“How’d you find me, Vex?” I demand.
Raoul’s head snaps toward me, and Effa stiffens.
Vex grins wider and shifts the bat between his hands like it weighs nothing, like he’s Negan carryingLucillefromThe Walking Dead, and right now I feel like I’ve stepped straight into the wrong episode, the kind where someone doesn’t make it to the end credits.
“You thinkSportsharkis just an app?” he says. “It tracks location, messages, calls… you’ve been tagged the entire time,Mercs. I’ve known where you are every second since you signed up.”
Effa slowly pulls away from me, and her brows draw together.
That look…
It’s full of confusion, hurt, and above all, betrayal.
And I feel like I’ve just swallowed Negan’s bat, barbed wire and all.
“I owe you,” I say quickly. “So let them go. This is between you and me.”
Effa gasps. “No.”
Vex laughs, loud and delighted. “This is beautiful,” he mocks. “The secret coming out in real time, and she still wants to stand by you.” He shakes his head. “Sweet, really.”
My muscles lock tight as he steps closer, with his men following close behind.
I turn to Raoul and shove Effa toward him. “Get her out of here.”
She stumbles and cries out as Raoul grabs her.
“Kaden, no!”
“What about you?” Raoul demands.
“Go!” I roar. “Now!”
Raoul doesn’t hesitate, and he hoists Effa over his shoulder then bolts down the alley the way we came. Her screams echo, my name ripping through the night.
Vex’s men don’t move to stop them.
They don’t need to.
This was always aboutme.
So I straighten.
My heart pounds so hard I’m sure they can hear it.
Vex steps right in front of me, bat resting casually on his shoulder.
I glance at it and then back at his face. He sighs and clicks his tongue to the roof of his mouth while he shakes his head.“You know, son, this all could have been dealt with. Easily. You have a millionaire girlfriend. She could have paid off your debt. We could have wiped the slate clean. Ended yourSportsharkmembership and gone our separate ways. But no. You couldn’t find a way to pay your debt on time. News flash, Mercs. Luck is not on your side, son. And now… now you have to be taught a fucking lesson. Now, you need to be shown that you need to pay your debts on time.”
He nods his head, and the two guys sans bats step up beside me. Clenching my jaw tight, I take a deep breath to ready myself, but before I can prepare for anything, a fist slams into the back of my head, the metal of the brass knuckles connecting with my skull and cracking open my skin before I drop to my knees.
My vision instantly goes blurry, as a sharp pain rips through my skull. I groan, placing my hands on the ground, taking a second to breathe, but before I can catch my breath, another slam of brass knuckles jams into my right cheek, making me fall over onto my left side. I groan and spit out a line of blood with a cough.
The pain searing through my head is harsh, and I open my eyes just in time to see a baseball bat slamming down into my ribcage. I have no time to react because the bat hits hard and fast. The unmistakable sound echoes through the alley, and I let out a loud gasp-filled moan rolling onto my stomach. Another hit straight in the middle of my back.
I bring my legs up as another man comes in and slams his bat down on my thigh. I yell out in pain, rolling onto my back as a wave of bats pounds into my stomach, one after the other. I don’t have time to move, to breathe, to react, to think, as the strikes keep coming.
My body’s on fire, and I do my best to scrunch into a ball for protection, but I can’t seem to move anything. I can’t protect myself or even get a fucking punch in, as another harder jablands in the middle of my face, the knuckles slamming into my nose. The unmistakable sound of crunching follows as a red-hot pain engulfs my head.
