“You went back on your word,” I growl. “You didn’t think I would find out you started talking? Telling people about our little visit?”
“Nah! I swear I didn’t?—”
“Shut the fuck up!” I roar at him, backhanding him across the face.
His head snaps to the side like it might break from his neck. Ozzie grips him by the hair and forces his head straight. I press the barrel against his temple.
“You think this is a game?” I ask. “Did you think I was messing around?”
Instead of answering me with words, he answers with a tinkling sound. Piss trickling onto the hardwood floors.
He’s pissed himself, quaking on the ground.
“You fucking piece of shit, am I supposed to feel sorry for you? I don’t!” I continue, digging the barrel into his temple. “We’re watching you. Every moment you’re alive. Every breath you take. We know where you go, who you talk to, where your family lives.”
“Please—”
“Your mother Gina in Fort Worth. Your little brother at UT. Your Nana in that nursing home on Riverside, right?”
He breaks completely, sobbing. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Kel made me tell him! He dragged it out of me. I didn’t want to, but he kept pushing and pushing and now he’s gone and left me with all the rent and?—”
“Do I sound like I’m in the fucking mood for your sob stories, Spencer?” I shout over him, making him wince and choke on his next breath. “I’m here to make sure you get it. You reallyunderstand what’s at stake. If I find out you’ve been talking again—to anyone, about anything—I’ll kill them all myself. Slowly. Your Nana first.”
“I-I won’t! I swear on my life I won’t say nothing to nobody! Please! I’ll keep my mouth shut!”
“Good.”
I slam the butt of the gun into his face. He drops like a stone, out cold. Blood pools around his head but he’s breathing.
He’ll live once he gets his skull sewed back shut. He’ll just wish he hadn’t, always looking over his shoulder.
Ozzie grabs Spencer’s phone from the nightstand and uses the unconscious asshole’s face to unlock it. I change the passcode and pocket it. Another loose end tied up.
“Let’s go.”
We’re on our bikes two minutes later, starting our engines, about to blast off.
“I don’t usually ask questions when we need to handle business,” Ozzie says. “But why are we terrorizing college kids and threatening grandmothers? Kinda didn’t expect that outta you of all people, Silver.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
He shrugs, revs his engine, then takes off. I follow half a second later. We disappear into the night, leaving Spencer broken and terrified behind us.
The message is sent. The trail will go cold. Kel Greene is gone.
And Solana is safe.
The room is dark except for the single spotlight in the center, where I’m seated in a chair. Music pulses from somewhere, low and hypnotic, a bass line that thrums through my body.
Then I see her—a silhouette slinking in the shadows beyond the light. She’s dancing, hips rolling in perfect rhythm, every move sensual and mesmerizing.
She’s engulfed in shadows, her face obscured from view. But her body’s all curves, flowing like water as she glides toward me.
I can’t control how I respond to her. It’s an instant reaction, blood rushing south so fast I’m lightheaded and heat warming my skin up.
Suddenly, I’m deeply aware how much I want this mysterious woman. So much so I’ve never wanted anything more.
It’s beyond attraction—it’s necessity, like breathing. My cock strains against my jeans, achingly hard. I grip the chair’s armrests to keep from reaching for her.
