Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 78487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
The house looks like it used to be nice, but years of neglect have made it shabby. Yellow nicotine stains crawl up the walls, and dust motes dance in the hazy light.
Jack points at the faded couch for them to sit while I look around. The house stinks of cigarette smoke and stale beer. Behind me, bone China knickknacks clutter the alabaster mantelpiece.
“What the fuck do you want?” The fat ginger asks.
Jack gives him a searing look. “I’m here to offer you a warning. Now, I don’t offer warnings, usually I just shoot people. But Rory means something to the Kings of Mayhem, so out of respect for her, I’m here offering you a get-out-of-jail card, so you both keep your trap holes closed until I say you can open them again. Got it?”
The two pieces of shit glance at each other and then nod.
“The hit you put on Ares, it ends right now. No more talk about revenge. No more crying about past deeds, and I don’t know… all the shit you two like to stir up. It stops right now. I’m a busy man, and I have bigger fish to fucking fry than having to deal with two deadbeat wannabe gangsters, so don’t make me come back here and kick your damn asses. Because I will. And I promise you, I won’t be as friendly as I am being now.”
Fat Ginger looks like he’s about to burst.
“Speak,” Jack drawls.
“You think you can come in here and make demands?”
“I’m doing it, aren’t I?”
“Who the hell do you think you are?”
“Okay, I’m getting bored.” Jack sighs wearily. “So here it is, loud and clear for all the dumb fucks in the room. Stay away from Tennessee, call off any assassination attempts, and I won’t burn your fucking world to the ground.” He issues his warning with a coldness that could freeze a raging inferno. “I don’t care who you think you are or what you think you can do. Whatever it is, we’ll do it bigger and better than you.”
Despite looking like he’s about to shit his pants, Connor scoffs. “So you say.”
Jack doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t move. Just keeps his blazing stare on the frightened man. “Do you really want to find out?” He pauses, his eyes sharp. By the look on Connor’s face, he doesn’t. “You make a move on any of my brothers or me, and it will be considered an act of war.”
I remove an envelope from my cut and throw it onto the cluttered coffee table. Inside is the money from every one of my fights.
Ariana stares at it like it’s lost treasure. Her mean eyes light up, and she licks her thin lips. “What is that?”
“Ten thousand dollars.”
“We don’t want your blood money,” the fat ginger says.
But Ariana looks at him like he’s just told her perms are no longer in fashion. “Shut up, Connor.”
I hate both of these people.
“This isn’t blood money,” I say. “This is a one-time offer. A generous one. You stay out of Rory’s life, and you stay out of mine.”
“Why the hell would you hand over all this cash for that little—” She stops, her eyes blinking a few times. “Wait, you mean to tell me you and Rory…” Ariana laughs coldly and starts slow clapping. “That little slut.”
With one swipe of my arm, I clear the mantelpiece behind me of all the bone China knickknacks. They crash to the floor and smash to smithereens. Ariana screams, and I have to resist screaming back.
“Call her a slut again, and I’ll do that to the rest of this cesspit,” I growl.
Ariana glares at me, her mouth gaping while the fat ginger seethes on the couch. “You asshole. You and that slut deserve one another.”
I kick over a porcelain statue of Aphrodite that was holding a dead plant.
If I had to live in this shit hole, I’d shrivel up and die too.
Porcelain scatters across the floor.
“So far, you’re not very good at obeying the rules.”
Ariana snaps her cruel cold lips shut.
“Well, I guess that’s our cue to leave. Thanks for the hospitality.” Jack gives them a cold smile and holds up the gun. “And for my new Glock.”
We walk away without another word and once outside I suck in a deep breath of fresh air. No wonder Rory came looking for me. Those people are vile fucking creatures.
Before we head to the airport, we stop at the harbor, and Jack throws the gun into the water.
“Feel better?” he asks as we climb back in the car.
“We should’ve just killed them,” I say.
He smiles as he starts the engine. “Now you fucking tell me.”
It would’ve been easy for me to put bullets in their skulls, especially knowing how Ariana turned a blind eye to her husband raping Rory. But logistically, it would be a nightmare and more trouble than it was worth.