Page 75 of Madness & Mercy

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I crack my neck. “He’s not.”

Luca pulls up beside us on a bike, the engine still rumbling under him. “Want him alive?”

“Barely,” I mutter, climbing into the driver’s seat. “I want him begging.”

We move fast. I’m not in the mood to linger. I wantblood.I want him on his knees, coughing up names with a gun in his mouth and my fist around his throat.

He shot Julian.

And I don’t even fuckingknowwhy that pisses me off so much.

He should’ve been a liability. An asset. Maybe a ticking time bomb.

But now all I can picture is that son of a bitch’s body jolt when the bullet hit him.

And the way Julian’s eyes found mine just before he collapsed.

And now?

Now I’m driving like the devil himself is in the back seat, because he might as well be.

Enzo keeps eyes on the GPS while Luca gives me updates from our guy tailing the shooter.

“He’s still there. Drinks hard. Doesn’t look around much.”

“Good,” I murmur. “Makes it easy.”

We don’t go through the front when we get there.

We circle the block, cut through the alley, take the back entrance where the cook’s out smoking and doesn’t dare stop us when he sees my face.

Inside, it’s a sweat-stained dive. Smells like piss and bad decisions. Lights are low. Music’s loud. Nobody notices us until it’s too late.

And there he is.

Thebastard.

Sitting at the bar like nothing happened.

Like he didn’t just put a bullet through someone who mattered to me.

Like his hands aren’t still dirty with Julian’s blood.

I nod once.

Luca cuts the power.

The lights go black.

Screams go off.

And by the time the emergency lights flicker back to life, I’ve already got my gun at the back of the shooter’s skull.

“Move,” I say, voice low. “And I paint the bar with your teeth.”

He stiffens.

I drag him into the alley, Enzo flanking my side.

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