Page 31 of Ready to Cash Out

That couldn’t be true.

Could it?

Why would Boss Cold murder their father?

Why wouldn’t Trev’s mother have told him any of this? The idea of her lying about Boris’s death didn’t sit well with Trev, and he hated not knowing what was real or not. He didn’t want to believe his mother had been this dishonest, and he sure as hell didn’t trust Jupiter to tell him the truth.

Then again, if truth was always more frightening than fiction, it made sense for Jupiter to be honest if for no other reason than to rattle Trev.

“Bullshit,” Trev spat. “Why?”

“You’ll have to ask him when you meet him,” Jupiter said smugly, clearly pleased he’d upset Trev. “But he sure did. Killed him in cold blood. That brother of yours is a real classy fellow.”

“Half-brother.”

The door opened, and Sal and Emil walked back in. Emil was smiling, but Sal looked grim.

Trev was starting to suspect that was just Sal’s face.

“We got it,” Sal said. “We’re good.”

“We’re fucking golden!” Emil gushed. “We just got the test back! It’s fuckin’ him.”

“Excellent.” Jupiter smiled. “And now?”

“We move to the next part of the plan,” Sal replied. “Waitin’. Stay put. Need anything?”

“A glass of a nice, dry merlot,” Jupiter said wistfully.

Emil laughed. “Fuckin’ dumbass. There’s some beer in the fridge and it’s cold.”

“We’ll bring you some stuff tomorrow,” Sal said. “Our contact for the pipeline will be coming through too.”

“Coming here?” Jupiter raised his brow.

“They say he’s a real hands-on kinda guy. Wants to see the setup in person. Dunno. We ain’t never met this fuck before.”

“All right. We’ll be here.”

“Both of you,” Sal said, and it sounded like a warning. “Night.”

“Night.” Jupiter tipped his head.

“Good night! Sweet dreams!” Trev waved. “I hope you both die in a terrible, fiery death!”

Sal didn’t say anything, but Emil gave Trev a nasty glare as they left.

Jupiter stood to lock the door behind them. He tilted his head, popping his neck, then stretched his arms and returned to the chair. He leaned back, crossing his arms and getting comfortable. “Let me know when you’re ready for me to turn the light off.”

Trev waited a few seconds to make sure Jupiter was perfectly cozy before saying, “Right about now actually would be great. I’m really tired.”

Jupiter narrowed his eyes in annoyance, but he got to his feet again.

“Oh, wait!” Trev snapped his fingers. “I just decided I want to stay up a little longer. You can leave it on.”

“Cute.” Jupiter flicked the switch. “Good night.”

The room was pitch black now. There wasn’t even any light coming through from under the door.

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