Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91029 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91029 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Then… Then we’d have to deal with my father. But until then, I have a fucking part to play. Not that I can share that with Eve.
I clutch the metal railing in front of me, staring blankly down below at the concrete as I play her words over in my head. Her father? Why would Ben toss out some random shit like that?
An uneasy feeling prickles the back of my neck, and I turn to jog down the stairs. I’m not the only go-to guy to clean up a mess, and Pop knows my stand on that anyhow. I’ll kill any man who would pull the trigger on one of us. But I don’t ice a guy in cold blood if he doesn’t have it in him to attempt to kill one of us.
I wanted Marks dead, don’t get me wrong, but I wouldn’t have been the one to kill him.
Marks was a bitch, but not a killer. Pop would have known I’d refuse the job. But there’s another option.
Rush is propped up against the wall of the game room, tossing a coin in the air and catching it before tossing it up again.
“Marks? Was he a target?” I ask without any preamble.
The coin gets dropped to the ground when he doesn’t make a move to catch it, and he cocks his head as confusion flashes. “As in Aaron? Your girl’s pops?”
I nod, still clenching my fists.
“Hell no. Guy deserved a few broken limbs but not death. Thought he overdosed and left a suicide note and all that. When we looked into your girl’s financials, we found out his insurance didn’t pay out because it was ruled a suicide.”
I crack my neck to the side. “Ben Highland implied today that it wasn’t suicide. Actually, he did more than imply it. He told Eve we killed her father.”
He frowns while staring at nothing, as though he’s thinking it over.
“He swallowed pills?”
“According to the coroner’s report.”
“The report is legit?”
I shrug, and he runs his hand through his hair.
“It wasn’t me. I don’t end weasels; I just work them over. I only kill killers. I sure as hell don’t have the patience to watch them OD.”
Eve’s right. We have fucked her up. I’m asking one of ours if he offed her dad. If this isn’t a recipe for a shit-storm, I don’t know what is. And she… She isn’t meant for this shit. She never was.
Turning around, I stalk back out, trying to wrap my head around what I need to do versus the selfish shit I want to do.
“Where the hell are you going? Herrin isn’t going to tell you anything if he hasn’t told you already.”
“I’m not going to see Pop. I need to fuck something up that deserves it.”
Chapter 9
EVE
It’s after midnight when I hear the music downstairs start to roar. Numbly, I lift off the bed and walk to the door. I’ve spent most of the day getting all my crazy out, and I took out most of my meltdown on all of Drex’s shit. The only thing I didn’t touch was his Death Dealers things.
I’m not actually suicidal, after all.
He might not kill me, but someone would take enough offense to that to do something about it. They’re all just waiting for a reason. Hell, they’re all looking for a reason.
Walking to the door, I take a deep breath then pull it open. It’s chaos downstairs. Absolute madness. Men, women, tons of alcohol, and angry music with singers screaming words I can’t understand over the large speakers that have been moved to the center of the floor. I stare from the doorway, not stepping onto the balcony.
But I don’t have to search long before my eyes land on Drex. He’s sitting in a chair, feet propped up as he idly drinks a beer, seeming a thousand miles away as girls dance close to him, trying to seduce his attention.
It sickens me when a pang of jealousy strikes. My feelings for Drex are so fucked up and complicated that I don’t even know what’s real and what’s fabricated for the sake of survival. But I do know it’s not healthy because he will never choose me when it matters. It will cost me my life one day, and falling for him is the stupidest shit I’ve ever done.
Elise is one girl I recognize, and whistles erupt as she shimmies out of her skirt, wearing her thong and a set of chain-like necklaces designed to be a shirt. She struts directly toward Drex, turns, and drops her front half down to the ground while putting her ass right in his line of view. Then she starts dancing, moving with the music that doesn’t really have a beat.
Drex doesn’t acknowledge her. He’s staring at his beer now instead of off in space. He looks a little lost to be honest, and a lump forms in my throat when that makes me feel sympathy.