Page 79 of Demise

Bryce looks back at me. “Let me see his teeth.”

I lift a brow, curious as to why he’d want to see his teeth, but I’m assuming he has reason, so I shrug. “Sweep, let the man see his teeth.”

Sweep rips off the tape and opens the guy’s mouth. I see it when Bryce recognizes him. He tenses, his jaw tightening.

“That’s him.”

I nod. “Okay. Trig,” I say.

Trig tosses the cigarette he’s smoking, and without hesitation, he pulls out some clear, thick material and puts it over the man’s head. The man starts flaying like a wild animal trapped in a cage.

“What are you doing?” Bryce asks. Trig pulls out his gun, and in the blink of an eye, he shoots the guy in the head. Gold teeth goes slack. Bryce turns and pukes into the grass. I almost laugh but control myself, giving Trig a hard look.

“What?” Trig says. “I didn’t wanna get blood in my car. I just bought this thing.” This isn’t even his car. He’s just being a fucking idiot.

“Yo, you all right, Bryce?” I ask.

He waves me off and stands up straight, looking back at us like we’re all mad.

“Hey, Bryce. You got somewhere I can put this body out at that ranch of yours?” Sweep asks as he shuts the trunk. Now Sweepisbeing serious.

“Are you crazy?” Bryce wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and spits.

I laugh, trying to calm him a bit. “He’s just fucking with you.” I walk over to him. “It’s done. You don’t have to worry about those guys anymore.”

“So, you’re working with Moretti?” he asks.

I rub my chin. “Yeah.”

“And you’re running drugs out of Red?”

I tilt my head slightly. How much should I tell this guy?Hey, Bryce, I’m getting out of all this.Don’t worry about it.

I have a strong feeling, after Moretti’s demise, Red will be raided once again, but I don’t want to tell Bryce this.

When he was in the joint for illegal gambling and his other crimes, he’d questioned why I was in this lifestyle, and for some unknown reason, I felt despondent.

“What’s your story, man? How did you get mixed up in all this shit?” Bryce waves his hand at our surroundings. We’re seated in an interrogation room. One table, two chairs, all-brick walls, and the paperwork needed for Bryce to sign over Red so he can be a free man.

How did I get mixed up in all this? I chose this lifestyle with a fucking smile on my face. My father was in it after all. I was surrounded by it even as a small boy, and as I hid in the closet when my parents were being murdered, I felt it latch on to me. So maybe I didn’t choose, maybe it chose me.

I exhale tiredly. “Some of us don’t get to choose the life we live.”

“I’ve never understood that saying. I believe everything you do is a choice. You being here right now. You made that choice.”

I shrug. “It’s a good business deal.” Obtained Red will make me an even richer man than I already am. Why wouldn’t I do it?

Bryce nods. “But what about the other things you do? Are those good business deals?”

I understand what the boy is hinting at. I’m a murderer among other things. Bryce’s little felony charge is a walk in the park compared to the shit I’ve done. I surpassed him when I was just a boy.

I chuckle. “Don’t ask questions, Bryce. It can make you a liability.”

“Not if you don’t answer.”

I nod with a grin before looking down at my hands. I have a flesh and bone tattoo. It’s as if I have no skin, just tendons and bone. It’s the hand I hit with, the one that’s suffered the most damage over the years. It symbolizes my name.

Bones.

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