Page 132 of Ruthless Savage

When his face goes white, she grabs his throat and places the blade against his carotid.

“We know someone has been paying you fifty K every week,” I tell him. “We know it was the Palmers.”

“Who?” His hands shake, his body growing rigid as she slowly turns to look at me, the knife still at his throat.

He’s either stupid or really doesn’t know who that is.

“Who’s been paying you?” Iseult asks, digging the knife just enough to draw a little blood.

“Oh, f-f-fuck… I—I don’t know his name. H-he just—oh my God, I’m bleeding!”

She yanks his head backward. “Tell us everything about this man. I’ll know if you’re lying.”

“Okay, okay! I…I’m in deep in gambling debts. Owe a lot of money to scary people,” he pants. “More than I can get from my father. I couldn’t let him know what a big disappointment I am. So when some guy named Ethan approached me, saying his people would pay off my debts if I volunteered to marry Eriu, I said yes. My father knew her father, so when I mentioned it to him, he thought it was a great idea, and so did her father.”

I grind my jaw. “And?”

“Ethan sent in money every week as promised, splitting up what I owed, as long as I don’t back out of the engagement. All I had to do was tell her I wanted her to be a virgin, scare her a little. They told me if I needed to go through with the wedding, I should do it. Once I did all that, they’d pay me what I owe in full.”

My pulse turns demonic in my head. I dig the barrel of my gun into his temple.

“Did you see this Ethan’s face? How old was he?”

“Please, please don’t kill me!”

“TALK!”

“I—I—I saw his face. I—I can identify him for you. I swear! Just don’t kill me!” he wails. “I fucked up!”

“Did you ever see or hear about a Francis Palmer?”

He shakes his head. “Ethan didn’t tell me anything. I knew enough not to ask questions.”

When I reach into my pocket, he shrinks back.

Removing my phone, I shove it into his face. “Need you to tell me if one of the guys on here is Ethan.”

He starts nodding frantically. “That one. He’s older now, but I recognize him.”

He points to one of the Palmer boys. His name isn’t Ethan, of course. That’s Roy Palmer. The oldest one.

I nod at Iseult, and without hesitation, her knife slashes Mason across his throat. The shock on his face comes swiftly.

He thought he would survive such a betrayal. But no one fecks with the Quinns and lives to tell about it.

And soon enough, the Palmers will learn the same lesson.

CHAPTER 31

ERIU

ONE WEEK LATER

My arm has been healing nicely, and it only throbs a little. I’ve had people ask what happened—including Karen, of course—and all I said was some lunatic attacked me in the bathroom. I mean, that is accurate.

Devlin no longer wants me at the dorm, so I have been living with him. He drives me to school and brings me back, and I’m limited to where I can go. Not that I’m at all surprised. With everything that has happened, I don’t want to wander far either.

I step into Professor Montgomery’s office, needing to tell her that I want to sign up for another advanced class she’s offering next semester. Since I no longer have to hide what I want to do from my dad, I decided to switch my major from business to creative writing.

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