Page 182 of Unorthodox
He’s buried now, a plot back in Athena, by the house. Why it took three days, and every one of them has been hell.
For Addison, I know, it’s been worse.
I haven’t been able to get through to her father. I don’t know exactly what kind of psychopath I’m dealing with in Cade but considering the cartel henchmen he has outside of the London estate, considering what I know of Elliot, he’s one of the worst kinds—a powerful one.
Lost in thoughts of what I’m going to do to him, I don’t hear Mamie calling my name until she claps her hands to get my attention. I snap my gaze to her, knocking aside my glass to grab my gun.
She eyes it warily, dipping her chin and cocking a brow as she tucks a strand of dark hair behind her ear. “We’re meeting him tonight at seven. A warehouse.” She glances at the gun in my hand. “Don’t fuck this up. He might be akid,” she warns me, her eyes narrowed, “but he’s got a lot of sway in this city. And from what I hear, he’s as ruthless as you are.”
I just stare at her without saying a word, but I think she knows exactly what I’m thinking.I doubt it.
She smiles and adds sweetly, “He also said if you call him a ‘kid’ to his face, he’ll ‘slit your goddamn throat.’”
I hold her gaze a moment, think about slitting Cade’s throat. But that’d be too quick for him.
“Max,” Mamie says softly, and I know what’s coming.
I told her Ollie was my brother as she attended his burial, just me and her, and the men who helped me dig his grave. But I haven’t spoken to her about it. I won’t.
The only person I’ll tell is Addison.
She deserves to know why I let her suffer.
* * *
The warehouse is down a long,winding road, and the only car parked out front is a black Mercedes AMG, tinted windows making it impossible to see if anyone’s inside.
As Mamie and I get out of the Maserati and I close the passenger door behind me, I notice that despite the fact there’s only the one car, there are two men in suits standing guard outside of the warehouse door. Bright safety lights illuminate every inch of the front of the grey building. The only sound is the crickets in the surrounding woods.
My hand on my holster, I walk with Mamie toward the guarded door.
The men look past us, spines straight, posture rigid.
I’m sure they’re armed, but I don’t see any weapons, and their hands are stiff by their sides.
Coming closer, I see they look like fucking kids, too.
“Hey,” I snap, annoyed they haven’t once looked my way, “I’m here to see—”
“Me,”a voice says from behind me. “You’re here to seeme.”
I turn, hand still on my gun, and I come face-to-face with Jeremiah Rain for the first time.
He’s nearly as tall as I am, dressed in a grey button down, black pants. His hands are in his pockets, and in the blinding lights of the building at my back, I can see his eyes are a pale green, reminding me of a snake.
“Max Bennett.” He says my name like he’s weighing me with it, trying to decide just how seriously he should take me.
I step closer to him, hand still on my weapon.
I hear Mamie’s heels click on the concrete as she comes to the side of both of us, likely trying to play intermediary.
“Jeremiah, yes, this is Max. We really appreciate—”
“What is it that made such an important man like yourself need such anurgentgetaway?” Jeremiah ignores Mamie completely, and she takes a step back, glaring at him, all of her feigned politeness gone.
He has a strange accent. It isn’t Southern, and it isn’t exactly foreign, but there’s a lilt to his words. I might not have picked up on it if I wasn’t from here, but if I had to guess, I’d say he’s multilingual.
“You just said it,” I tell him, glancing beyond him into the dark forest, wondering where the fuck he came from. “I’m important.”
