Page 109 of Cruel Legacy

The guy holds it steady and before I can try to come up with a reason for this turn of events; the door opens again. From the way everyone straightens up, I know I’m looking at the boss. His gaze slides around the room before settling on me. Then he does something un-boss like. He starts shaking his head and paces back and forth.

His phone is ringing. The look on his face says he’s afraid to answer it. But he does. “Sir? Yes. I’m here now.” He listens, his eyes going wide. “Yes sir. I’ll take care of it.”

He looks to me, his eyes not warm or friendly, or cold or menacing. They’re just. Resigned.

“Thea LaReaux. On behalf of the Inferno Skullz, I would like to apologize for my lieutenant’s behavior, and in accordance with our code, you may select the punishment up to and including his death.”

Everyone holds a collective breath and the guy that started this party looks at me again. “You’re kidding. Right? I tuned her up a bit. But look what she did to slim.” He points to the guy I cut.

“Slim is lucky he’s bleeding out over there. Had he been with you when this fuckery started an hour ago, he’d be in the same boat.”

“An hour?”

“That’s right. A mother fuckinghour,I’ve been calling you. An hour I’ve been hunting your ass across this city. If Jonah hadn’t spotted you rolling up, I’d still be looking for your ass.”

“Boss. I didn’t hear my phone ringing.”

“Maybe because you turned it off? But I bet you kept that second burner on so you can throw this little party.” He tsks, disapprovingly. “And didn’t even invite me.”

“I was gonna. Just as soon as I got them started.” Brick chuckles, and so does the boss. The guy with the gun is the only one who looks nervous.

“Get them started, huh?”

“That’s right, boss. Give ‘em a little X. Stretch those jaws out a bit.”

The boss nods. That’s obviously how things go around here, so he’s not surprised to hear the plan. “Right. And they were down for it?”

“Yeah.”

The boss sweeps his gaze across the room. “And the ass whipping I walked in on?”

Brick shrugs. “No biggie. Things were under control. They’re new to the game.”

“Right. One question, who put them in the game?”

That’s not the question he was expecting, he answers honestly. “We had an agreement.”

“Which was?”

I look over Brick’s shoulder at the guy with the gun, but he’s avoiding eye contact. Something is happening here. If I were in a helpful mood, I’d warn Brick to stop talking. But I’m not feeling helpful. I’m still trying to make sure LJ and I get out of here.

“I sent her picture to a number and if I didn’t get a call from you within five minutes, it was party time.”

“And then you turned your phone off?” The boss says with a laugh.

The idiot smirks, proud of his treachery. “Easiest deal I ever made, boss. We’ve never seen this bitch before, so I knew you wouldn’t be calling.”

They laugh again, and the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. I take a step closer to LJ. He’s clueless. His boss’ laugh isn’t friendly. There are deadly undertones to it. He called. And the idiot had his phone. Turned. Off.

The boss stops laughing. “I called.”

“No boss. You didn’t.”

“Check your phone.”

He pulls it out, and powers it on. It sounds like a Vegas casino with all the pings and dings going off. He shrugs again, still too stupid to realize that shit’s about to hit the fan. “Nope. No missed calls from you.”

“But there is one from a 725 area code. Isn’t it?”

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