And lift my head.
“That’s gonna be your last mistake, Benny,” I say.
Chapter 27-Benji
My head whips around the second I hear the waiter’s voice.
“That’s gonna be your last mistake, Benny.”
Only one asshole ever called me that.
One guy I gave a pass to on it because he was supposed to be my best fucking friend.
So yeah. The second he speaks—my world tilts.
Something in my chest recognizes him before my brain catches up.
That voice.
Familiar.
Wrong.
Impossible.
Too fucking real.
I go still.
Not frozen—never that—but controlled.
Every instinct I’ve got slams into place at once.
Assess.
Distance.
Weapon.
Threat.
My eyes lock on him.
Really lock.
And there it is.
That goddamn face I buried three years ago.
“Paul? What the?—”
The words barely make it out before the gun’s in his hand.
Up.
Steady.
Pointed straight at my chest.
