Page 86 of Mountain Daddy

My fist connects with his throat. Crushes his windpipe. He drops, making wet choking sounds till he stops breathing.

The second man gets his weapon halfway out before I'm on him.

I grab his wrist. Twist until bones snap. The gun clatters to the floor.

"Wait," the third one says, hands raised. "We can work this out."

"No," I tell him quietly. "We can't."

I break his neck with my bare hands.

Clean. Quick. Final.

The second man is still conscious. Cradling his mangled wrist. Bleeding out on the floor.

I kneel beside him. Let him see death in my eyes.

"You threatened my woman."

"Please—"

"You mentioned my son."

"We didn't touch?—"

I don’t let him finish. My elbow crashes into his temple, cracking skull against tile. He twitches. Goes still.

All three. Dead.

Not unconscious. Not limping.

Dead.

I stand in the middle of the room. Breathing hard. Blood on my hands. Soaked into my shirt. Dotting my jeans like paint splatter.

This is what happens. This is what happens when they come for mine.

I check their pockets. Find phones, cash, fake IDs.

And a photo.

Lilly leaving the bakery yesterday. Chleo skipping beside her.

Someone took surveillance photos ofmy family.

I pocket the photo. Set the rest on fire with their cheap cigarettes.

Let the Kozlovs find their boys like this. Let them know what happens when they threaten what's mine.

Sugar and Spicehas some light, which tells me Lilly is inside, trying to fix things even in the dark.

I sit in my car for a full minute, trying to calm down. Trying to wash the blood from under my fingernails with wet wipes.

Doesn't work.

I still look like exactly what I am. A killer fresh from killing.

But she needs to know she's safe. Needs to know I’ve got it handled.

---