Page 57 of Hartley

“Please,” he whimpered.

Not an answer so he received a bullet to the groin. That had him screaming as blood quickly soaked the crotch of his jeans.

“How are they planning to attack us?” I had men everywhere so if they were able to slip past them to kill us, that would be a fucking miracle.

“I don’t know,” he sobbed. “They didn’t tell me.”

Placing the gun near his face, I fired, shooting off part of his ear. He wouldn’t be able to hear me, but I had no fucks left to give.

I sat the gun on the floor, then I pulled my switchblade from my pocket and opened it. Raiden let go of him a second before I stabbed him in the neck, then followed him to the ground so I was over him, in his face.

“I’m so fucking sick of you assholes thinking you can get to me and the people I love. How many of you do I have to killbefore your bosses get the goddamn message that no one comes after me and mine?”

Withdrawing the knife, I brought it down and stabbed him in his abdomen, twisting it once it was in there before removing it. Blood had hit me multiple times at this point.

“You’re fucking useless and disposable,” I seethed. “You claim loyalty and lose your life. For what? You were going to die anyway. I could have done it quickly. Now I get to watch you bleed to death for being too fucking stupid.”

I stepped back and switched the knife to my left hand so I could grab my gun again. Another bullet flew as I shot him in the mouth from the side, so it didn’t travel into his brain. That was particularly gory between the blood from the tongue and the teeth. At least I sated my need to murder.

The room was silent except for him trying to scream, which eventually quieted as he died like I said he would.

“Jesus, Jordan, you can’t go gently like you did with the guy next door, can you?” Barrett asked.

“No.”

I holstered my gun and handed Raiden my knife. He’d take care of cleaning it and would arrange for the rooms and bodies to be handled.

I peered at Barrett over my shoulder. “I don’t know what you’re complaining about. You didn’t get a drop of blood on you. I’m fucking filthy. Albert!” My voice would carry through the warehouse. With no other businesses around, there was no one to hear us. No homes, no residents. The land, the warehouse, the adjoining buildings, were all mine.

Albert appeared in the doorway. “When you’re ready, sir.”

He took my holster and gun so I could quickly change. My bloody clothes landed on the cement floor. The clothes would be burned.

“Did you find anything out?” Albert asked.

“Nothing of use.”

“At least you were able to use your gun and knife in the same session.”

“There’s always a silver lining with you, isn’t there?”

“One of us has to be optimistic.”

27

HARTLEY

“Are you sure?” I asked for the twentieth time. It could have been more. I wasn’t keeping track. All I knew was that Jordan had decided to let us talk to Lane again, this time with him present. And more guards. In a meeting room in the building that apparently had weapons stashed in it.

The elevator dinged and we stepped out. Vail was waiting for us on the third floor where the room was. I hadn’t been in it before, but Jordan said it looked like any other boring conference room, except there were cabinets in there that had weapons inside them behind panels that a fingerprint was needed to open. It was all very secret and a part of me loved it.

“I don’t do things I’m not certain of,” he said while straightening his vest. The holster he wore was visible this way with two guns in it. Raiden and Reghan were behind us. Oleander and Sheldon were waiting at the room. Rory was fetching Lane.

Lane had readily agreed to it, thrilled to get out of his apartment. When Jordan heard Barrett saw him outside, he wasn’t happy. Jordan’s goal wasn’t to necessarily keep Lane asa prisoner. Okay, so it was, but Vail had convinced him that Lane should get some fresh air. No one thought he’d be seen. Except Barrett, slick as he was, saw him. So, we didn’t know who else saw him too. Not that Lane’s father and brother could get to him here, but still. He was a liability out in the open.

Vail pushed off from the wall he was leaning against when we approached. His T-shirt clung to his muscles like a second skin. God, I wanted to lick him. When he worked in his kitchen, he got sweaty. My lusting over him like this was about to come to an end. Maybe I could get him to work out in the gym when I was home so I could see him glisten when he came upstairs to shower.

“Are you sure?” Vail asked. I couldn’t help my grin.

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