“He drugged her, followed her and he raped her. Then turned up late to our meeting, remember that day?” I ask, my eyes narrowed. I see the realisation on his face. “He cornered her a second time. And she defended herself.” I step right into his space now, close enough to see the panic in his eyes. “He died trying to rape her again.”
Jimmy folds, breathing fast. “Jesus, Kade, I didn’t know. If I’d known—”
“You’d what?” Diesel cuts in. “Handled it? Like you handled all the other shit you’ve brought us?”
Jimmy shuts his eyes tight, dragging a hand over his face. He looks older suddenly. Smaller. “Kade, you should’ve come to me,” he whispers. “I’d have dealt with him myself.”
My jaw ticks. “Every damn time I tried to pull away from your bullshit, Liam appeared with more demands. More pressure. Eden nearly died because of your mess.”
Jimmy opens his eyes slowly, dread sinking into every feature. “So what now?” he asks. “You’re here to what? Make things even?”
“No,” I say. “We’re here because you needed the truth.”
“And I needed you to know something too,” Diesel adds, stepping forward. “Your ties to Nathan? They’re cut.”
Jimmy looks between us like the floor is collapsing.
“Nathan doesn’t deal with you anymore,” I finish. “He deals with me.”
Pure fear flashes across his face now. The realisation that we’ve gone above him, that we’ve outgrown him, and now he’s nothing more than a loose end hits home.
Jimmy blinks hard, like he genuinely can’t compute any of it. “But it was my deal,” he mutters, his voice cracking. “I made you money. I kept the heat off you.”
I let out a humourless laugh. “You really believe that, don’t you?” His jaw ticks. “Fuck, Jimmy,” I scoff. “You were nothing but a little fish in a big pond. You think I couldn’t sort my own deals? Make my own money? You think Nathan Cole was the only man I could’ve worked with?”
He flinches like I hit him.
“I honoured that deal becauseourvice president made it,” I growl. “Because I’m a man who stands by his word. You were convenient. A middleman. A stopgap. And I let you ride that wave longer than you deserved.” I step closer, boots scraping the concrete. “But you got greedy. You pushed when you shouldn’t have. And look at you now.” I wave a hand at him, “Your brother dies, and you’ve fallen apart. One hit and the whole fucking empire collapses.” I smirk. “In this game, where we swim withsharks, you can’t letanythingfuck it up. Not grief. Not loss. Not fear. Not stupidity.”
He drops his gaze to the floor, breathing hard. “You telling me you haven’t felt it?” he whispers, before slowly raising his head, his dark eyes filling with evil. “Things slipping through your fingers? After my brother fucked your girl?” A smirk pulls at his lips. He’s goading me because he knows this is the end, and he wants it on his terms.Fuck that.
When I remain silent, he steps closer. “Of course I knew, Kade. I could smell her on him the second he got close. He hated the way she looked down on us,” he whispers.
I feel Diesel tense beside me. His hand twitches toward the grip of his gun. I hold an arm out without looking at him—a silent order.Stand down. I’ve got this.
Jimmy doesn’t notice. Or maybe he does. Maybe that’s why he keeps going.
“Said she needed a good fuck to loosen her up.” He laughs, sharp and ugly. “But from what I hear, she was pretty loose already. He was disappointed. Said even the sound of her moans wasn’t enough to get him off. And fuck did she moan.”
He pauses, waiting—begging—for a reaction. I give him nothing.
His grin widens. “She didn’t even scream when he fucked her arse. Apparently, she loved it.”
Diesel snaps.
In one violent movement, he rips his gun from the back of his jeans and slams the barrel against Jimmy’s temple. “Shut thefuckup,” he roars, shoving the metal so hard it knocks Jimmy sideways.
But Jimmy’s gaze never leaves mine.
My breathing grows shallow. The room narrows, collapsing around the pounding in my chest. I inhale slow, steady, letting the rage burn inside me.
Then I look Jimmy dead in the eye and smile. A cold, calm, final smile. The kind a man gives right before he decides exactly how someone is going to die.
Diesel freezes when he sees my expression. Slowly, he lowers the gun from Jimmy’s head. He steps back an inch, breathing hard, eyes flicking between us like he’s bracing for an explosion.
“There he is,” Jimmy mutters, though his voice isn’t as steady as before. “That’s the Kade everyone warned me about.”
I hit him so hard his head whips sideways and cracks off the wall. He drops to the ground, too slow to scramble away as I lean over him. My fists land again, and again, and again. Each punch is a blow I’ve needed to land since the day she came home broken.
