Page 135 of Charity's Redemption

Two minutes pass, then three, then four. “Fuck it.”

I put the car in reverse just as the garage door opened.

“You aren’t worth themoney I’d have to put out to clean your brains off my car.”

“How charming you are.” I shook my head. “If I’m not worth it, then why did you want me to come work for you?”

“Because you’re expendable. A little game I like to play from time to time.”

He backed away from me, keeping his gun in his lap, pointing towards me with his hand still on the trigger.

“I knew you had some weird kinks. What game got you off this time, Elias?”

He smiled and rubbed his bottom lip with his finger that had a large gold ring around it. “The game of survival. I’m quite impressed with your lawyer, though. He worked Adams out of jail fairly quickly and kept the news away from him. That’s impressive.”

“You wanted me to fail…”

The realization dawned on me the moment he mentioned Nico. Between his sabotage of John and now him practically admitting to being the anonymous caller, I had him figured out.

“So your plan all along was to what… throw obstacles in my way and gamble on whether I could still get him?”

“Precisely.”

I glared daggers, wishing it’d flay the flesh from his bones. “Well, it seems if you bet against me, you lost a lot of money.”

“Oh, I didn’t bet against you, my dear. Calling the police and killing John… those were Javier’s ideas. He bet against you.” A wicked smile spread across his lips as he glanced at Pooch in the rear-view mirror.

“Appears he’s a loser through and through then.” I smiled.

Pooch’s grip tightened on the steering wheel, making my stomach flutter with delight. I enjoyed pissing him off and couldn’t wait for a moment alone with the fucker. I’d been dreaming about it from the day I met him in the diner.

“Calm down, Pooch. We wouldn’t want you to have a coronary.” I gripped the handle on the door and found myself surprised when it opened. “This game is over, Elias. If you come near me again or any of my guys, I won’t hesitate… keep that in mind.”

I stepped out of the G-wagon and slammed the door, then took a deep breath and prayed I knew him well enough to not shoot me in the back like a coward.

The vehicle behind me crunched the debris on the side of the road as he drove away. I let the breath I’d held in release in a whoosh through puffed cheeks as my heart struck hard against my chest in one rogue beat, causing a sharp pain to penetrate my bones.

I’d won. He was gone, and if I ever saw him again, I’d hold my words true and put a bullet between his eyes.

Before I could begin my walk of… whatever it was home, another car pulled up behind me, and I froze.

I knew I’d gotten away too easily. He’d circled back, and now he’d shoot me dead. I didn’t give him enough credit, it would seem.

“Charity.”

Every muscle in my body relaxed, my shoulders sagged, my head hung, and the wide range of emotions endangered my hard exterior.

I spun around and met my father’s emerald-green gaze through the opened passenger window. He’s where I got my pretty green eyes. He’s where I got a lot of features, personality traits, and more.

“Hi, Daddy.”

“Get in, cupcake. I’ll take you home.”

I glanced around me, making sure Elias was long gone and not circling back as I feared, then opened the door and slid inside.

“What are you doing here?”

“I was running back from dropping an inmate off when I saw you getting out of Elias Hernandez’s car. Want to tell me what you’re doing with a notorious cartel boss?”

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