“Where is my money, Tina?” Caden demanded.
“In the recliner. Y’all can’t stay and visit? I haven’t seen my daughter in two months. Feels like longer.”
“I don’t know why you’re trying to act like you give a fuck about me,” Dru said. “Get the money so we can go.”
“Fine.” Tina walked over to the chair and grabbed the large duffel bag. Instead of putting it in Dru’s outstretched hand, shedropped it at Caden’s feet. “Did Lorenzo tell you I need to take a break?”
“Yeah, and I told him to tell you this is the end of our business together.”
“You were serious about that?”
Caden’s head slowly swiveled upward as he looked up at her. His fingers continued to unzip the bag. A bark of laughter escaped him as his head shook.
“Fucking delusional,” he muttered, not even bothering to respond. “I’m going to trust that I don’t have to count this. I’m going to trust it’s all here.”
“It is,” Tina confirmed.
“Good. Here, sweetheart.” Caden stood and handed the bag to Dru as she did the same.
Tina’s brows wrinkled as she looked from one to the other. “I don’t understand.”
“I don’t need this,” Caden said, grabbing Dru’s free hand and leading her to the door. “It was about the principle.”
“Then why can’t I keep it?” Tina asked, stomping her foot and crossing her arms over her chest like a child. “Why are you giving it to her?”
“Because you owe your daughters, and though this is nowhere near enough, it’s a start.”
The moment Caden opened the door, time slowed down before it froze completely.
There Galloway stood, grinning as if he knew he’d won.
Gun lifted, he sent two bullets into Caden. His body fell back and crumbled as his hand went to his waist. Galloway’s attempt to run away was unsuccessful. The bullets Caden sent into the back of his head stopped Galloway dead in his tracks.
“Caden!” Dru yelled as he fell on top of her.
“Shit,” Tina grumbled. “I should’ve got my money first.”
“You did this?” Dru yelled, covering the bleeding holes on Caden’s stomach and chest.
“Galloway reached out and made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. He said the day you or Caden reached out to me to let him know, and he’d give me a hundred K. Now I can’t get my money because he’s dead.”
“You are too,” Caden choked out, arm lifted weakly.
Dru’s eyes snapped shut and body jerked as he filled her mother’s chest with bullets. The sound of the gun hitting the floor was the only thing that made her return to that moment. At that point, Caden was so weak he couldn’t even keep his eyes open as blood poured from his mouth.
“No, no, no, no, no,” she whined, pulling her phone out of her pocket. “Please don’t leave me, K. I-I just got you.”
Dru yanked a throw blanket from the couch and pressed it into his wounds to try and stop the bleeding while the 9-1-1 operator asked for the location of her emergency. She rattled off the address before repeatedly calling Caden’s name. Her eyes shifted from Galloway to her mother as tears fell from her eyes and landed on Caden’s face.
This couldn’t be the end of them.
It just . . . couldn’t.
It didn’t matter that the threat had been handled, Niko and Lorenzo wanted blood. Galloway had gotten to the guard they had sitting on Tina’s house. When Galloway pulled up, Harold received a large bag of money, then he drove away. That was the second time someone on their team had betrayed Caden, and unfortunately, it ended with his attempted murder.
Niko and Lorenzo had already found and killed Harold, who’d made the mistake of going home to pack instead of immediately leaving town. Even with him, Galloway, and Tina all being dead, Nikostillwasn’t satisfied. As far as he was concerned, the city needed to bleed and feel his wrath as long as his brother was lying in that hospital bed.
Caden had lost a lot of blood, and his body had shut down. It needed to rest. He’d been going like crazy, and his doctor couldn’t tell them when he’d wake up. The prognosis was good, though, and Dr. Norfleet assured them he’d make a speedy recovery when his body had gotten enough rest.
