Page 4 of Dark Surrender

Mr. Grant hums and sips his wine like he has all the time in the world. He offers his woman a taste from his mouth. Ever the doting mistress, she leans in and does as expected. The kiss is long and R-rated. By the time they part, my father-in-law is panting. Her lips are cherry red, but she seems far less affected than he is.

“Got a mom and a cousin who need ‘em,” Vin fills in when he should keep his trap shut.

Mr. Grant sucks his front teeth. “Two mil.”

Vin whistles as if that’s outta his price range.

The three other men at the table suddenly become more acquainted with their ladies as poker night shifts from guys’ night to business, which is a huge fuckin’ no-no in this world.

“Each,” my father-in-law tacks on.

Cursing under his breath, Vin shifts in his chair. “That’s goddamn extortion.”

“You wanted to talk business,” Harold states far too calmly, when I know he’s pissed. “Let’s talk business. Anyone else got somethin’ to add? Need a heart? Lungs?” He gestures to the men seated around the table.

Nobody says a word or even dares to breathe. Our dealer quietly rises from his seat and extends his upturned palm to Harold’s date, who nods in appreciation as the dealer draws her to her feet. With his hand at the small of her back, he escorts her to the exit, where two bouncers standing guard open the door and let them pass.

Across the dim room, my father-in-law meets my gaze, and that’s all I need to act. Vin opens his mouth, and as he does, I draw my gun from under my seat, aim it at his temple, and pull the trigger. Blood and brain matter spray, coating his date and those seated beside him as the bullet makes a clean exit, only to find its home in the concrete wall.

The women scream, and Mr. Grant orders the bouncers to collect them.

They’ve seen and heard too much.

That’s how this works.

Nobody defends them as the bouncers line them up against the wall beside the drain. With tear-streaked faces, they plead for help, but it’s useless. One by one, Harold’s henchmen shoot them in the head twice. Then they drag them by their limp arms into a pile, giving zero fucks about their dignity in death.

I numb out.

When my father-in-law starts his speech to the men left, about loyalty and respect, I tune him out.

When the night is over, I exit the bar like a zombie through the back steel door, where my driver picks me up in the back alley in a blacked-out SUV. When we pull into the underground parking garage to the penthouse I share with Penelope, I run on autopilot. In through the elevator to our floor, push a couple of buttons, and before I know it, I’m stepping into the foyer of our shiny, marble-floored hellscape that is my life. She’s asleep when I shower, and when I slide into our massive bed beside her, I rest naked on my side and stare at the bedroom door with its crystal handle and intricate carving bullshit. All I want is to break free from this invisible cage.

Once, I had a life I loved.

Now I’m more alone than I’ve ever been. In a marriage I don’t want. Being a bitch boy to a rich fuck that I don’t respect.

Why?

I don’t have the answer. I wish I did.

When my father and my wife, Kali, decided they were in love… and I get it… I truly do… I’ve done some horrible fuckin’ shit, and Kali deserves her slice of happy… It’s just… I lost myself. I don’t know who I am without her. When I knocked Abby up on a club run by accident, I panicked and brought her home with me. Sure, I knew it’d ruin any chance I had of getting back into Kali’s good graces. But what was I gonna do? Leave my kid to be raised in the world somewhere, without my protection? Fuck no. My sons have always had me. Lily was sure as hell gonna get the same respect. It’s the least I could do to take care of her mother as well, even if I never loved her. I tried. I did. To love Abby.

I’ve tried to love Penelope, too.

I just can’t.

Maybe I’m not capable of love when it isn’t tied to obsession.

Kali was an obsession.

At first, when we’d met her in that old folks’ place, when her mom was dying, I didn’t think much of her. She was more of a nuisance Dad was determined to help. Months later, she got to me. It was slow. My descent into the madness of love. I didn’t know what to do with it. How to feel. Pops wasn’t much help in that department, and I don’t have a mom. Well, I do. We all have a mom, but I don’t know her.

Sure, I cheated on my wife for my club.

Yes, it felt good at the time.

But sex is just sex.