Changing Affection

Chapter Twenty

Jearon stared at Ezra, surprised. "How did you get out?"

Ezra smirked as his arm tightened around Aubrey's waist. "I still have friends here, Jearon. Not everyone is on your side."

Jearon glared at him and pulled his fist out of Ezra's hand. He stepped away from them and looked around. His eyes gleamed with evil. "You're treading on the thin ground right now, Ezra." He turned to the rest of the men still standing in a circle around them. "Whoever is still friends with this fucking traitor will be punished greatly. This man is a traitor to our gang. To our family! He deserves to be dead." He paused and looked back at Ezra and Aubrey. "Who wants to see this man dead?"

More men than Ezra liked to see raised their hands quickly. Some gave him apologetic looks, but he understood. He may be doing the same thing if he was in their position. He gently pushed Aubrey behind him. She grabbed onto his arm tightly. She was acting brave, but he knew that she was scared, which made his blood boil. He was going to take his chance to make Jearon pay. 

"Let's make this fun, Jearon," Ezra started to challenge him.

Jearon sized him up. "What are you talking about?"

"Ezra?" Aubrey squeaked from behind him. The grip on his arm tightened even more. She hasn't seen this side of him and he couldn't calm himself down now. His woman was threatened. He was going to make sure that anyone who has touched her or caused her any kind of harm would suffer greatly. 

Ezra took a deep breath and puffed out his chest. "Since we both want Aubrey, I'll challenge you." He was certain that Jearon wouldn't take the challenge. He was too scared to do his own dirty work that he wouldn't agree to challenge him.

Jearon smiled slowly. "What kind of challenge are you thinking about traitor?"

"I'm challenging you to the position of the gang leader," he told him slowly. "Whoever wins gets both the gang and Aubrey as his bride." He knew this would also give Aubrey's father and friends enough time to get here.

Aubrey looked up at Ezra quickly. "Ezra!" She moved closer to him.

Jearon smirked. "To the death?"

Ezra nodded. "Of course. I can't have you kidnapping my wife if I keep you alive." He smirked at Jearon and held out his hand. "What do you say, Jearon? Would you take that risk?"

Jearon looked down and stared at his hand.

"Are you afraid, Jearon?" Ezra sneered. "You know I'll win."

Jearon snapped up his head and glared at him. He quickly took Ezra's outstretched hand, shaking it before turning around and walking towards the edge of the group. 

"No guns," Ezra called after him. He couldn't help but smile proudly at himself. He's gotten under Jearon's skin, and he knew that he would win this fight. He would always protect Aubrey and he knew that this was the only way to make sure that she was safe. She wasn't going to be safe until Jearon was dead.

Jearon stopped quickly and turned around. "Why no guns?"

"A scared man can pull a trigger of a gun but will always refuse to fight with his hands. A brave man will first fight with his hands and not turn to a gun for their first instinct." Ezra paused and reached behind him to grab Aubrey's hand. He squeezed it once before continuing. "Which man will you be Jearon? A scared man, or a coward?"

Jearon bit his lip as he thought about it. Ezra knew he was scared.

"He's scared," Aubrey whispered behind Ezra.

He nodded. "I know."

"Are you?"

Ezra turned his head to the side and gave her a small smile. "I'm only scared of losing you." He squeezed her hand again before turning his head back towards Jearon.

He felt Aubrey lean her head against his back. He didn't want to fight Jearon, but he knew that this was the only way to protect her. He would always lay down his life for her safety. Even if he did die, he was going to make sure that Jearon was dead first before he took his last breath. He needed to win.

Jearon snapped his head back up. "I'm a brave man, Ezra. If I wasn't, I wouldn't have been able to beat you up as badly as I did."

Ezra hummed in response. "If I remember correctly, you never really touched me. Yes, you punched me a couple of times, but I remember your goons punching the shit out of me and knocking me out repeatedly. You never did anything. You only watched. Just like you've been doing ever since you became boss." He paused. "What happened to you, Jearon? You used to always do things by yourself. You never let anyone take your job away from you. If you didn't know how to do something, you always figured it out before anyone else could have. Ever since you became boss of this gang, you've done nothing but sit on your ass and watch everyone do your work for you. I'm positive that you haven't even pulled a trigger of a gun since you got the position."

"That's where you're wrong!" Jearon interrupted him. He started to walk towards Ezra but stopped quickly. "You know as well as I do that, I have to stay alive to continue being boss. I can't do any of my dirty work because I'm-"

"-Scared?"

"No!" Jearon raised his hands up to his head and rubbed his temples. "Are we going to fight or not?"

"That depends."

"On what?"

Ezra smirked. "Are you a brave man, or a coward?"

"A brave man."