Page 120 of Riordan's Revenge

Fuck, I hated his superior voice.

I should leave. Walk right out while I had the chance. My ideas for revenge against him were meant to start stealthily. I wasn’t ready for a face-to-face attack.

Still, my mouth opened. “Hey. Nothing to say to me?”

The mayor and the other cop peered around at me.

I only had eyes for the man I unfortunately shared DNA with. I saw Everly in his features. Small details of myself.

His lip curled. “Have we met?”

“You should know exactly who I am.”

He snorted like I was hilarious. “Really? Why?”

“Aren’t I familiar?”

“You believe the mayor should know the name of every one of his citizens? This is what comes of extending my office hours to help the residents of the city. You give an inch and they take a mile. What is it? About to be evicted by your long-suffering landlord? Trouble with whichever gang you run with?” That narrow-eyed gaze flicked over me again. “Make an appointment and wait in line. Stay out of trouble, son.”

He turned back to his companions, commenting about the amount of hands that he had to shake and complaints he had to endure.

My blood boiled at his casual use of ‘son’ when that was exactly who I was. But my brain finally restarted and my sense of self-preservation rushed back in.

He would know my name. The next time he saw me, I’d make him remember.

I forced myself to move and left the police station without a backwards glance.

Outside, Struan produced what was suspiciously like a genuine smile and hauled me in for a bro hug. “What was that about in there?”

I stepped back to give Sinclair a more sedate slap to the hand. “A little father-son bonding moment.”

Both men balked.

Sinclair recovered first. “Your dad is the mayor of Deadwater?”

“Our sister aimed high.” Struan whistled.

I couldn’t summon a smile. “He’s nothing to me. Or more accurately, I’m nothing to him. I intend to change that, but not in the happy families sense.”

Sinclair’s gaze took me to pieces. We exited the police compound, barbed wire over the gate, and took to the street. Further down the road, Jamieson stood with my bike and Struan’s sports car behind. Struan jogged ahead to join him.

The huge man beside me spoke low. “If you need help in plotting the downfall of a useless parent, we’ve been there and done that. I know Cassie has told ye about McInver. We’ve also fought greater battles than him.”

I lifted my head in surprise. “You’d help?”

“According to Cassie, you’re practically family, in the happier sense. We look out for each other.”

I halted, and Sinclair did, too.

My mind was a mix of emotions, the strongest of which mirrored those of the night Arran and Shade had inducted me. Because of the conflict they had with the mayor, I hadn’t intended to ask them for assistance. Shade only wanted me to pull the punch and not kill the man. At the time, that had felt easy. I wasn’t a killer. I wanted to piss him off. Hurt him like he’d hurt my mother.Me. But the more I learned about the man, the less I believed he was fit to walk the planet.

The offer Sinclair made presented an opportunity I couldn’t ignore.

“What if Cassie breaks up with me?” I spluttered.

Seeing her family again brought those feelings right back to the fore.

Sinclair’s eyebrows formed a stern scowl. “Why would she?”

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