Neon is the Colour of Vengeance (Flappers and False Gods)

THE ROSE

Hugo spotted Irene Rose immediately. She was entirely conspicuous in her bright red coat and high heels. White and bony with sleek blonde hair, she leaned against a stack of pallets outside the meat processing plant in the Industrial District. Her eyes never left Jeffrey where he unloaded his latest shipment, partially concealed by distribution transporters. Amateur , Hugo thought.

He easily crept up behind her. “What’s a dame like you doing in a place like this?”

Irene started and let out a loud yell. Hugo grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her out of view of the deal, slamming her hard against the brick wall of a warehouse building.

“Get your hands off me, creep,” she snarled, aiming a knee towards Hugo’s groin. He blocked it easily with the palm of his hand.

“Why are you watching those men?”

“What men?”

“Cute.”

Irene tried to sidestep him, but Hugo caught her wrist.

“You’re hurting me!”

“Good.” He yanked on her wrist pulling her in close. “I think you are a filthy little poacher. I think you’re trying to take something that doesn’t belong to you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She was starting to look scared.

“Don’t waste your breath. Dill did you real dirty if he thought you’d be safe here. Jeffrey Tallow is a Conti, not a Kelly, and that is how it’s going to stay. You tell your boss to back off or we might be forced to retaliate.”

“You think your poxy little family can handle us? Tell Sammy to sit back or we will wipe you all off the map.”

“And the kitty finally shows her claws.”

“How’s this for claws?”

Unbeknownst to Hugo, Irene had concealed a short push-dagger in her palm. She deftly flipped it so that the blade protruded between her fingers and slung a punch at Hugo. He deflected the blow, taking hold of her arm and forcing the blade towards her face. She cried out as the blade cut a deep line across her cheek.

“You’ll certainly stand out now.” He shoved her away from him, and she stumbled backwards. “Tell Dill that if he makes a move on us again, you will be the first to die, but you won’t be the last.”

Irene straightened up, clutching her face. Blood dripped between her fingers. “You have no idea what you’ve started. We will come for you.”

“Can’t wait.”

Hugo didn’t bother to watch her go. Instead, he made sure Jeffrey received his latest shipment of weapons without incident before going home.

When Hugo returned to his apartment, Evan was nowhere to be seen. The heavy patter of water from the spare room told him that the man was in the shower. He sat down on the couch and waited for Evan to finish washing up.

Hugo wanted Evan. He had known it since the moment he had met him in that alley. He knew he shouldn’t, he knew it was dangerous and impossible, but that didn’t make it any less true. The kiss, while drunken, had set every fibre of his being alight. Not giving in to Evan’s pleading had been harder than he was willing to admit to himself. On top of that, though he couldn’t be certain the memory was real, he had a blurry but vivid recollection of Evan stroking his hair and soothing him through the fever-induced nightmares.

He had never felt so drawn to another person and yet, it wasn’t meant to be. Acting on his feelings would only lead to heartbreak down the line. Evan had to leave Tenebrium, if he didn’t both of their lives were in danger. Hugo should have killed him, but that could never happen now.

Regardless of how much he wished it hadn’t, his stomach gave a pleasant little jump as Evan entered the living room.

“You good?” he asked.

“Refreshed and regretful. I’m not usually such a boozehound, I swear.” Evan dropped down on the couch right beside Hugo.

“You’ve been through a lot.” Hugo shrugged. “You’re handling this all pretty well.” Perhaps too well, though he didn’t say that out loud.

Evan ran his hands through his damp hair. “I’m sorry I kissed you.”

“I’m not.” Hugo slid off the couch onto the fluffy rug to avoid looking at Evan. He stretched out, crossing his legs at the ankle and tapped his Index. The datastream came to life, hovering in the air before him, composed of blue light. He quickly searched for anything related to Evan’s uncle but nothing was returned.

“Where were you?” Evan’s voice was reedy.

Hugo followed Evan’s eyes; there was a tiny smear of blood on the back of his hand. Hugo wiped it away.

“It sounds like the hit was basic, so we’ll need to dig a little deeper. We know it wasn’t me and Alice doesn’t kill like that. Gen only takes specialist contracts and?—”

“Gen?” Evan sounded a little at sea.

“She’s like my sister. She’s like me, but she’s not beholden to the family. I never found out how she managed that, but it doesn’t matter. It’s not her style. She’s picky with her targets.”

“Like you as in a…” Evan seemed unable to finish the sentence.

“Killer? You can say it. It’s true.”

“Like you as in a…killer? Or a street kid?”

“Both. Samuel took us in and trained us.”

“He raised you to kill?”

“It was a hell of a lot better than starving on the streets,” Hugo said darkly.

“Did you kill someone this morning?”

“No.” Hugo didn’t elaborate.

“The more I learn about your world the more I hate it.”

“You’ll be out of it soon enough,” Hugo said matter-of-factly, trying to remind himself more than Evan. “There are one or two others in the family with a similar MO to me, but if we already had a connection to you, Bobby would have found it.”

“How many people…like you are in the…family? And who’s Bobby?”

“There are enough of us. Bobby is my best friend. They know things. That’s their job. They research our marks. They would have told me when I was sent after you if we’d already taken a hit on your family. It’s not good business to have too many connections to a death.”

“Is that your way of telling me you don’t think it was one of your people?”

“Yes.” Hugo twisted around to look at Evan. He was lying on his back, one arm behind his head staring at the ceiling.

He let out a quiet little laugh. “Which means it was some other mobster. So, what will you do? Ask around?”

So often in Evan’s company Hugo found himself lost for words. He wanted to provide reassurance but didn’t know how. He settled for answering his question, “Eh, no. I think we need to go back to the beginning and follow the clues from there.”

“How are we going to do that? We aren’t cops.”

“We don’t want to draw too much attention to your family in case someone decides to look deeper into your ‘disappearance’. I have connections, but we have to be careful and take it slow.”

And so, they did. Frustrating days bled into disappointing nights and Hugo began to wonder if what he’d agreed to was impossible. He pushed on regardless, determined to find the answers Evan craved, but there was a tiny part of him that was glad they hadn’t made much progress in the following days and weeks. Evan was a comfortable presence in his home, one that he was getting more and more attached to with every passing moment.

Despite the oddity and violence of their initial meeting, the two men couldn’t deny that they enjoyed each other’s company. Nor could they deny the connection that they had forged. They talked for hours each day, time seeming to pass unnoticed. They laughed together and sought each other out. It was getting harder and more pointless for Hugo to deny that Evan might just share Hugo’s attraction.

He had taken to watching Hugo cook, acting as a sort of sous chef. He followed directions well and watched on, mesmerised, as Hugo demonstrated his not inconsiderable skills in the kitchen.

“Yes, Chef!” he would call sardonically whenever Hugo gave him a task. It never failed to draw a smile to Hugo’s lips. Evan was not a good cook, but what he lacked in culinary flair he made up for with wit.

The man had undeniably relaxed around Hugo. He no longer stiffened or narrowed his eyes upon seeing him, and often initiated physical contact, brushing Hugo's arm or placing a hand on his back.

So much more than this, Evan was fun to be around, easy to be himself with, and that was a very dangerous proposition. Hugo had to be careful. He was frequently losing sight of the big picture. No matter how he was growing to feel about Evan, the man wanted answers and then he had to leave. That thought sobered him every time.