Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 102335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
“If we kill him, it’s not going to take care—” My hand flies to the handle of the knife that’s only partially sunk into his neck. I twist slowly as his screams turn to gargling whispers.
“Repeat yourself, but this time leave a name.” I keep twisting the blade.
“I-I don’t know! Ok—” I lean down this time so I’m eye level with him. His eyes are blue, but not like Poppy’s. They’re more like the color of the bottom of an old pool floor after it has been left all winter.
“Do I look like the kind of man who doesn’t know how to make your final minutes in this world feel like hours?” I lean in closer. “I can think of forty-two ways that I could kill you, and none of them are quick.” My thumb flies to the inside of his right eye and I sink it into the socket, watching as blood spills over my hand. “Now. Tell me a name, and I’ll make sure I won’t pay your family a visit.”
“We don’t touch family,” Tony whispers from behind. “You gonna tell him we don’t touch family?”
Victor doesn’t miss. “He seems busy. Are you?”
“Shit, man…” Tony mutters, stepping back.
“Okay—shit!” His bottom lip trembles. “I don’t know a name! H-he had a tattoo on his face. A cross. He drove an expensive car. I swear that’s all I know!”
I shove him away, pulling out my gun from my holster and unloading three rounds into his skull then wiping the tip of my gun against my suit. “We need to figure out who the fuck these motherfuckers are, right after I go babysit your kid.” I turn, waiting for both Victor and Tony to follow me to the waiting black SUV. “What?”
“Nope—” Tony, who is apparently Ruby’s favorite uncle, shakes his head, rubbing his slightly overweight belly. “You are a real fucking problem.”
Victor laughs, patting him on the back while making his way to me. He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a tiny tin, popping it open and offering me a cigar. “Proud of you, son.”
I didn’t do it for his pride.
I didn’t think.
Tony gets into the car that’s parked behind the Range Rover, just as Victor leans in, handing me the keys. “I want you at that lake house tonight. Watch our girl.” I wrap my fingers around them, watching as he heads to his parked Maserati. Rounding the SUV, I put the car into reverse and do just that…
Go watch my girl.
But not because it’s for him… or even me.
I slow the SUV to a stop, pulling up the emergency brake when it won’t stop rolling down the deep-set driveway. This is hardly the average lake house, but I don’t know what I was expecting since I know the kind of money this family swims in.
I take the keys out of my pocket and cut the headlights, sitting there in silence. I need it. The silence between all of the noise that I’d walked. Even thinking back to my initiation, I should have known better. Known that there was more to why Victor took Poppy and me in. That kind of charity just doesn’t exist in our world. Everything is a transaction. The worst of it all is that I can’t tell fucking anyone what was said to me that night. The night I walked through the chapel’s doors before cutting myself open and bleeding over an Angel card.
I don’t think I’ll ever be able to tell anyone. No one except for those who were present, that is…
I shove the door open, my shoes hitting the soft blades of grass. There’s a large tree planted in the center of a wraparound driveway that directs you around a lake house constructed of glass walls and deep stained wood. There are three floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the front, with a ceiling-less porch that hugs around the entire box style building.
I walk straight past one of the soldiers who is standing at the front door. He bows his head and I offer him a tight smile. I don’t recognize him, but then that’s not uncommon.
His hand reaches for the gold handle, but I shake my head. “No. I’ll go around.” It’s a full moon, so it wasn’t as dark as it otherwise usually would be. A bright glow bounces off the glass walls, which I quickly realize aren’t glass but mirrors. The music becomes louder as I take a left turn to the side of the house. There’s a large area of grass, but behind that is an abundance of trees. When I hit the final corner, I pause in my footsteps, taking in the scene.
Fuck me. It’s nothing like the parties I went to back home in Detroit. The lake is down below, with a long jetty that stretches out into a dark bed of water. In the far distance, you can see other lights from houses on the other side, but it is secluded enough to know that no one can see you.