Page 14 of Filthy Little Games

My brother was a good man, better than me or my father. That much I know for a fact.

So, I don’t care how long it takes. I will find every person who was responsible and make them pay.

Pressing my thumb and fingers to the bridge of my nose to dry the corners of my eyes, I mutter, “Fuck. I need to get to the funeral home and start making arrangements. Will one of you get in touch with an employee at The Vault and have them give you the footage of Thursday night? If Jasper wasn’t dead, I would’ve been suspicious of him.”

I don’t tell any of them about the mystery woman just yet. First, I want to talk to her, then see if she’ll squeal and tell me who hired her to set me up.

“It definitely wasn’t Jasper. He was shaking like a leaf when I found him and brought him down to meet with us,” Dre remarks.

Leaning against the railing, I stare at him for several moments, then say shit I probably should’ve swallowed. “Funny you should mention that you were upstairs when the shooting started.”

“I was on the fucking ground floor when that shit happened! Jasper dropped right in front of my goddamn face. I was wearing Jasper’s fucking blood!”

“And I was wearing Carmine’s!” I remind him.

“Both of you just chill for a minute.” Tristan steps in between us. “Nobody should’ve died like that, especially not Carmine or Jasper. And now we’re also stuck with bullshit charges following us around that might land our asses in prison if we start stirring shit up too much. We all smell like stale garbage and need some decent sleep in an actual bed. It’s a lot to deal with in a few days. It could’ve been anyone who set us up, but it wasn’t any of us, Creed.” He shakes his head. “I fucking hate that my goddamn face was in a pair of tits when Carmine got popped. I should’ve been there, should’ve had his back.” He turns to Dre. “We’re going to do what the boss thinks is best without bitching. I’m sure none of us will be stupid enough to get caught, especially him, when we should all assume that eyes are on us every second of the day.”

Dre gives a nod, and I try to tell my paranoia to settle the hell down. It’s the last thing I need right now.

“A ride is on the way to pick us up,” Lorenzo says as he slips his phone back into his suit pocket. “From here on out, boss, you should probably keep a few men close to watch your back.”

“I don’t want any bodyguards lurking around me.”

“What do you mean you don’t want any bodyguards after what went down?” he asks with a furrowed brow.

“I’m going to the funeral home alone. We’ll all work alone when we’re watching the families too. It’ll draw less attention.”

“Then you’ll still need a driver.”

“I’ll go on foot or take a car out myself.”

“No fucking way,” Dre huffs. “When was the last time you were even behind a steering wheel?”

“Are you insinuating that I don’t know how to fucking drive myself around my own goddamn city?”

“It’s not as easy as it looks, boss,” Tristan remarks. “And your cars aren’t exactly…discreet.”

“There seems to be some sort of misunderstanding here,” I tell them. “This isn’t a group decision. It’s mine alone. Is that clear?”

“Fine. Just…be careful,” As if sensing my distrust in him, Dre adds, “We will get revenge for Carmine.”

“I know we will,” I grit out. “We start after the funeral. And I want to know everything you three find out. No matter how small.”

5

Zara

“Hurry your fat ass up!”

“Ah, honey. We’ve got to work on your pickup lines, or you’re never going to get laid,” I coolly inform the rude ass boy standing behind me. The one pressing the muzzle of his gun to the center of my spine through my sweaty tee.

“Shut up and load the bags faster before I put you out of your misery.”

“The insults and gun pokes really are unnecessary, Eugene,” I tell the masked kid as I continue loading last year’s Christmas totes bursting with groceries into the trunk of the car.

“Don’t say my name!” he hisses.

“Right. Sorry.” I wince, since I really didn’t mean to let his name slip. “You know, if you want to speed things along, you could help me load these.”

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