Page 68 of Bully

“Leave.” I hissed, shoving my car door open and sending Maddox onto his ass as I got out. Dane followed suit and leaned his elbows on the roof of my car as I glared at him. “Both of you, leave. Now.”

“Oh, come on,” Maddox brushed his hands off on his jeans and smirked in the darkness that somehow always seemed to cling to his features. “We won’t take any of your fun away. We just want to watch. We won’t even touch anything.”

“Remember the last time you said that?” Dane chuckled and Maddox grinned as I threw my hands up in exasperation.

“I didn’t technically touch anything first.” Maddox pointed out, “That dude touched me.”

“You put an explosive up his ass and tied him to the top of a light post.” Dane deadpanned.

“Best Fourth of July to date, too.” Maddox stared off as if he was remembering fond times. “Pyrotechnics are such a lost art these days.”

“You guys are fucking nuts.” I shook my head, grabbing my bag from the trunk and walking away from their circus sideshow, headed into the woods towards my target. Did I think they’d stay in the car and leave me be? Not a fucking chance.

But if I had to stay to watch their middle-aged pathetic bored house-husband comedy show any longer, they were going to be in danger. And we all knew, even in my prime, they’d team up against me.

They always teamed up against me.

Walking through the woods with barely a snapped twig between the three of us, Maddox finally broke the silence, asking in a hushed tone. “So, who’s the target?”

They weren’t going to leave, that was obvious. And they weren’t going to shut the hell up either, unless I gave them something. “Max Halmer.”

“Max Halmer.” Maddox repeated questioningly, “Why does that name ring a bell?”

“Startup tech guy, Max Halmer?” Dane threw in.

“No,” I replied, stopping at a ridge and looking down at the impressive estate below. “Coke addicted, prostitute beating, slime ball Max Halmer.” I held my finger up to my brother before he could even start. “And no, this has nothing to do with Sloane.”

“Why would I automatically think that you targeting a man who’s notorious for trafficking and killing off sex workers across the East Coast would have any link at all to your girlfriend?” Dane scoffed, “So far-fetched.”

“Ridiculous, really.” Maddox shrugged, “You know, the only jobs I ever botched were the personal ones, come to think of it. But good thing this isn’t one of those.”

“It’s not!” I snapped. “He’s competition for someone I made a deal with. I was supposed to take him out weeks ago, and he got away. That’s it.”

“Was that before or after he shot you?” Dane crossed his arms and glared at me like only a disappointed male figure could.

Fuck him.

“I hate you both.” Walking away, I started my descent down the hill.

“That seems to be a trend for you.” Maddox chided as he followed. “I’ve heard you say that about Sloane a handful of times myself. So luckily for you, I know that means you really love us and couldn’t imagine your life without us in it.”

Twitchy.

I was so fucking twitchy again.

Max Halmer was probably one of the most pathetic men I’ve ever faced, and dying men were usually always pitiful, so that was saying something.

His security team lacked muscle and skill, relying solely on his high-tech system to alert.

But not to deter.

Security had to be a two-step process, and he forgot the second step.

“Come on, Maxi Pad.” Dane chided as the sniveling man tried to scurry away from his approach. The overdone tape job to the chair, courtesy of Maddox’s boredom, prevented any real movement though. It looked as though he wore a body suit of tape, he probably had a better chance at tipping over and getting a head injury than getting away. “You had to know we’d come for you.”

“I—” He stammered, slurring his words through his new dental work courtesy of my fist as he tried to run away at first, “I don’t even know you!”

“You shot me!” I scoffed, letting the theatrics of the night finally loosen me up to play along a bit. I was usually the one who loved a good mental warfare game before the execution, and watching Dane and Maddox have fun eliminating the security teamhadactually been fun. “In the back, nonetheless. Who does that?”

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