Risk (Brothers of Ink and Steel #4) - Allie Juliette Mousseau
Connor
(Present Day)
A BEAD OF sweat slides slowly down my bicep through the crevice between the cut of my muscle, creating a channel before it drops from my elbow to the floor. Fifty-pound free weight, preacher curl, rep till muscle failure.
“Hey, man, keep this up and you may make it to Flyweight yet,” Talon quips as he walks by.
“Shut up.” I’d tell him, Fuck you, but there are kids around.
We’re working out at The Core. It’s my favorite place to be other than in court. The Core is the brainchild of Cade North—my foster-father-turned dad. I’ve been coming here since I was sixteen years old when Cade and his wife Debra took me in out of a high security detention center and set me up at North House.
Talon was my house brother back then: one of seven teenage boys that came to North House in 2005 and bonded into brotherhood through blood and ink. Cade and Debra kept us through high school graduation and saw to it each of us attended university.
They even helped foot the bill for law school. A kid like me? I never thought I’d get that chance.
All the brothers still living in Minneapolis come to The Core regularly, we work as volunteers, mentoring kids from North House and low-income, homeless or foster kids from the area.
I watch Brice, the boy copying my reps with a two-pounder. He’s twelve and scared of his own shadow. He’s been in too many bad situations and needs a win. He needs to be reminded that he’s strong and that his strength comes from within, not from outside.
“That muscle is building up nice,” I tell him.
“You think so?” He smiles a little, like he’s not sure if he believes me, but studies the movement he’s making. His smile grows bigger. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”
“Of course, I’m right,” I say. “What’s your favorite subject in school?”
“I hate school.”
This is a typical answer. Who the hell can think about school when you don’t even know where your next meal is going to come from?
“Yeah, I hated school too for a while, but then I discovered I really liked math.”
“I suck at math.” He juts out his bottom lip and blows a wayward swath of blond hair away from in front of his right eye.
“If you had to choose one class that you don’t despise, which would it be?”
He chews on that for a second. “I really liked the stories of Greek mythology my teacher told us in social studies. Especially Perseus! He was freaking awesome!” His eyes grow wide.
I switch the weight to my other arm. Brice follows my lead. “Why was he so awesome?”
“He tricked and killed the gorgon Medusa—you know, the monster with snakes all over her head. He saved Andromeda from the kraken and rides a winged pegasus. He’s badass!” Brice tells me excitedly.
And there’s my window.
“You keep lifting weights like this and stay in school, no matter what else happens in your life, and you’re going to be just as badass as Perseus,” I remind him.
It’s all I need to say. His smile gets so big it takes up his entire face. Brice’s been coming here for the past couple months. He’s heard all the stories and met all the brothers. He knows Josh North was a troubled teen who now holds the MMA World Heavyweight Champion title. And that Liam Knight went from a street kid fighting for his life to a retired Middleweight MMA champ who’s now a celebrity tattoo artist with his own shop and TV show. He’s shaken hands with Ryder Axton, who lost his parents when he was just nine yet turned his life around to become a Navy Seal.
Brice has lifted weights, hit the bags and sparred with each of us. One motto we make sure each kid takes away: Fight hard enough and never give up, and you can do anything.
After our session, I shower and check my text messages.
High priority case. Emergency hearing 1 pm. Need you ASAP to pick up file.
“Christ!” I hiss between my teeth. I have less than two hours before court starts.
My tires screech and the echo bounces off the concrete walls of the parking garage beneath the towering skyscraper. Running around to the front of the building, I take the front steps two-at-a-time, push through the heavy, double glass doors, stride across the vast marble floored foyer and wait with the herd of people at the elevators. My eyes skim over the office building’s directory plaque.