Page 97 of Broken Pact

Slater opens his mouth, but Fell smacks him in the chest, likely a reminder to keep his mouth shut. But that shit just won’t work for me today.

I sigh like this is all fucking inconvenient for me. But it’s quite the opposite really. I find it quite cathartic actually, the anticipation of violence simmering in my veins.

I step forward and swing the wrench into Slater’s kneecap with a sickening crunch. He howls in pain, crumpling to the ground as his leg gives out beneath him. Fell’s eyes go wide with terror and he tries to make a run for it, but Hawke clotheslines him, sending him sprawling onto the grimy pavement.

“I thought you were gonna break his hands, not his kneecaps, bro,” Hawke drawls, humor dancing in his voice.

“I was,” I say calmly, crouching down next to Slater’s writhing form. “But then I remembered that this motherfucker just stood by and watched.”

Hawke chuckles. “Seems fair to me.”

I nudge Slater’s uninjured leg with the end of the wrench. “Now, let’s try this again. What does Falcone want with my girl?”

“He told us to c-collect her rent early,” Slater stutters, his face twisted in pain.

“You shut the fuck up,” Fell snarls, lunging toward us.

Hawke shoves him back to the pavement with a hand on his chest. “Stay down, asshole.”

“What rent?”

Slater licks his lips, his wide eyes bouncing from me to Fell and back again. He shakes his head, muttering, “Fuck, man. Boss is gonna kill me.”

I crouch down in front of him. “He might. But if you don’t tell me what I want to know, I promise you, I’m going to do a helluva lot worse.”

I can’t quite tell if it’s a lie or not. The way I’m feeling right now, I think I could make good on that promise to him.

Slater pants, a thick sheen of sweat over his face. “Fuck. Fuck, okay. Boss took over for his uncle. He, uh, he raised rent on all the buildings downtown.”

“Why,” I bark out, the moving pieces starting to take shape.

Slater shakes his head, resignation slumping his shoulders and bowing his head. “Money, mostly. But Boss has a thing for your girl. Wants her for himself."

My blood runs cold at his words, a deadly calm settling over me. "What do you mean, he wants her for himself?" I ask, my voice deceptively even.

Slater swallows hard. “Just that he’s had his eye on her for a while. I don’t fucking know, man. We don’t ask questions.”

Rage boils in my veins, my vision going red at the edges.

I stand abruptly, looming over Slater’s cowering form. “Listen up, you fucking prick. You’re gonna give your boss a message from me. You tell him that Coraline Carter is under Reaper protection now. If he so much as looks in her direction again, I’ll burn his whole fucking operation to the ground with him inside it.”

Slater nods frantically, his eyes wide with terror. "Y-yes, I'll tell him. I swear."

I give him one last disgusted look before I stride over to where Fell is sprawled on the pavement, Hawke’s boot pressed firmly against his chest. Fell’s eyes are wide, defiance and fear shining brightly.

I crouch down beside him, wrench in hand. The summer sun beats down mercilessly, the heat shimmering off the dirty asphalt.

“You,” I say, my voice low, “You put your filthy hands on my girl.”

He thrusts his chin up, his gaze narrowing in challenge. “She fucking asked for it.”

My vision goes red, a white hot rage consuming me from the inside out at his words. The wrench feels like an extension of my arm as I raise it high, poised to strike.

"Wrong fucking answer, motherfucker," I snarl.

I bring the wrench down on his hand with a sickening crunch, the sound of metal meeting bone echoing off the alley walls. Fell screams, an agonized wail that reverberates through the narrow space.

I stand up with a deep exhale, trying to put a lid on the rage erupting out of me like a goddamn geyser.

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