Mercedes approached the table, placing drinks in front of their respective owners. When she returned to the bar, she made sure she was still within earshot.
“That’s right, Dan and Carlos. Very helpful. Very loyal,” Dorian said. “But you weren’t very loyal, were you, Paul? You almost had me reserving a seat for you up here.” Dorian patted the booth. “Then you threw it all away.”
Paul’s face was steady, not a giveaway or tell that Mercedes could see. Though his shoulders tensed like he’d expected the verbal lashing and was holding out for the physical one.
“And you skipped town. Didn’t see you for months, unlike your friends who came right back to prove their pledge. Not a good look, Paul.”
“I’m not asking to be back where I was, I’ll do all the work you want, for no cost, just put me back on the team.”
Dorian looked amused as he turned to Yani, Antonio, and T.B., but his smile was laced with venom. He leaned in close to Paul. “Where did you go, Paul?”
Paul’s throat caught. Mercedes could practically see the words in that stifled breath.I went to the hospital with Adam. Tended to my wounded friend. Made sure the leader you thought you killed successfully faked his death.“On business in Darton.”
“Business in Darton.” Dorian chuckled, rolling his head back in a roar of laughter before he bared his teeth. “Feeling guilty for murdering your friend? Thought you could escape me, did you? Oh, Paul, I have so much power that I could easily make you shoot your own leader. Why would you ever think you could escape me?”
Hang on...
What the fuck did he just say?
Mercedes’s mind reeled back over the last few months. Brooke’s accusing look when she said the gunshot missed Adam’s heart by less than a millimeter...Dan and Carlos being sure they’d proven their loyalty enough...Paul insisting that he take Adam away...three gunshot wounds. Three gunshots that she heard that day. Three. Dan, Carlos, Paul. Three.
Holy fucking shit.
Mercedes’s eyes widened and her chest thundered, like a lightning storm raging in her ribs.
They shot him. The three of them. That’s how they were forced to prove their loyalty??
“I’m not trying to escape you. Just make up for what I’ve done. I have no regrets. Not even for killing Adam.”
Fuck.Mercedes held her hand to her heart.
“Alright. Consider yourself granted that second chance you want so badly.”
Paul’s face was still as unreadable as stone, but he just nodded and murmured thanks. Dorian waved him off with distaste and handed him a slip. “First job, go and pick up the shipment at this address.”
Paul took the paper, heading out of the club. He locked eyes with Mercedes, and though it seemed he’d been gifted a second chance, his eyes were wary. Looking like he’d been handed his own signed death sentence. Like he wasn’t sure which one of them would kill him. Her or Dorian.
She kept her ears targeted on Dorian’s conversation as Paul left.
“Are you really letting him back in, boss?” Antonio said, mouth agape.
“Absolutely not. Once he arrives at that address, he’ll be shot on sight,” Dorian said, lifting his glass to take a sip.
“No!” Mercedes shouted out from across the room.
Shit. Did she mean to make that outburst?
“Yes?” Dorian said, squeezing his glass.
Well, she was doing this now.
Mercedes dove underneath the counter of the bar, stomping right to the edge of Dorian’s booth. “You can’t do that. You can’t kill him.”
“And why shouldn’t I?”
She let tears gather at the corners of her eyes, though she held her head high. “Please.”
Dorian’s smile dropped, and with a tense voice he instructed his companions. “Give us a minute.”
