Page 30 of Trident: Mayhem Makers

Shock had me stilling when, with a low growl, he slid over until he was pressed against me, suddenly full of rage. A moment later, he’d pulled out the gun that had been holstered on his belt and jammed the muzzle into my ribs, keeping it all hidden behind the table from the rest of the cafe. Why had I thoughtbeing in the back corner was a good idea? My blood ran cold as a shiver tripped down my spine as I looked him in the eye. Keeping my gaze steady, I refused to let him see the fear that was churning inside me.

“What—“

He shoved the gun harder into me, until I grunted with a wince. “Shut the fuck up and listen, you little bitch. You don’t gotta worry about nothing but doing what you’re told, understand?”

Tears pricked my eyes as I nodded.

“’Bout fucking time. No clue how Trident stands all the chatter. Now, you’re going to stick real close to me as we head out the back door. Try anything and I’ll shoot you. Gut shot is a nasty way to die, but that’s what you’ll be choosing if you pull any sorta stunt. And don’t think that because we’re in public that’ll stop me. It won’t. The SCMC hold enough power in Dallas and I’ll be long gone before any cop can make it here.”

With that, he pulled back, tucking his hand holding the gun under the leather of his cut, out of sight. Although, I didn’t need to be able to see it to know he still had it aimed my way, he wasn’t joking when he said he’d shoot me. Grabbing my handbag, I scooted across the bench seat until I could stand, then I walked with him as he’d instructed, toward the hallway that was opposite where I’d been sitting. The sign above the entrance announced that the bathrooms along with the exit to the rear parking lot were this way. Since it was an area customers were allowed to use, it meant that, unfortunately, no one even glanced our way as we headed in that direction.

Once we’d left the main cafe area and were alone in the narrow hall, he stopped bothering to hide his weapon. Instead, he kept the muzzle pressed to my lower back as I led the way toward the exit. My mind spun, trying to think of a way I could to break away from him without coming up with much. I just hopedthat once we were outside in the open, I’d get an opportunity to escape.

That hope died a fast death when I pushed through the door to see Animal had help. Shock had me stumbling to a stop when I realized who it was.

“No fucking way.”

Terrence Milani should be back in Melbourne where the bastard belonged. Well, he really should be rotting in prison for all he’d done, but since he was a well-connected arsehole, I’d accepted that him being on the other side of the planet far away from me was as good as I was going to get when it came to him.

Animal digging that gun muzzle into my spine had me wincing. “Keep moving. Don’t have all day.”

Walking toward the man I hadn’t seen since I was a toddler, rather felt like I was being led toward the devil. I’d never liked Uncle Terrence, neither had Mum, but Dad basically hero worshiped his older brother and would do any damn thing the man told him to do.

My uncle looked basically the same as I remembered; stylish, wearing tailored dress pants, shirt with no tie and the top few buttons undone, all black, including his shoes. Although, he had some silver at his temples now that hadn’t been there when I’d been a kid.

As we approached he straightened from where he’d been leaning against a big black SUV. “Well, as I live and breathe, if it isn’t my precious little niece, back from the dead.”

I clenched my fists, wanting to punch him in his smug face so badly, it was hard to resist taking a swing at him. While my dad had been the one to murder my mother, it was Uncle Terrence who was the reason I’d been placed into witness protection, not allowed to contact my brother. They’d forced me to change my name from Grace Milani to Jacie Lewis. To moveso far away from where I’d grown up that I’d never even been able to visit my mum’s grave.

“What the fuck do you want? Why all this cloak and dagger bullshit?”

He frowned with a shake of his head. “Such language, Grace. You’ll need to stop cussing like that. He won’t like it, and keeping him happy is going to be your new life’s purpose.”

I faked a nonchalance I definitely was not feeling and rolled my eyes. “All you’re gonna give me is ‘He’, really? More fucking vague bullshit. Not that it matters, because it’ll be a cold day in hell before I willingly go anywhere with you.”

Holding my glare with a raised eyebrow, he grinned, a big toothy shark’s smile that had my heart rate pounding as I wondered what the fuck he was about to do. After watching me squirm for a few moments, his expression grew serious and his focus shifted to my left. “You took her phone like I ordered you to?”

Animal grunted, “Yeah, tossed it in the trash can inside. You want me to go get it?”

Keeping my expression exactly the same, I kept my gaze on my uncle, the biggest threat here, while I wondered what Animal was playing at with his lie. Terrence frowned with a huff before shaking his head.

“No, leave it where it is, and if you want your precious pills, you need to complete the job.”

Too late I realized I should have been watching Animal, not my uncle. I managed to turn far enough to see the gun butt coming toward me, but had no time to avoid it. Pain flared like fire through me as Animal slammed the weapon against the top of my head. As I crumpled to the ground my uncle growled out an order, but I couldn’t make out any words before darkness took me.

***

Trident

Rising just after sunup, I rushed to shower then propped open my door so I’d be able to hear when Jacie, or any of the girls, came out of their rooms while I finished getting ready. I was drinking the last mouthful of my first cup of coffee for the day when my cell phone rang. Seeing it was Stone, I accepted the call, frowning when, before I had the thing to my ear, I could hear him yelling at me.

“Where the fuck are you?”

I had no clue what was going on, but the sirens I could hear in the background had me worried. “I’m at the hotel, waiting for Jacie to wake up. Why? And where the hell are you?”

“She ain’t there, brother. Some suit just snatched her from a parking lot two blocks down from the hotel.”

In seconds I was at Jacie’s room, pounding my fist on the door as I responded to Stone.

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