Page 79 of Bad for You

“What do you want?”

Folding my arms across my chest, I weigh over her request. “Your name first.”

She sighs heavily, clearly not amused by small talk. “Bria.”

“Well, it’s lovely to make your acquaintance, Bria. I won’t waste either of our time. I know you’re stealing from your dad and selling his stuff.”

When she opens her mouth, ready to argue, I hold up a hand, stopping her.

“I know that you are, so please don’t bullshit me. This will be a lot easier on us both if we’re honest with one another.”

Bria mulls over my comment before saying, “All right then, what the fuck do you want? Money? I have a lot of that, so name your price.”

“I don’t want your money.” I shake my head before adding, “And I don’t want that either.”

She looks relieved I’m not going to ask her to blow me in his filthy alley.

“Then what?”

“The crack house you were dealing at in the valley, I need you to take me there.”

“Why?” She gives me a once-over, curiosity clear because I don’t look like her typical clientele.

“The less we know about one another, the better.”

“Well, to be fair, I know jack shit about you, and you seem to know a lot about me, so I’m not telling you anything until you give me something.”

I mull over her request. It’s a fair one. “I think one of your clients is my brother.”

She waits for the punchline, but there is none.

When she realizes I’m done, she shakes her head. “I hate to break it to you, but there a lot of brothers inside that hellhole, but the person you remember is no longer there. Trust me. He checked out the moment he became a junkie.

“He would sell your own mother for his next fix.”

“She’s the reason he’s like this.”

Bria folds her arms across her chest. “No, Lennon,he’sthe reason he’s the way he is. No one forces him to sniff or inject the shit that he does. So stop trying to save someone who doesn’t want to be saved. Trust me, this will only get you hurt.”

“Gee, thanks for the pep talk, but no one asked you. So mind your fucking business.” Her attitude is pissing me off.She doesn’t know me. Or Lewis. She knows jack shit about our situation.

I’m going to save Lewis…even if he doesn’t want me to.

Bria reads my stance and shrugs. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Your brother—”

But I’m done talking.

I grip her throat and slam her body into the wall. When she tries to break free, I shove her harder, her back slamming into the bricks. I tighten my grip around her throat.

“Look, I don’t care about you. I’m not interested in what you have to say. You’re simply a means to an end. I have no issues telling your dad what I know. But hey, I’m a nice a guy and thought I would give you the benefit of the doubt and hope we could work something out.

“But you’re really starting to piss me off. So either you do as I’ve asked or we can go our separate ways right now. It’s your choice.”

Her eyes are filled with fire, and I have no doubt she’s envisioning ways of making my death look like an accident, but I don’t have time for this shit. I’m not here to make friends. I need to find Lewis and then convince Valentina that Gianna is Satan reincarnate.

Bria eventually concedes, much to her disgust. I do admire the fight in her.

Cautiously, I let her throat go, never breaking eye contact with her as a warning that if she tries any shit, I will make good on my word.

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