Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 109178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 546(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 546(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
“Baby, I don’t think you understand what I’m saying. I get that, but I don’t expect you to act any differently than you normally would around me. That’s not what I’m thinking or saying. I don’t expect you to spill your guts in return, if you don’t want to, either, but I do expect honesty when I ask you a direct question, and you should expect the same from me. I don’t play about my family, Nadia. My father is a fucking coward, but I love him.” He bent down, reached for his water bottle, and took a big gulp. “My sister is a traitor, but I understand her situation, and I love her and would die for her if I have to. My cousins that are in the same boat as me, I’d take a bullet for each of ’em, too.
“With me it’s about loyalty, but in the name of fairness and love. It’s about justice and standing up for what’s right. My cousins and I’ve been talkin’. Strategizing. Planning. I have a plan, and I’m going to talk to you about that tonight, too. In fact, it’s already in the works. There are certain people my grandfather doesn’t want any smoke from. He ain’t scared of nobody, but he has too many enemies. He wouldn’t expect me to tap into that, but this is exactly what I’m going to do because he doesn’t play fair, so neither can I. There’s too much at stake. My grandfather is about as evil a person as you can come across. The reason being is because he is charming.
“He can sell oil to a greaseball, and he can lie with a straight face. He’s Satan’s henchman. He’s also fucking insane, brazen, and brilliant. One of the smartest men I know. Therefore, I know goin’ in that whatever I do he’s already considered it, but it’s the way I do it that counts. We’re playin’ Chess, not Checkers. In order to fool the Devil and survive his games, you have to be taught by God. There has to be divine intervention. See, the Devil is a narcissist. Anyone he can habitually control is usually a narcissist, too. My grandfather is a supreme narcissist. The scary part is that unlike most narcs, he is keenly aware of it. That’s a weakness, and it must be exploited if you want to outlast him in this mental endurance race.”
“You seem to know him well. Like, deep inside of his mind.”
“Well, it’s not because anyone told me about this aspect of him, per se.” He shrugged. “I’ve always had a kinda of sixth sense about people… like, not psychic or nothin’ like that, but I can feel when people mean me no fuckin’ good, or they’ve got a bad vibe. It’s helped keep me alive. I can pick up on who is a snake. Who is a wolf. Who is a lamb. And who is a dog. That’s funny, actually.” He chuckled.
“What’s funny?” The woman’s eyes warmed as her lips bowed.
“I told you a while ago that my nickname from my grandfather is ‘Top Dog.’ He named all seven of us, the ones who went AWOL, after animals. He wants some of us to work in his faction of the company that he calls ‘the Zoo’.”
“The Zoo?”
“Yeah. It’s where the baddest of the bad roam within his organization. Want someone killed? He goes to the zoo. Want someone shaken down or blackmailed? He goes to the zoo. Need to collect a debt with two hundred percent interest? He goes to the zoo. Need someone knocked off? He goes to the zoo. His security team. His muscle. The guys who do the dirty work and have no qualms about it.”
“Ohhh, okay. I get it now.”
“I will say this… My grandfather can read people very well, Nadia, even as children. It’s a sick talent of his. I must’ve gotten it from him.”
“Maybe you did because this Zoo group of his seems well planned and calculated. A little scary, too.”
“Yup. He’s already got a few of my uncles in it. A few cousins, too. Anyway, here’s what’s interesting about this. My grandfather, believe it or not, in his twisted mind, is actually quite religious.”
“I believe it.” She rolled her eyes. “The holy rollers are sometimes the main ones out here causin’ havoc.”
“Yeah, sometimes that’s true. That’s not a true Christian though. That’s cosplay. Anyway, he, uh, he has inadvertently told us what he sees as our weaknesses and strengths through these nicknames.” He raised his gun. “You pick the target.”
“ …In the dick.”
He turned towards her and they locked eyes. He met her twisted smirk. Turning to his task, he shot the crotch of the target, then paused to reload—after which, he handed her his gun.
“Now, your turn. Left hand.”
She held up the gun and aimed. The left hand of the target smoked after she’d blasted it away with one clean shot. She attempted to hand him the gun back, but he pushed it back towards her. Opening a bin, he pulled out another gun, a 12 gauge.