Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 52447 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 262(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52447 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 262(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
Apparently, it’s the one thought we can all cohesively manage. “I suspect an attention grab set-up by Pocher, but I don’t know. The men are in custody, but I spoke to the police chief right after they were brought in and they’re not talking.”
I never get the chance to say more. Suddenly, two black SUVs floor it down the alley toward us from either direction. Andrew and I reach for our weapons, but several armed men jump out from behind the industrial dumpsters, and we’re surrounded. The SUVs halt and the doors open. More men pile out, and we now have a good ten guns pointed at us.
“What is this?” Andrew whispers to me.
The answer comes when a man steps out of the rear of one of the vehicles. It’s Kane’s uncle. He motions to the door. “Let’s chat, Lilah.”
“I’m not getting in that vehicle with you.”
“Either you get in, or we kill your brother. Your choice.”
“Do not get into that vehicle, Lilah,” Andrew hisses. “If you do, you won’t get back out alive.”
Chapter One
Get in the vehicle or my brother dies.
This is my ultimatum issued by Kane’s drug lord uncle, Miguel. He and about ten of his men have cornered us during our talk in the alleyway behind the building where my father is hosting a huge election event. I’ll worry about where the security is that should have blocked off the alleyway in the first place later.
Right now, Miguel and his threat are my focus.
And considering who Miguel is, and the carnage I know him to be capable of ordering, most people would assume me to be rattled. But I’m not like most people. Miguel is dangerous, of that I have no doubt, but Miguel’s men hate him, love Kane, and fear a badge, which both myself and my brother possess. He also isn’t here to kill us, or we’d be dead.
May the odds be in my favor?
They are in my favor, but my dumbass brother doesn’t seem to understand that.
“Lilah,” he warns yet again. This is time two. “Do not get in that vehicle,” he adds, referencing the huge, black SUV Miguel exited a minute ago.
Let’s Talk, Lilah, he’d said. Get in.
Fuck you very much, is my answer to that, but I don’t say the words, and with good reason. I’ve heard a lot about Miguel. He needs visual aids, and I have a few in mind.
On the other hand, the very fact that my brother thinks I’m stupid enough to get in a vehicle with Miguel tells me he’s feeling pretty stupid himself. Maybe he had a drink inside. Maybe he was just born that way.
I glance in his direction, intentionally taking my eyes off Miguel, letting Miguel know he worries me about as much as a gnat. Considering Kane believes him to be emotional and brutal, that’s not a hundred percent true, but I’m an advocate of playing the hand you’ve been given and doing so like you have a king and an ace, not a couple of twos.
“He’s a drug lord, Andrew,” I say. “You’re the chief of police and the son of the future governor. He’d much rather own you than shoot you.” Now, and only now, I offer Miguel a bored stare. “Isn’t that right, Miguel?”
Miguel’s eyes narrow sharply, a tic forming in his jaw. “I might not kill him,” he says, not even bothering to deny I’m accurate. “But I could make him bleed.” He shifts his weapon to Andrew. “Should I demonstrate?”
To Andrew’s credit—maybe he is worthy of the title “my brother” after all—he doesn’t so much as flinch. Miguel narrows his dark eyes on me. He’s a tall, good-looking man, with a swipe of gray in his dark hair. He favors Kane in looks, but that’s where the resemblance stops. One is a willing crime lord, brutal in all he does. The other, the founder of an oil company, who was born to a father who once ran the cartel, who most believe should now reign as kingpin. Kane might as well be kingpin for the frequency he is pulled into the cartel to save the lives Miguel butchers with his selfish actions.
“Since I’d enjoy watching you make a fool of yourself in front of this many witnesses,” I lean in a bit and whisper, “I think you should go for it.”
“Thank you, Lilah,” Andrew states tightly. “Don’t ask me to bury any more bodies for you.”
Miguel’s brow lifts, which I ignore. I’m an expert at ignoring stupid people even when they’re holding guns that happen to be pointed at me. It’s a skill I generally believe to be underappreciated, though on some level I think I’m cold inside about everything and everyone but Kane. It’s why I married him. He’s ironically the reason I’m not the female version of Dexter and also the reason I’m contemplating how to kill a drug lord and get away with it.