Page 130 of Fracture

“Mr Michael Gray, I assume?” I ask, my eyes flickering down to Dylan as he snatches up the gun before getting to his feet. “Looks like you picked the wrong family to work for, my friend.”

The bastard smirks at me, hands still raised. “You’re quick, I’ll give you that. But I was warned about that. Thugs like you, you’re good at fighting, but you’re dumb.”

“Dumb?” I snort. “You’re the one with two guns pointed at you right now.”

He laughs, a fucking chilling sound. “And if it had been me, I’d have used one by now.”

He moves so quickly I don’t even see it coming. One second, the gun is in my hands, the next, I’m disarmed, a fist slamming into my face, the gun gone from my hands, and a shot ringing in my ears.

CHAPTER 31

DYLAN

This asshole’sspeed catches me by surprise.

I fire on sheer instinct, aiming for his shoulder because I don’t want to hit Levi. At this range, the bullet could go straight through this fucker.

Blood spurts from Levi’s nose, and he goes down as my bullet tears into Michael Gray’s shoulder.

But this fucker barely flinches, instead turning tail on me with a roar. I don’t have time to fire again as he lunges at me, throwing me to the ground. The gun goes off, but the bullet strikes the ceiling uselessly.

He’s on top of me, the gun pointed straight at my face, but before he can fire, he’s torn backwards as Levi locks his hands around his neck. He slams him down to the ground, landing two hard punches in the guy’s throat.

“Fucking fucker!” Levi bellows, grabbing him by the collar and slamming him into the ground, then striking him in the jaw two, three, four times. “Who’s the fucking thug now?”

A bloody Oswald seems to rise from nowhere, charging at Levi, armed pathetically with a steak knife, and I fire at him over Levi’s head. The bullet lands square in the old man’s forehead, and he hits the ground immediately.

Gloria starts screaming, launching from her chair and trying to run from the room.

“Oh, no you don’t.” I get to my feet and give chase, gaining on her easily. I grab the bitch’s hair and drag her backwards as she shrieks and flails blindly at my arm. I slam her down on to the table, holding the gun to the base of her skull. “Stay the fuck down.”

“No, no please,” she whimpers, hands shaking against the gleaming tabletop. “Dylan, oh my god, please, please don’t kill me.”

“I’m not going to kill you.” I look over at Levi, who is still holding Michael down against the floor. His shoulders are heaving, blood trickling from his nose, over his lips. “Your son wants that honor.”

Gloria begins to cry again, holding her hands out beside her head. “Please, please don’t kill me. I’m sorry. I’ll admit to everything. I’ll say anything. I’ll do anything. Just please, please don’t kill me.”

“You think that’s good enough for us?” I press the barrel of the gun into her flesh. “You think we’ll be happy with that? You’re fucking wrong.” I lower my head and she flinches as my breath washes over her hair. “I don’t negotiate with psychopaths.”

“You’re the psychopath!” She bucks underneath me, casting a venomous glance over her shoulder and crying out as I slam her head into the table.

Levi rises to his feet, eyes on mine as he wipes the blood from his face. He grits his teeth and looks down at Michael, before landing a kick in the side of the man’s head that has him going still instantly. Out cold.

“Fucking asshole,” he snarls, before looking back at me and sidling slowly across the room. “Well, mother, looks like this is it, huh?”

Gloria wails, hands shaking, legs threatening to give out underneath her at any moment.

“Levi, no, baby boy, no, you can’t do this!” She collapses on the table, sobbing and clawing at her face. “You can’t, you can’t, please!Please!”

Levi moves to my side, holding out his hand. I hand the gun to him, and he holds it for a moment before putting it down to his mother’s head. She’s blubbering now, pleading and whimpering as she realizes that she’s taking her last few breaths.

“You drugged Stella?” He asks, his voice cold and calm.

Gloria doesn’t respond, just continues to plead and cry.

“You drugged her? You put her in the hospital? You did everything you could to hurt her?” Levi shakes his head, running his tongue over his bloody teeth. “And now you lie here, begging not to die?”

His finger moves to the trigger, and he tilts his head.

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