesitating, before answering. This was it; the Saints defining moment. She agreed to this, then she opened them up to the unknown, forcing them to become allies with the enemy. The Boss had to take the leap into the rabbit hole, eager to find out where it would land her. Wonderland? In some fucked up parallel world, possibly.
"I accept your offer." she whispered, shocked that the words had even come out of her mouth. Her lips felt dry and cracked as her heart pounded inside her chest. She tried to ignore her sweating palms, balling them into fists against Maero's chest.
"Seriously?" Maero asked in disbelief. He never thought she would say yes.
"I'm serious. I've thought about it and I think an alliance is what we need. Not one group can take down the other three and claim Stilwater. We need to join forces to make it truly happen. And I believe we can do that together."
The Brotherhood leader blinked a few times before smiling, grabbing the Boss around the waist again to lift her into the air. She laughed loudly as he spun her around before bringing her down so he could kiss her once more.
"I'll tell the Saints about us and the plan, and you should tell the Brotherhood a few days before the heist. Once we've told them, you and I should meet up to let the other know what happened and where we go from there. Sound good to you?"
"It sounds perfect." he replied, "I can't wait to be properly with you, B."
The Boss smiled. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him her name but she decided against it; only when their future was secured. God, she prayed the Saints would agree to this. They had to, she was their Boss. But the risk at losing those she called her family? She hoped it was worth it. Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by Maero clearing his throat.
"What about the other thing I said?" he asked, his chocolate eyes boring into her blue ones. She knew she wouldn't be able to avoid what he had said, and she was nothing but an honest woman.
"I'm gonna be straight with you, Maero. You make me feel some type of way - whether or not it's love, I don't know. All I know is the my heart does a funny thing when you're around and I find myself catching my breath. But if anything changes dramatically, you'll be the first to know."
The tall man chuckled slightly, kissing the Boss' forehead.
"That's good enough for me, B. I still love ya though."
Maero pulled the purple haired woman into his arms, embracing her. The Boss sighed into the hug as Maero smirked; Stilwater was going to be his, and nobody could stop him.
"... they said that they knew of a Saints raid and that's when Maero went to the warehouse. Something about knowing the Boss' patterns and that she could go to him if he were alone. Once he had gained access to her, the rest was apparently easy."
"Go on." Johnny hissed, holding the babbling boy against the wall. A knife protruded from his thigh, blood seeping onto his trousers as Johnny held another knife to his throat. Co-operation hadn't obviously been easy. Beads of sweat trickled down the boy's forehead as he shook when he spoke.
"He also fucks other girls; parades them around with a smug look on his face because he knows he's playing the Boss. He says she's not worth shit and that she acts bigger than what she is. He says she's weak but that's probably because she's a woman or something. Anyway, he wants to get rid of you and gain her full trust so they can claim Stilwater. Once he's done that, he said he's going to kill her and the Saints an take the city for himself." the boy said, tears escaping his eyes. Johnny seethed at the boys words, anger coursing through him.
"That's all you know?" he asked.
"Yes! Yes! That's all I know! Please, don't kill me. Please."
Johnny looked at the snotting boy, pondered taking pity on him before slitting his throat.
"Sorry." he stated, monotone, as sticky blood coated his fingers, the boy's body slumping to the ground. Johnny's breathing became heavy as he tried to process what the weasel had just said. Before he could think about his next move, he heard voices from behind him, causing him to hide down further down the alleyway. A woman laughed as Johnny realised who it was. It wasn't easy to forget a laugh like the Boss'.
"Right, I've got to go, okay?"
"Aw, so soon, B? I'll miss ya too much."
Johnny held in the urge to vomit at Maero's false words. How could he lie like that to the Boss? How could he look into her beautiful face, her piercing eyes and lie to her?
"Yeah, yeah, cry me a river, Romeo. I'll see you soon."
Kissing was heard before the opening of a car door. Johnny felt his body tense with anger at the thought of Maero's plans. He didn't love the Boss; he was using her. It crushed Johnny to know that the love of his life was being played and he knew he wasn't going to sit back and let her be taken for a fool.
Johnny Gat was going to get Maero if it was the last thing he did.
Oh hey, LONG time no see ... okay, imma level with you. I sorta got bored of writing this fic so basically abandoned it. But the other night, I found all of my plans and notes for this story and realised that I couldn't just let it slide. So here I am, finishing this fic because I need to complete this story. I apologise for the MASSIVE gap between this (probably most of you upped and left) but hey to those who stayed and hi to those of you that might stumble across this because it's been updated. So yeah, phase one of me finishing this fic - write another fucking chapter!
Ciao x
