Page 96 of The Butterfly Killer

“No.”

Miguel raised a finger. “Just wait a moment. You haven’t heard the full offer. Clean up crew. Weaponry. Cars. Cash. Women.”

Miguel showed his teeth as if that was the selling point. There was a crack in his dealer facade when he noticed nothing was peaking Roman’s interest.

He slumped. “Fine. I don’t think you know what exactly we’re giving you, kid. We’re sanctioning your ass. We’re giving you permission to do whatever the hell you want, but with supervision.”

“I don’t need your permission,” Roman said. His face was blank. “I’m playing to your rules out of respect.”

Miguel’s expression dropped. It was the same look Roman wore. Marcus felt like he was looking at two reflections that weren’t entirely the same.

“You think I would let some copy cat run me off my own field?” Miguel reached over to the man sitting next to him. He grasped the man’s hair and yanked his head back.

“Juan, would you mind telling ouramigowhat exactly is going to happen?”

Juan was shivering. Marcus wanted to look at Roman to see what he could make of the man’s current state. He couldn’t look away though. He watched with a sort of hypnosis as Miguel placed his hand on the nape of Juan’s neck.

Juan opened his mouth. He didn’t say anything. There was only a wheeze that came from the back of his throat and when Marcus looked inside Juan’s mouth, he saw why.

His tongue was cut out.

“Jesus!” Marcus turned away though he’d seen worse. It was the surprise that had him saying it. If he knew Miguel was going to get a sick thrill at his reaction, he would have bit his tongue.

Marcus chastised himself. Not the best choice of words right now.

Roman stared blankly as his informant who definitely had gotten caught. Miguel knew Juan had been feeding Roman information. Though, Marcus didn’t know why Miguel was only pulling out his trump card now. He didn’t know why he would pretend to offer Roman a deal when he knew Roman was already planning something.

Marcus took a steady breath and looked at Miguel again. He looked calm, but there was just a little too much tightness in his smile for it to be real. He was bluffing. He didn’t know why Roman had been getting the information from Juan. He just knew it had happened. Perhaps he didn’t even know for sure if Juan had double crossed him. He might just be going off a hunch.

Roman had to do the same. He had to bluff so he didn’t dig themselves deeper into this mess.

Themselves. Them.Was Marcus now thinking of him and Roman as ateam?

“So, you’ve figured us out.” Roman said it so casually that he almost convinced Marcus that this was normal.

Miguel laughed after a second. “You’re interesting.”

He clapped Juan harshly on the back of the head. The man grabbed the table, closing his mouth, and looked like he was going to be sick.

“By now, my man is behind the wheel of your car. My car is parked around the corner. You’re going to walk out there without a fuss.”

Roman sipped his tea. He savored it. Marcus watched as his Adam’s apple bobbed. “This is quite a plan. Did you know all along or did you guess?”

Miguel didn’t take it as an insult. He shrugged. “I like to work adventurously. Where’s the fun if you know every detail?”

He grinned with his teeth. It was unsettling.

“And if we don’t follow your plan?”

Marcus shouldn’t have gotten hung up on the “we”. It seemed he wasn’t the only one thinking of them as a couple.

Miguel pursed his lips. “Messy but doable. I want you alive and the pig too.”

Miguel’s eyes flicked to Marcus. “He’s more valuable alive.”

Marcus thought about the pistol tucked into the back of Roman’s pants.

Would Roman use it? WouldMarcususe it?

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