Page 117 of Perilous

“Listen, I want you to know that I love my family,” Holom says. “There’s just something about it all. The thrill. The success. I wanted to build something on my own. She helped me.”

“She?”

“Allegra,” Holom says. “Annika’s mother.”

I nod.

“She’s a genius. She’s the real financial wizard. I was always just a good salesman. That’s why we worked so well together. You know, I was her boss. I’m ten years older than her. I can’t believe I’m telling you all of this.”

“None of it matters now,” I tell Holom. “Those two cunts are tied up and drugged. Mother and daughter duo. Right?”

Holom looks at me and starts to smile big. Very big. You can call me evil and a psycho, but I’m looking into the eyes of something worse.

My foot moves to the brake pedal.

I tell himself not to attack him.

Don’t do it… don’t…

I growl and throw my entire head toward Holom’s face. I hit him in the left eye and feel bones crunching.

He jumps out of his seat, hits his head on the roof of the van, and then falls into the dashboard. He holds his face, screaming in pain.

That’s when another black van appears, along with two sports cars. I’ve jumped the gun on things, but I can’t help it.

Men in masks pile out of the van and run toward us.

I sit and wait. My door is opened at the same time Holom’s is. Three men grab Holom and pull him out of the van. Three men do the same to me.

I start throwing elbows and punches. There's no need for me to play into this any longer.

“He knows!” I growl as I bring a fist down to someone’s face, shattering their nose.

I grab the other two men and throw them into the side of the van.

Luc gets out of one of the fancy cars. “Perilous!”

I walk toward Luc and he meets me halfway.

“I got him for you,” I call out. “I held out as much as I could.”

Luc runs a hand through his hair. We both then watch as the three men carry Holom Allistair. Someone already put a piece of silver tape over his mouth, which is good. I never want to hear his fucking voice again.

“What did he say?” Luc asks.

“Everything,” I say. “He wanted to now sell his daughter and ex-wife and use some kind of leverage to go after theLegion.”

“Fuck,” Luc growls. “I’m going to kill him myself. You do not come after—”

“No,” I say.

Luc looks at me. “What?”

“He’s mine, Luc. Everything I’ve done for you. Done for theLegion.”

“I thought there were no favors?”

“I just watched Annika meet her mother for the first time in years. That piece of shit Holom told Annika her mother was dead. He drugged his ex-wife for years to keep her away. She wrote letters to Annika and he never gave them to her.”

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