Page 131 of Bad Seed
Mr. Oli rolls his hands. “Well, the Bells and Mr. Goji are both out for obvious reasons. I suppose the old family will pick someone at random. They probably have an inbred bastard kicking around. It’d give him something to do instead of wasting all of Daddy’s money.”
Aubry’s thinking way too hard about this.
I keep biting my lip, squirming as the two of them just trade looks without saying anything. In a flash, it comes exploding out of me. “He doesn’t want this!”
“Child…” Mr. Oli warns, but my dam’s shattered.
“He wants to be free. To make banana sauce spaghetti. And have a cat. And be happy. Can you offer any of that? No. Because this place is nothing but misery and pain…and torn off ears. And whatever the fuck that thing is! I think it’s a painting of a seal fucking a mermaid. What is wrong with you people!”
“Talong, silence your woman.”
The air vibrates with the threat of every weapon Mr. Oli pulled out of the desk. I ram my tongue into my teeth to shut up and nervously glance to Aubry.
“No. She can say whatever she wants. Without her, I’d be dead, and you’d still have Ato hanging off your neck.”
Mr. Oli doesn’t look happy about this, but he shrugs, then rubs his throat as if a whole ass man is dangling off him like a necklace. With a gentle brush of his finger, Aubry caresses my cheek. “Sadie? What do you think?”
I’ve lost him.
For the brief hour as we drove back to Vegas, I thought we’d pull this off. They’d come in, take out Mr. Ato and his gang, then Aubry would be free to run away with me. But this is all he’s known. It’s his world and a shit ton of money, power. What the hell can I offer him other than a body that shuts down in the presence of his cum?
Aubry closes his eyes and presses his forehead to mine. “It’s okay,” he whispers before standing back up. “I need time.”
“I can give you an—”
“First, I’m taking her back home.”
Mr. Oli glares at me, but he pushes his tongue into his cheek. “How do I know you won’t run away?”
“If you can’t trust me, this would never work in the first place.”
A quick chuckle falls from Mr. Oli. “I knew you were the brains in this.”
“Second.” Aubry stares over his shoulder to the door that’s both a couple feet a thousand miles away. “You cannot kill anyone.”
“Excuse me?”
“Goji, Red, Green, even Mr. Ato—I expect them to be alive by the time I get back.”
“Well, Mr. Ato’s going to be returned to the head family where they will decide his fate. It is out of my hands. But the others are trash for the incinerator. They tried to kill you.”
“I’m aware.”
“But still you fight for them? You are a strange one, Talong. They’re loyal to the man you betrayed.”
“I know that too.”
Mr. Oli looks poised to argue which would kill this deal right now. And kill us too. Then he shrugs. “Very well. It’s your funeral. If you wish to have traitors at your back, that’s your business. I shall keep your…companions alive for one day. If you haven’t returned by then…”
“I understand.” Aubry drapes an arm over my shoulder, pinning me to his side. “Once she’s home, I will come back with your answer.” With his head high, he turns the both of us to face the door and takes an exaggerated step for it. My knees quake, certain I’m about to feel the bite of hot lead in my spine.
But the door opens, two men in suits and sunglasses holding it for us. Aubry won’t let me get more than an inch from him, his head swiveling as he takes everyone in.
“Talong,” Mr. Oli calls out from the desk. “I’m the one who told the Squash how to find you.”
The door slams shut.
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