Page 154 of GAF Factor

“Knox, I know you’re there. Just talk to me!”

“You fucking saved my life in every way that counts.”

She was still yelling for me on the other end, but I couldn’t do it anymore.

“Knox, I love you!”

I hung up and tossed the phone on the seat. Ten minutes later, I pulled onto Vince’s property and parked outside his office just above the warehouse. It was that way on purpose, right above all his workers, so he could kill any of them and have it cleaned up in no time. He wanted to oversee everything within the inner workings of his organization, so I had no doubt that if he wanted me dead, he would pull the trigger himself.

I got out, buttoning my suit jacket as I prepared to walk in there and hand myself over. Whatever happened, there was nothing more I could do at this point. I was a dead man walking. I knew it, but I was never one to run from my problems. If I was lucky, I would be able to talk Vince down. Maybe he’d give me a second chance. It was unlikely, but still…

His guards stopped me outside the door and patted me down, taking the gun from my holster and the one at my ankle.

“He’s waiting for you inside.”

I nodded and strode through the door, not surprised at all when there was a gathering of them waiting for me with Vince at the center. I knew what this was. I’d seen it before. Hell, I’d been the one to pull the trigger before.

“IKE,” Vince called out, his tone harsh and angry.

Even though my heart was pounding, I headed for the center of the ring and faced Vince, never backing down. He hated weakness. “Vince.”

“Would you care to explain where you’ve been?”

“Personal business.”

“That’s it?”

I shrugged. “You don’t care for explanations. They mean nothing to you.”

He chuckled lightly. “No, they don’t. Which is why I’m surprised that you, of all people, would choose to ignore my orders for so long.”

Yeah, I’d known it was reckless. But I wouldn’t go back and change a damn thing. I stood stoically, refusing to bow down to him.

“You have nothing to say?”

“Nothing that would appease you.”

“You were one of my best men.”

Still, I said nothing. His mind was already made up. He couldn’t look weak in front of his men. I had gone AWOL,and that was something he couldn’t tolerate. He nodded to one of his men—Samuel. Fucking brute of a man with fists like sledgehammers. I knew what was coming. Fuck, it was gonna hurt.

He stood in front of me, his eyes crinkling at the corners before his fist slammed into the side of my face. My head snapped violently to the side and my whole body turned with the hit.

Shit, that fucking hurt. I shook it off and stood tall again, only for him to slam his fist into my face again, this time on the other side. Over and over, he brutalized my body, hitting me anywhere he could to inflict the most pain. I was on my hands and knees, blood dripping from my mouth as I breathed through the pain of a cracked rib. Samuel grabbed my hair and jerked my head back as Vince walked over.

“Tell me where you were.”

I winced at the movement. Each breath sent sharp pains through my chest. “Personal business.”

Samuel’s boot caught me in the chest and I crumpled to the ground, wheezing hard from the kick.

“Nobody in my organization goes off the radar for that long without working for someone else. You’re going to tell me who you’re working for.”

I would never tell him about Isla, not even if he tortured me. She would die with me because I knew what his men would do to her if they ever found out she existed.

I pushed up on all fours and then to my knees and looked him straight in the eyes. “I wasn’t working for anyone. I told you, I had personal business. Now, you can keep beating the shit out of me, but I’m not telling you a goddamn thing. And you know what I can handle, so you might as well save the time and put a fucking bullet in my head now.”

Vince smirked as he stared at me. “No, I suppose you won’t talk. Too damn stubborn for your own good. Samuel.” He nodded to him and I felt the gun pressed to the back of my head like the amateur he was.

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