“Remember that science fair you and Shelly took us to?” Titus asked as he came around to John’s side.
John looked up at him, confusion clouding his face before he gave a small, unsteady nod.
“I scanned the photos online,” Titus said, then dropped into the chair on the other side of Miles.
Close.
Too close.
Personal.
He’d clocked the bulge in Miles’s jacket the second he’d entered the room.
Miles stiffened as Titus leaned across him and handed the phone to John. John took it with a trembling hand.
At the same moment, Titus drove his fist into Miles’s nose and stripped the gun from his coat in one clean motion.
Blood sprayed.
“Son of a bitch!” Miles screamed, clamping both hands over his face.
Viper was already up, weapon drawn, body angled toward the doorway.
Titus’s comms crackled in his ear, voices breaking through—Memphis, Law, Rip—but he ignored them, didn’t even register what Viper was saying as he relayed orders.
He lifted Miles’s own gun up under the man’s chin, forcing his head back with it.
“I’m going to ask questions,” Titus said evenly, “and you’re going to give me answers.”
“Are you the law?” Miles asked, voice thick with blood and fear.
“No,” Titus said. “I’m worse. I don’t work for the law. I work for people who remove scum from the earth. We operate outside it.”
Miles swallowed hard.
“Is the girl upstairs your daughter?” Titus asked. “Think very carefully before you answer.” He pressed the gun tighter.
Next to them, John sat frozen, fear etched into his face—alongside something that looked dangerously close to relief.
“No,” Miles rasped. “She’s not.”
“And are you responsible for what happened last night?” Titus gave him the address to the event.
Miles hesitated—just a beat—then nodded.
“And you knew about it?” Titus asked John.
“He—” John started, then cut himself off when Miles shot him a warning glare.
“No,” Titus snapped, teeth clenched. He stood and fisted the back of Miles’s hair, yanking his head back, the gun jammed tight. The cords in Miles’s neck stood out under the strain.
“Answer me,” Titus said softly to John. “It’s okay. Trust me. I won’t let him hurt you.”
Something in his voice—steady, certain—cut through.
“He’s using my money to do bad things,” John blurted.
And then it all came out.
