-Chapitre 2-

-1er novembre 2006-

'Fuck, I hate San Diego.'

I had spent an entire week trying to find a job, but when you get kicked out of the army with a note in your file saying you're insubordinate and don't know how to follow orders, your reputation is quickly tarnished and it becomes impossible to find work in law enforcement. At least, that was my case.

I lit a joint and took a long drag before exhaling all the smoke that had been trapped in my lungs; I didn't have many options left because all I knew how to do was fight and kill.

I saw only two solutions in front of me: either reinvent myself as a private bodyguard for a filthy rich guy or become a mercenary willing to do anything for money because that was the main thing I could acquire to prepare for the future.

'Huh, the future, damn, I can't even find a damn job and I'm trying to imagine how I'll fight Thanos to prevent half the universe from dying,' I thought bitterly smiling.

Phone ringing

I looked at the caller and sighed, seeing it was that fool Ryan.

"Damn it, what do you want, Ryan?" I said, annoyed by this guy's nerve.

"Dude, I'm at Savannah," said Ryan.

"And why should I care?" I said, knowing full well what he wanted.

"Nothing, but I thought if you were up for it, you could come over," he said.

"Go fuck yourself, man," I said, smiling.

"Oh, come on, you're still mad because I didn't let you crash at my place. I already explained that..."

"That you'd rather screw a whore than let your so-called brother stay at your place for a week," I said bluntly.

"Well, I tried, but in the meantime, all I can tell you is that Clarissa will be there."

My mind, still weighed down by the time wasted this week, instantly shifted from my initial goal of finding a job to focusing on the news Ryan had just given me.

Clarissa was a girl I had spent years chasing without any result; if I, as the son of a lieutenant general, was a rich kid, then she was the perfect girl par excellence.

She was not only the daughter of a billionaire who had made his fortune through the successful development of an investment fund, a senator in Congress, the granddaughter of a Supreme Court judge, but also the niece of the governor of Nebraska.

It was a family belonging to the Ultra, and although we liked each other, nothing ever happened because she was with a guy I hated more than anything since she was 14. I was practically resigning myself to the idea that she was going to marry that asshole.

"What the hell is she doing at Savannah?" I said, shocked that she would go to this club, known for its reputation for uncontrolled drug use and escorts giving blowjobs in the club's toilets.

"I don't know, I didn't really get it, but I think she broke up with Brad."

I stood up, shocked by the news, and then said, "I'll be there in an hour, no, actually, I'll be there in half an hour."

I grabbed a shirt from the wardrobe in my hotel room and quickly put on some cologne before rushing out while dialing the number for a taxi to pick me up.

'When God closes a door, He opens a window,' I thought.

---

-POV Ryan Westerling-

"Ah, Queen, we missed you," I said, hugging Clarissa.

She smiled slightly before saying, "I've been very busy."

"It's been a while since we saw you around, but coincidentally, as soon as David leaves the army, you have time for us again, huh?" I said with a sly smile.

Melissa, my girlfriend and her best friend, gave me a dark look, unlike Clarissa, who was rather surprised by the news.

"You didn't know?" I said, realizing Dave hadn't told her about his discharge from the army.

"Know what?" she asked, confused.

"Oh well, it seems he got kicked out of the army," I said.

"Yeah, that guy has balls of titanium," said Jensen, taking a long drag on his joint.

"He punched a fucking colonel," said Donald, finishing Jensen's sentence.

"He's so down that he doesn't even come to the little parties we organize. He came here specifically because I told him you were single," I said with a sly smile.

"So, girls, I see you haven't lost your manners, still talking behind people's backs?" said Dave, arriving behind us.

"Dude, we were praising you, you're a fucking legend," said Jensen.

"Hey, Dave," I said, getting up to give him a hug.

He smiled, but I could see he was still a bit mad at me.

He turned to Melissa, kissed her on the cheek, then did the same with Clarissa, whispering something in her ear.

She laughed and then nodded.

He held out his hand to her, and then they left just like that.

'What just happened?' I thought, stunned by the speed of this whole circus.