Page 41 of Love & Vendettas

I punch him in his lips and snarl, “You just made up my mind. I think I will let you hang around a little longer to suffer.”

I ignore his whimpering as Parker and I walk to the door of the Hovel.

Once we’re back in the car and Parker’s maneuvering away from the woods, he asks, “When are you gonna tell the team what’s really going on?”

I sigh, pulling my fingers through my long, thick beard. “Don’t think it’s really useful for them to know that, Park.”

“It’ll make the difference in how they accomplish their missions.”

“Not really. They’re paid to do a job, and they do it well. I respect that.”

“Yeah, but if they knew how personal this was and how you feel about her—”

“Then they might end her before I need them to, especially Janel and Jamal.”

He snickers, “Only Malik has any sort of restraint.”

“Yeah. I want her to suffer the way that she made our family suffer. I want her to know that I caused her downfall in the end. I’m a patient man, Parker.”

“Not according to Malik.”

I glance at him. “Malik talks too much.”

“He knows that there’s more to the story, and he knows that I probably know. He’s only trying to protect you.”

“Loose lips sink ships, Parker.”

“I guess you don’t have to worry about this ship sinking then, huh?” he asks, glancing at me as we pull onto the highway.

I sigh.

“I mean, they’ve been around since almost that long, give or take a couple of years. Don’t see the harm in clueing them in,” he continues.

“To do that would mean I’d have to clue them in on all the rest. Nobody needs to know that. Fuck, if it weren’t for you being around the entire time, you wouldn’t even know it.”

Parker glares at me and shakes his head.

“Trust has always been an issue for you, hasn’t it?”

“Seeing as how I haven’t met anyone who could prove how trustworthy they are aside from you and Bayleigh, yeah, that’s an issue for me.”

Shaking his head, he asks, “What more do they need to do to prove they can be trusted?”

“Not in this game, Parker. You trust no man.”

“Why does it sound like even the trust you have for me only goes so far?”

I glance at him and then back out the window.

“That’s fucked up, Z.”

I snort.

“Do the five at least know what’s going down?”

“They don’t know the particulars, but they do know that she’s running for mayor. They know that she’s looking into Denver’s company and his finances.”

“What are they saying about that?”

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