Page 69 of Savage Revenge

“Well, that went well, don’t you think?” Kian asks.

Xander grunts. “Fun to see Carver get his fucking face punched in. I’ve always hated that pompous asshole. I don’t trust a word he says.”

I navigate through heavy traffic, my gut twisting. Until now, the Carver family has been easy to work with. They’ve run their businesses quietly over the years. Now that Elliott is the CEO of Carver Gaming, maybe I need to re-examine their existence in this city.

“I still don’t know why the fuck he kept it from me. Our meeting was cool and cordial. It was a casual conversation about me holding Jordyn hostage.” I think about my kitten and how I’ll handle her when I get home. Why didn’tshetell me her date waswith Elliott Carver? She’s going to learn what happens when she keeps stuff from me, that I do know.

Beckett reaches forward to show me his phone. “Fuck Carver. We have better things to do. Cassian Black just arrived at the private airport with Thomas Kingston in custody. I told Cassian to bring him to our north warehouse.”

Blood rushes to my head as my heart pounds like Thor’s hammer against my ribcage.

It’s almost been two weeks since my dad was murdered. That’s too long that Thomas Kingston has been breathing.

We’re halfway to the warehouse when it dawns on me that after I end Kingston’s life today, I’m going to have to release Jordyn. My plan was to destroy him, his entire family, and his business. To make all of them feel the same pain as I do. I don’t know about Jacob yet, but I know deep in my gut that Jordyn had nothing to do with my father’s murder. It doesn’t feel right making her pay for Thomas Kingston’s sins. Unlike him, she actually cares about their empire. And she’d be a damn good CEO. She deserves the company. She deserves to live her life. Even if it is without me.

Darkness lingers at the edge of my mind as the thought of living without her settles. The past five days have been some of the best I can remember ever having. Sadness is still etched in my soul from missing my dad, but Jordyn has made it easier. Even when she’s being a brat and difficult as hell, she makes life in general feel easier.

“Did Cassian say if he also has Jacob?” I ask when I put my car in park.

We climb out and gather, then head toward the shitty, rundown warehouse.

Beckett nods. “Jacob is here, too.”

We enter through one of the large metal doors, moving quietly in the dark space. Thankfully, because it’s nothing butmetal and concrete in here, it stays somewhat cool despite the near three-digit temperature outside.

Thomas and Jacob Kingston are in the center of the largest open area, nothing but wood crates and a bunch of dangerous men surrounding them.

As soon as Thomas sees us, his eyes go wide, and he shakes his head. “I didn’t have anything to do with your father’s death. I swear it on my life, Cash.”

I study the older man for a moment, then turn my gaze to Jacob, who looks like he’s ready to vomit any second.

“You think I’m going to believe you? The man who hated my father for over fifty years and sent him a threatening text had nothing to do with shooting him in the back? In the perfect spot where not a single camera got a view? You’d have to know The Strip pretty well to know something like that.”

Kingston’s eyebrows scrunch in confusion as sweat trickles down his temple. “I never sent him a text. I haven’t spoken to your father in almost a year. The last time was when both our casinos got raided within a week of each other.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Xander shift slightly. When I glance at him, he looks as confused as I am.

“You sent a text to him not long before telling him to back out of The Sapphire deal,” I tell him through my clenched jaw.

The tips of my fingers begin to tingle, the sensation creeping up my arms and body. I want to kill him. Right here, right now, I want to put a bullet in his head and watch as his life drains out of him. What’s the point in listening to anything he has to say? It’s all going to be bullshit and lies. Thomas Kingston is too much of a coward to look me in the eye and admit that he murdered my dad.

Another part of me—the sick and twisted part—wants to make him suffer first. For days. Possibly weeks. And only when he’s on the brink of death already, maybe I’ll end it all for him.Maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll let him die of the pain and infections that would surely finish him off.

“Cash,” Kingston begs, his voice more level than I’d expect for a man sitting in front of his enemies. “I swear to you, on Jacob’s life, I did not kill your father. We had our problems, sure, but I would never kill him. Think about it. What good would it do me? I’d gain nothing from him being gone. And a text? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I swear. Look at my phone. There are no messages between us recently.”

I stare at Kingston, studying him closer. His eyes never left mine as he spoke. No twitching, no strange blinking. If he had some other kind of tell that he’s bluffing, I wouldn’t be able to see it since he’s tied up and unable to move.

“I’m not a good person, we all know that; none of us in this building are. We do what needs to be done to keep The Strip alive and bringing in cash. But killing Jack isn’t something I’d do. I hated him because of what happened fifty years ago. Over the years, the hate turned into bitterness, but when he lost her… When your mom passed away, I saw what it did to him. The way he lost his spark. And it was then I decided I was glad your mom chose him because I’d never want to experience the pain he went through.” Kingston sniffs and shakes his head, his eyes red-rimmed. Is this fucker getting sentimental over my mother?

He’s not wrong, though. My dad changed after my mom died. He was still there for us. He tried to make sure we stayed as tight-knit as always as a family. But his happiness died with her. She was his world.

Like Jordyn has become mine.

Kingston tilts his head, drawing my attention to him again. “You can look through anything you want. Search my phone, my emails, my entire business. I’m innocent. I never sent any threats to Jack. I was at one of my casinos when it happened. I’d be on camera. Check.”

Something twinges in my gut. Something urging me to honor his request to search deeper. Even though everything else is telling me to shoot the son of a bitch and let Jacob go. I only have to take one look at Jordyn’s brother to know he had nothing to do with it. It’s funny because even though I’ve sat with Jacob in meetings, I’ve always felt like he was slightly uninterested. Like he’d rather be somewhere else. Jordyn would kill to be more involved, and she’d be damn good at running things. My fierce but soft girl. She could do anything she put her mind to. And her piece-of-shit father doesn’t recognize that.

He might not have killed my father, but either way, he’s going to answer to me for how he’s treated my kitten over the years.

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