Page 111 of Tempest

I look up at the figure looming over my vehicle. “I’ve been taught not to go anywhere with strangers. Or my father, actually. Have you heard about his preference for dick? I’d rather he not sell me to one of his friends with the same fetish. I have a really good-looking cock, after all. Many have wanted it, few have succeeded.”

“Funny.” The dude grips me by the elbow and jerks me out.

Cursing, stumbling, I land against a brick wall of a chest before I skip back a few steps and straighten. A tall, olive-skinned man with black-centered eyes and salt-and-pepper hair glares down at me.

I study him as my world sits back on its axis, and I gain some clarity. “Hm. If I were into dick, you’d come in the first place.”

He’s a handsome bugger if one enjoys a large expanse of chest and long, flowing, cover model hair. Like I said, I’d be into him if I didn’t prefer to place my dick in female cavities.

I give him a mock frown. “Sadly, I don’t have an age-gap fetish.”

Those bushy brows come down. And he plows me directly in the nose.

“Ah! Fuck. Fuck!” I hop from foot to foot while clutching my nose in a weak attempt to stem the flow of blood.

“That’s for insinuating I have an underage fetish.”

I curse. “Why are so many old men trying to fuck up my face tonight?”

The man brushes his hands together in an impatient gesture. He waits for me to crack not one but two eyes open.

“I’ll give it to you straight, boy. Your father did sell you.”

An uneasy weight nestles behind my ribcage. “At least tell me how much I went for.”

“You’re a debt. Mr. Callahan got himself into a rotten pickle and was banking on the help of Daniel Stone to front him the money and get him out of it.”

“Chase’s dad? Jesus, he should’ve talked to me before he sold me.” I roll my eyes comically though my insides are churning. Dad and I, we weren’t able to talk much before he tried to burst my face open. “Listen, Chase doesn’t give a shit about my dad, but he’s loyal to me. He’ll pay you anything you want. If you’ll be so kind as to allow me the…” I feel around my uniform pockets for my phone, finding none. “Uh, where the fuck’s my phone?”

“Gone, along with your father.”

“You killed him?” My tone doesn’t come out as shocked as it probably should.

The dude regards me with an amusing slant to his lips. “He’s very much alive, now that he’s used to you to settle his debts. You’re to come with me as a new soldier for the Vultures.”

I stare at him for a few beats. Then say with a nice pop at the end, “Nope.”

“Come again?”

“Buddy, I just got out of a FUBAR situation like you wouldn’t believe. I’m not about to go into another secretly named circle jerk and do their elitist bidding. I am out.” I salute him as I turn on my heel. “Sayonara.”

Paved road spits against my ankles after a loud crack. I freeze where I stand, then slowly raise my hands.

“I tried to be nice,” the man says behind me, his voice coming closer. Something cold hits the back of my neck, and I close my eyes in defeat. The nozzle of a gun. It burns where it hits my skin due to its recent discharge.

“I felt sorry for you, boy, given how easily your father produced you when he could’ve protected his family by surrendering his own life. But like you said, elitist, circle jerk men like that aren’t the first to offer themselves up for the greater good. We are secret, yes, but we are also deadly weapons. I’m tasked to train your sorry ass into becoming a cold-hearted, emotionless killing machine, and I’d really prefer not to start by blowing off your head. Either you come with me, or you die. Your man Chase isn’t around to save you.”

I know a rock and a hard place when I see it, so I lower my arms in answer. The man makes a satisfied sound, grabs my elbow again, and twists me toward a plane waiting on the tarmac.

“I’m not sure you’d enjoy a protégée like me,” I say once I get my voice back. I will never admit that this man managed to shrivel my balls, but he sure as fuck did. “I’m poor with instruction, get easily bored, and generally prefer my plans to anyone else’s because they’re always smarter.”

“Because you come out clean?”

I grin. “Exactly.”

“Not this time, son.”

I frown at his use of a term I’ve heard too often.

---