Jack tries. I’ll give him that.
He swings wild, teeth bared like an animal, the desperation leaking off him in sweat. He doesn’t land a single hit. Not one. I dodge, block, move like he’s nothing but air.
“You’re slow,” I mutter.
He growls. Actually fucking growls.
Then lunges.
I slam my fist into his ribs, and he folds over, coughing. Still tries to come at me again, clumsy and off-balance. I let him.
His next swing is so sloppy it makes me laugh. He’s fuelled by panic, by ego. I’m fuelled by the image of her face covered in soot.
He tries to grab my neck, misses, then goes for something lower. I elbow him in the face, hear the crack of his nose. He stumbles back, but the idiot keeps coming.
He snaps.
Teeth flash.
He fucking tries to bite me.
I grab his jaw with both hands and squeeze until he screams.
“What the fuck are you, a dog?”
Blood runs down his chin. He claws at my hands, pathetic.
I push him back and let him try again.
“Come on, Jack. Let’s see what that Bentley money taught you.”
He rushes me. I duck low, drive my shoulder into his gut, and toss him into the metal wall. The sound echoes.
“You know what the problem is?” I walk over slowly, loosening my fingers, rolling my wrist. “You think money makes you untouchable.”
He’s gasping now, hand pressed to his ribs, teeth stained red.
I grab him by the collar and drag him up. “You knew it was a death trap. You didn’t care.”
I punch him hard. Once. Then twice. Blood hits the floor. “Someone almost died because of you.” Another hit and his legs buckle. “Someone I care about.”
He doesn’t get back up. He stays there, wheezing, hand trembling like he’s praying.
I walk around him slow, watching the pathetic man whine and claw at the concrete. Declan told me it was my choice. For a second, I was going to leave him breathing, let him crawl out with something to remember. Standing here now, seeing the reason she almost died, fuck mercy.
My hands wrap around his neck. He claws at my arm, screams a sound that tears at the back of my throat. I hold harder. I press harder. For a heartbeat I feel the pulse beneath my palms, and then there is nothing. The breath stops. His body goes heavy and slack. I let him drop.
“Another for the fishes,” Cillian says, voice flat, like it’s a trade done.
“Those cunts will need a diet soon with the amount we’re sending them,” Kaden adds, stepping forward and passing me my phone.
I answer.
“Thought you should know, Viviana and Autumn are in town looking for a new flat for Autumn,” Declan says.
“The fuck she is.”
Chapter Twelve
