AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Maybe he doesn’t want anyone stealing his throne right out from under him.
I fist the sides of my hair, my brain hurting from the constant loop of scenarios.
My other phone pings. I need to get my head on straight.
I grab my jacket, forgetting the idea of going up to see Ivy. I pocket both phones, take the gun, and head out.
It’s time to see what else Orion has for me.
I get into my car and dial a number.
“Vale here. I have a deal for you. With conditions.”
“We’re a little old to be meeting on the edge of Bushwick’s warehouses, don’t you think?” I ask. “I feel like we’re right back where we were ten years ago.”
Orion sits on top of the crates that line the warehouse shelves, eating a dark chocolate bar. He tosses the half-eaten piece on the stained cement floor, his lips twisting into a grimace. “Tastes like shit.”
“People pay good money for that, fucker.”
He shrugs. “That’s what the guy running this place said before I paid him and his crew to take the morning off.”
I narrow my eyes at him. The asshole’s even more built than when I last saw him. More tattoos cover his neck, arms, and hands. His dark hair is growing out from the buzz cut. He looks like what he is. Badass ex-Marine now ex-Black Ops with the size and mass to shatter every bone in your body without a drop of sweat dripping off his skin.
“What have you got for me? It better be fucking good because this job’s a burning shitshow.” The toxic thoughts plaguing me stay locked up tight for now. Orion may be my oldest friend, but nobody deserves a hundred percent of my trust.
“I really should fucking kill you, Merce. This game you’re playing is low, even for you.”
“Disagree,” I say, knowing exactly what he’s talking about and agreeing that he’s absolutely right. “I could go a lot lower.”
“You’re a fucking asshole,” he grumbles. “Talk to Henderson?”
“Yeah. Didn’t get much from him.” That’s not exactly true, but at this point, I don’t know how much to let go of.
Orion nods at me. “Check your email. Henderson’s not your only problem.”
I pull out my phone, scroll through some screens, and my finger freezes in mid-air. Everything goes cold. “That’s stuff he can’t possibly…” I stop, a lightbulb flashing in my brain. “Sonofabitch.Jeremy.”
“Yep. That’s a full list of all the people you’ve been contracted to kill on behalf of the Knights. People no one knows were killed. No investigations on any of the deaths. Except now it’s your name attached to each fucking job. Jeremy has you, bro. By the balls.”
He wants to clear his path…namely, me.
We stare at each other.
I rake a hand through my hair and start to pace. “If he has this, he’s got access to everything else all the other Knights have done, too.”
“The fish always stinks from the head.”
I look over at Orion, noticing lines on his face that I haven’t seen before. He’s usually impassive, unaffected. He’s seen too much to let himself give a shit. I’m not used to this expression. He looks…concerned.
He jumps off his crate and drops next to the spot where I collapse into a dusty chair. “That’s not all. They killed her, Merce.”
I let out a deep sigh. “Cara?”
He nods. “Used. Raped. Murdered. Dumped. Just found out earlier.” He takes a breath, and in a blink, he’s back to the “nothing bothers Orion” face.
“You know more.”
“I know plenty. I’ve still got deep government and off-the-radar connections. That gets me access.”
