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"You got nothing to say,Bolillo?" Gonzalez taunted, his attention fixed on me now.

I'd known exactly what would go down tonight.

I was well acquainted with the fucked-up side of humanity.

This wasn’t my first rodeo.

I arched a brow, taking his measure and said, "Plenty." Reaching behind my back, I yanked my hoodie off and rolled my arms out. "We can talk when this is done."

A slow, predatory smile spread across his face. "Aye," Gonzalez chucked darkly. "We can talk when it is done." With that, the old prez raised a hand. "If you survive it."

"The fuck you doing?" Noah growled. When I didn’t respond, he shoved me hard in the chest. "I was handling it, dammit!"

"And now I'm handling it," I replied, tone low enough so only he could hear me, while I kept my eyes locked on the three men stalking towards me. "This is what has to happen, man. Now walk away."

"Like hell," Noah grumbled, falling into stance beside me. "You've got a goddamn death wish, Luck."

"Trust me," I growled.

I saw the pain flash in his eyes, the defiance, as he tried to figure this out.

Tilting my head to the side, I stared hard at my best friend. "Trust me."

Finally, Noah shook his head and released a growl before slowly backing away, allowing Gonzalez's men to walk him back to the truck.

Turning my attention back to the three men flocking me, I reached into the pocket clip and pulled my blade.

Smirking, I said, "It's show time, boys."

****

Chapter Eight

Lucky

"You could do well with us, Bolillo. Rise quickly. Make some real good money," Gonzalez announced as he had his men toss the body of David's henchman into the fire – along with the body of one of his own.

The other two were wounded, but nothing life threatening.

I had a point to make tonight. Not an enemy.

Taking out any more than that would have been a mistake.

I hadearnedhis respect tonight by taking out one of his men, and by sparing two of them, I'd shown him respect.

In a world as fucked up as the one we lived in, respect was all a man had.

I stood alone and motionless, watching as the fire engulfed the flesh of the men whose lives had ended prematurely at my hands, as the flames swallowed up my secrets.

My crimes.

When I didn’t respond, Gonzalez waved a hand towards the fire and said, "This man disrespected you, no?"

"Something like that."

"Will there be more?" he asked.

I took a deep drag from my smoke and exhaled a heavy sigh. "I'm counting on it."

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