Page 151 of Dangerous Contract: Part 2

“Get down,” Raz shouted as a guard stuck his arm out the door.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Monique racing to the other side of the stairwell, out of the gunman’s line of sight. Raz slammed the door into the man’s arm once... twice... three times. The man finally dropped his weapon.

Raz opened the door and grabbed him by his throat, pulling him into their stairwell and slamming him against the stair railing. It was Chuck. The same Chuck whose family Raz had provided for when the man was struggling with drug addiction.

The same Chuck whose family left him after he relapsed and who Raz’s father had wanted to fire. The same Chuck Raz had rushed to the hospital when the man had overdosed. The same Chuck Raz had talked out of killing himself once the man realized he couldn’t get his family back.

The same Chuck Raz had been trying to help for years, but now this bastard had betrayed him. This hit harder than it should. Gripping Chuck’s hair, Raz placed Chuck’s face against the rusted railing.

“Raz,” Chuck rasped. “I...”

“Save the excuses,” Raz growled.

“I needed the money....” Chuck told him.

Money?Was that how his father convinced some of his men to betray him?Money?For money, they’d turned their backs on him. For money, they were willing to kill him!

“So, loyalty and honor can be brought these days, huh?” Raz yelled, ears still ringing due to the shots that had been fired in the stairwell. “Good to know.”

“My family...”

“Doesn’t want you near them,” Raz reminded him. “And you’ve done nothing to earn the right to be in their lives. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure your daughters go to college.”

“I’m sor...”

Raz didn’t let him get the apology out. He didn’t need any apologies from this bitch. He lifted Chuck’s head and slammed his face against the railing, knocking the air out of him and preventing him from speaking.

He heard Leo telling Monique to look away as Raz lifted the man’s head and slammed him down on the railing, again and again, hoping Monique had done as Leo asked. He didn’t want her to see him like this.

But fuck!He needed to get his hands dirty. He needed these motherfuckers to feel his pain. Blood splattered. He ignored it. He ignored the pain he felt at having to do this to someone he’d once tried to save. But he couldn’t let this slide.

He slammed Chuck’s face into the railing two more times, and then he felt the tension leave Chuck’s body. Gripping the back of his head and shirt, Raz lifted him and shoved him overthe railing, watching as his body hit the stairs below and then rolled down a few.

Money!He’d turned his back on Raz for money after everything Raz had done for him. Money was truly the root of all evil. In the end, it was also the reason his father was taking things this far.

His father wanted to be in power. Power equaled money. While Raz, on the other hand, didn’t give a damn about any of that. He cared about the people around him. And that was what made him different from his father.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked left. Monique was standing next to him. She’d ripped part of her dress off and was using it to wipe his hands. Raz swallowed. He could see it in her eyes, she hadn’t turned away like Leo told her to.

“I’m sorry,” Raz started but paused when she shook her head.

“You did what you had to do,” she told him, wiping blood from his hands.Chuck’s blood.“Now go. Before your father really gets away.”

Raz’s gaze searched hers. He didn’t see any fear in her eyes. No disgust. No judgment. She was just a woman who loved the man in front of her. In that moment, Raz realized how damn tired he was.

He was tired of all this shit. This life. This family. This organization that could turn on you for money. He just wanted to be with his Rosa. That was all he wanted. They couldn’t spend the rest of their lives dealing with shit like this. He didn’t want that for her... for them.

Monique squeezed his hand. “Go, love. We’re okay here.”

With a nod, Raz turned to Leo. “Watch over her. Do not let her get hurt.”

“I got her, boss,” Leo told him.

Raz turned and left his woman in the care of Leo and went to hunt his father down. Stepping over bodies, he exited thestairwell and stepped onto another landing. He stared up the stairs, not seeing his father.

He stood still, listening. He could still hear crying. Raz raced up the stairs and opened the stairwell door on the next level, where the cries were louder. He stepped into the hallway. There was his father and one of his guards.

Raz froze when he saw the child his father had in front of him. His young cousin, Denver Cattaneo, was being dragged down the hall by Raz’s dad. Denver’s face was streaked with tears. His clothing was ripped and stained with blood. His small hands were clutching at the old don’s arm as he tried to get away.

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