AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A light flipped on in the corner causing me to squint. When I could finally take in the room, a pair of bright green eyes met mine. Ones belonging to a person I thought was dead. I had to force myself to look impassive. I didn’t want them to know they shocked me. But holy fuck, how was he alive? He should have been dead and off in a hole rotting away with insects crawling over his corpse.
Alan’s dark hair was coifed. A pair of skinny black jeans clung to his legs like a second skin. His silver long-sleeved shirt showed off his defined muscles. Obviously, he’d still been working out wherever he’d been hiding. Or maybe he’d been living here the whole time.
“Miss me?” Alan asked with a smile. He had other names. One he used when he worked for me. Another he used when he worked for Dexen.
Dexen brought him to my dad to have him handled. To have him killed, and yet…
“You’re alive,” was the stupid ass reply that came out of my mouth. Fortunately, I came off sounding bored.
“Very observant.” He sat on a love seat and crossed his legs. “Mal needed me breathing, and I rather like my head still attached to my body, so we struck a deal. I help him with whatever he needs and remain alive. Win-win. He was able to sneak me in here thanks to my superior technological skills. You’d think a mafia boss would have a better security system. Then again, with all the hired guns, maybe not.” Alan still had an unhinged way about him. A teetering between sanity and way off the deep end. His eyes were too big. His smile too wide. It was horror movie creepy.
I turned to Malik, who still had the gun pointed at my head. “Does my dad know or are you doing this behind his back?” I’d like to think if my dad was involved in this, we wouldn’t be in a random apartment but rather a warehouse so blood wouldn’t stain the furniture or floor. But what the fuck did I know? A man who I thought was dead was sitting in front of me.
Alan stood, drawing my gaze back to him. He snapped his fingers as he came toward me. “You’re talking to me now. Mal can wait. I have questions.”
“Okay.”
Welcome to the asylum. Jesus, I needed to get out of here. I couldn’t with a gun pointed at me. I didn’t carry when I came here. It would be two against one if I tried to attack them. I was strong and knew how to throw a punch, but neither Alan nor Malik was weak. Even if I did win, where would I go? I didn’t know who was involved in this insanity.
Alan’s smile was back. I wished it wasn’t. “Did you figure out who broke into Dexen’s home?”
“No.” But now I knew.
“It was me.” He batted his eyelashes. “I had been there before. Dexen had a party for the dancers and others who worked at the club. I noticed the cameras he had so when I went back in this time, I was able to steer clear of them. Why bother hacking the system when I could dodge the video feed? It was more challenging when he realized someone was in his home. To know at any second, he could come downstairs, and I could put a bullet in him. But Malik wanted him alive.” He rolled his eyes.
My curiosity got the better of me. “Why were you there?”
“To blackmail him, of course.” He looked at me like I was an idiot and should have come to the conclusion myself. “I wanted Dexen to be the bad guy. The world needs to see him for the asshole he truly is, but there wasn’t shit to be found. I went through his desk, the drawers, the fucking bookshelves, and didn’t find a fucking thing! I bet he keeps his secrets in his safe. If I had more time, I could have cracked it. I want him in prison, JJ! Rotting away for life!” Spit flew from his lips the louder he got. “I fled like a goddamn coward when I heard him coming. I shouldn’t have. I should have taken him down.” Alan got in my face, poked me in the forehead. This close I could smell that floral scent to the point of it nearly choking me. “Right here. I could have ended him. He was the one who wanted me dead. But here I am! Alive as fucking can be! How’s Perry?” How he switched tones so fast was unnerving. “Does he talk about me? Poor thing was probably devastated to hear I was dead. Imagine how happy he’ll be to know I’m alive.” I had to hold my scoff and sarcastic comment in.
Alan shoved me out of the way. I was so stunned by what he said, I actually stumbled before righting myself. Then his lips were on Malik’s. Kissing him like a man possessed. It was sloppy and the sound made my stomach turn. He cupped Malik’s cock through his slacks. That was when I turned away from the nightmare in front of me.
“I told you not to fucking touch me,” Malik seethed low, drawing my attention back to them. “Your hands don’t belong on me.”
Alan turned to me and smirked. “That’s right. It’s only JJ’s father whose dick you want to suck. I bet his balls are all wrinkly.” He made a fake gagging noise, which earned him a gun to his head. The one that was previously on me. I wasn’t upset by the turn of events, except the part about my dad’s dick and balls because, fuck no. I did not need the visual.
“Speak of him like that again and I will kill you,” Malik growled.
“Oh, please. You need me. If it wasn’t for me, you couldn’t have gotten into Greer’s home. You couldn’t have gotten JJ here. I’m the only one smart enough to hack this shit.” He lifted his hand and pushed the muzzle of the gun back in my direction. “It’s him you want to kill. Not me. Let’s remember why we’re here, hmmm?”
There was just enough of a lull in the craziness for me to hear someone unlocking the door, that digital beep and click from a key card. Malik pulled me in front of him, my back to his chest and pressed the gun to my temple. We faced the door when it opened, and my dad strolled in with his gun raised. The door hit the wall and stayed open.
“Let him go, Mal,” my dad said, steady as ever in hand and voice.
The gun shook against my head. “I did this for you. Do you know that?”
“Did what?”
“I wanted the flash drive. I heard you listening to the voicemail on your phone. The one you play over and over. The last one your brother sent you. He threatened you,” Malik’s voice cracked. “He said if you ever went after Perry there was a safeguard in place. That Greer and Peyton knew about it.”
“How long have you known?”
“A couple of months.”
“So that isn’t why you kept Alan alive when I told you to kill him?”
“He’s smart. I knew it was in our best interests to keep him above ground. He’s been helping me. Hacking the Lynxes’ security and whoever else he could, funneling cash into accounts we set up. We have more money than we know what to do with now. I split it with him. But you and me, we can get out of here. Far away. Just the two of us. We can have the life we were always meant to. Once we have the drive, there’s nothing holding us here. There’s no leverage against you. I can kill your rivals. Put fear into them like they’ve never seen. I have a plan to take care of it all.”
It was the first time I’d seen my dad’s eyes soften. “You know I can’t do that. I have to stay in Dremest. I have a business to run. My son is here. My family.”
