Madness. Utter madness.
“You solve this, or you won’t live to see tomorrow,” he warns.
Tension thickens like a plume of poisonous gas.
“If I die, all your secrets are out. Dead man’s switch. You must’ve expected that.”
“It’s a risk we’ll take.”
Our gazes hold, neither of us blinking nor yielding.
He’s a much better chess player than his eldest. I guess the appledoesfall far from the tree.
“I’ll take care of them. No need to go nuclear,” I murmur.
“You have twenty-four hours or I’ll let Agron put that bullet in your head.” Edon’s voice hardens. “And the letter wasn’t what we’d hoped.I’m sure you’ve read it. We’ll keep her until she turns thirty-five. Then we’ll get what we need.”
My lighter clatters on the desk. Agron’s attention snaps to it, a flash of awareness dawning in his eyes.
Fuck. Juvenile mistake.
I force out a smile and ignore him, focusing on the father. “It’ll be messy for you. Taking an Anderson hostage for six months. You sure you want to risk that?”
“We have the mob for this work.”
Dread punches my lungs. The mob and gangs are foot soldiers for The Association. Bekim, the Deranged, and his manic eyes flash through my mind. The way he leered at Lana like she was a piece of meat.
Keeping my gaze steady, I reply, “I know them. The Andersons are stubborn. Relentless. They won’t submit. They’ll create trouble for you.”
Agron chuckles from his spot across the table. A sickening smile crests his lips. “Then we’ll send her back in pieces.”
My knuckles tighten, white around my lighter.
Over my dead body.
He stands and leans toward me, his voice a lethal whisper.
I might have underestimated him.
“I never told you,” he says, his voice filthy, “I swing both ways. And that luscious piece next door? I bet her pussy is tighter than my brother-in-law’s asshole.”
My ears ring.Swoosh. Swoosh. Swoosh.A copper tang hits my tongue.
I’ve bitten myself. Drawn blood.
Agron sits back, the haughty smirk back on his face, his eyes glinting with satisfaction.
I’ll carve them out of his skull. Stuff them down his throat. Wipe the memory of Lana from his brain. After all this is over, I’ll take my time and wrench out every morsel of pain from him.
But first, I strain a smile.
I release my grip on the lighter and force myself to calm.
Arching my brow, I shrug. “Doesn’t matter. She means nothing to me. What’s part two?”
“P-Part two?” Agron sputters, clearly confused at my abrupt change in topic.
“My Rite. I finished part one. What’s part two?”
