Page 164 of Vile Boys

I slowly back down again even though I hate listening to anyone, let alone him. But if I don’t … he’ll make me.

“Our family was built on trust,” he says.

“Lies.”

“And I will not have you disobey me.”

“They’re drug-dealing murderers.”

“So are we!” Kai interrupts. “Don’t you understand? This is why he picked me and not you. Killing is part of the deal. That’s the price we pay for the life we live.”

“For you,” I say, folding my arms. “And if that’s the price you want to pay, you can keep all of it. I don’t fucking want it.”

My father sucks in a breath.

“Kai. Leave. I want to talk to Ares alone.”

Two yearsago

“Slit his throat.”

I stare at the man between my feet, cowering in fear and murmuring the words of God.

My father’s powerful gaze bares my soul.

“Mi niño, we don’t have all night. He needs to die. Now.”

I push the knife into his neck.

“Please. Don’t do this,” the man begs. “I have a wife. A child. Please.”

A few roses from the bushel he was carrying on his way out of the building scatter across the pavement, one releasing a petal which flies off in the wind.

“Ares …” My father’s voice echoes through the streets. “Time is running out.”

“Why him?” I ask.

“He ruined a great evening with poor customer service for one of my associates,” my father replies. “They were not happy, and neither am I because now I’m the one who disappointed my associate … andhewill pay the price.”

Right.

One bad review from the wrong person will be the death of the man beneath me.

“Please, don’t kill me,” the man begs, tugging at the conscience I didn’t think I’d still have. “I haven’t done anything.”

He’s right.

He’s an innocent man who chose the wrong day to cross our path.

Is this the fate he deserves?

“Do it,” my father rasps.

“Told you he couldn’t do it,” Kai says.

“Shut up,” I quip.

“You know what’s at stake here, Ares,” my father says. “My legacy could be yours … all you have to do is take it by taking his life.”

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