Page 77 of Wild Side
I’m not sure if he thinks he’s going to hit me, but I have news for him if that’s what he’s got on his mind. I don’t respond to his words, not just because I think he’s dumb but also because I don’t understand what he’s getting at here.
“You’re embarrassing yourself,” I mutter. “What do you want?”
He presses his lips together, and it’s not because he wants to. It’s to keep me from seeing them tremble. “You won’t ever do business at the port authority again. Don’t ever come to my town again.”
“Did you think I would beat the shit out of you and then come back and pay you for anything or do business with you after you fucked me?” I ask. “You’ve lost your mind and wasted your goddamn time.”
His face twists and contorts into something ugly. I don’t understand why the fuck he is here right now and what he’s trying to accomplish. He takes one step backward, and then I realize he’s got something in his hand. I hadn’t seen it before. He must have been hiding it behind his pant leg.
It’s a gun.
But his hand is shaking so goddamn hard, I’m surprised he’s even got a hold of it at all. It’s kind of waving around. I could disarm him faster than he could even fucking blink, that’s how much of a mess this guy is.
Before he can do anything, Piggy appears at my side, gun aimed directly at the fuck. Then the door opens behind me, andIvy makes his way toward us. I almost laugh, because Alexander is so fucked.
He’s never dealt with men like us before. He doesn’t know what he’s gotten himself into. He thinks because he’s driven here with his gun loosely held in his trembling hand that it’s going to intimidate me.
“So you came here to what? Shoot me? Scare me?” I ask.
His wild eyes flick between the three of us and then land on me again. I can tell he’s scared shitless. He wasn’t expecting anyone to be here, which I don’t understand, because why the fuck would I be here alone?
“Just leave me alone,” he cries out.
My brows rise. “I haven’t given you a second thought, buddy.”
His eyes shift around wildly before he waves the gun around again. He leans forward, his words coming out in a hiss when he speaks again. I’m not sure what’s happening here. Maybe I knocked something loose inside his head when I roughed him up. I’m a bit concerned for him.
“You came to my house,” he hisses.
“You pissed me off,” I grunt. “But it’s done, or it was. My organization has shifted. We don’t need you, don’t need your port. Don’t need a goddamn thing.”
Alexander straightens, his gun lowering slightly. Though even if it’s loaded, he poses no fucking threat to me.
“What do you mean?” he asks.
“You’re of no use to me.”
“The money. You owe the money. The product is still sitting in the port.”
My lips twitch into a smirk again, but this time, it’s Ivy who speaks. Which is probably for the best because he’s the one who read those documents and wrote the letters. All I was doingthere was trying to figure out the logistics to get access to our shit while this fucker was trying to extort us.
“Actually, we don’t owe shit,” Ivy states. “If we don’t take possession of the items due to the port authority’s refusal to release said items, the port authority is responsible for the items and the costs incurred with returning them.”
Alexander’s mouth opens and closes like a fucking fish. It’s half hilarious and half sad all at the same time. “If I incur a loss like that, I’m out of a job,” he whispers.
The three of us stare at him. I would have sympathy, but I don’t. I went there to get our shit. He wanted more money, wanted more of everything, and when I didn’t give it to him, I’m pretty sure he thought we would come back crawling on our hands and knees.
“Get in your fancy car and get the fuck out of town,” Piggy grinds out. “You are not welcome here.”
“I can’t lose this much money,” he whimpers. “You don’t understand.”
He holds up the gun again, and it’s shaking vigorously in his hand. If he squeezed the trigger, it wouldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. Piggy takes a step forward and wordlessly reaches out, taking the gun from his hand. I watch as he shoves it in the back of his waistband.
“You know what?” I ask, though I don’t wait for him to answer. “I don’t give a fuck.”
“And to add to that, get the fuck out of my town,” Piggy growls.
Alexander takes a step backward, then another. He lifts his hands again, shaking his head from side to side. “You don’t understand. I’ll be fired.”
