Page 113 of Kings Against the World

My heart thrums harder. I continue gnawing on my inner cheek to refrain from speaking.

“But you want to know what else he was up to?” he asks. “He did some digging on the beautiful and alluring FBI special agent named Zoelle Strauss. Even found her parents.”

Instant rage burns through me like a firebomb. “Stay away from them!”

Boone throws his head back and laughs. “Too late. Carlito bribed them to lure you back. Remember that phone call about the lights being cut off? They figured… how could you resist? You never have before. But it didn’t work. You were a step ahead. Already out of the state. Funny though.” He drags me closer, his voice lowering to a whisper. “You still wound up in my clutches anyway. So much for your victory.”

I clench my teeth and grit out, “So much for yours.”

“Is that a threat, sweetheart?”

“It’s a promise. You’re never going to win. I won’t let you.”

His grip crushes my arm to the point I almost wince. With his other hand, he plucks his cigarette from between his lips and blows a cloud directly in my face. It’s the second time in minutes, and this time I can’t stop the chemical smoke from making me cough.

“Too damn late, doll. Just like you were too damn late for your little sis.”

A switch flips inside me.

The rage burning inside of me vanishes, going out like a lit candle that’s been snuffed. Replacing it is a sense of eerie calm. A quiet, numbed lack of feeling as things like fear, doubt, hesitation cease to exist.

I know what I have to do. I know how this night ends.

Boone dies.

And if I have to go with him, so be it.

31

OZZIE

We march deeperinto the wooded area. Boone and his men herd us forward like cattle. We’re led straight toward a clearing far from the side of the highway where we parked. Soon the trees thin out and we come up on the meeting we’re crashing.

Silver and his group are on one side. Wheels and his guys on the other. They’re already in the middle of negotiations when we roll up.

“I think we've made all the concessions so far,” Wheels says, arms crossed, expression unreadable. “What do we get in return?”

Silver narrows his eyes, his glare like a wolf eyeing its prey. “We make no concessions on our part. This is our territory. Ludic County is ours first and foremost.”

Boone mutters under his breath, flicking his cigarette to the dirt. “Phew, doesn’t sound like negotiations are going too hot, does it? Maybe I need to step in. Lend the guys a helping hand.”

Before I can brace myself, he sticks two fingers in his mouth and lets out a sharp whistle. The sound echoes across the area. Every head turns toward us. The moment Silver and Rollinsspot Boone holding Zoe and the rest of us restrained, the entire meeting shifts. The mood in the air darkens.

I feel like I’m about to fucking explode. My pulse roars in my ears, my muscles twitch, barely contained in the grip of the bastard holding me.

Across from me, Silver’s expression clenches into something lethal. He turns toward Rollins, his voice like a crack of thunder. “This was a setup? You lured us out here to ambush us?”

Rollins stiffens, his gaze flicking between Silver’s fury and Boone’s smug grin. He reads as confused. He’s not sure what the hell’s going on.

…because he wasn’t expecting Boone to know about his meeting with Silver and the rest of us.

“What’re you doing here, Ace? This wasn’t meant for you.”

Boone throws his head back and cackles. “Oh, Wheels, buddy, you should know by now—I don’t wait for invitations. I make my own.”

I grind my teeth as I watch the bastard put on a show, puffing himself up, acting like he’s ten feet tall. If this were a dick-measuring contest, he’d feel like he won on bravado alone.

But Boone’s got it all wrong. In more ways than one. He’s too cocky for his own good. Just like he was back in Vegas during the tournament. He doesn’t realize as he showboats there’s people chomping at the bit for a chance to take him down.

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