Page 85 of Red Queen (Red Thorns Crew 3)

His eyes ran down my body. “At least one of you has some self-preservation skills.”

“He’s a coward and nothing more. Just like you.”

“You’re the one who ran, Max. Who’s the coward now?”

The suited men behind him chuckled, and I gritted my teeth to keep from firing back.

“What has my father offered you anyway, Benji? Hmm? What the hell is so important that it’s worth turning your back on the people who treated you like family? The people who are family?”

“That’s rich, coming from you. Because when I tried to make myself family and pledge your pathetic little crew, you denied me. Time and time again. Doesn’t really sound like family, does it?”

“All I wanted was the best for you. You’ve got smarts, Benji. You could’ve gotten yourself a degree and really made something of yourself instead of scraping the bottom of the bucket of what this life has to offer. That’s what I wanted for you. And instead, you decided to get selfish. To throw it all away, and for what?”

He chuckled bitterly. “For family, Max. For loyalty. For camaraderie. But you don’t care about any of that shit, do you?”

“I’ve always cared about you, Benji. About family. About life, and love, and loyalty.

”

“Yeah, only when it suits you though, right?”

“Stop twisting my words and--”

He cocked his gun. “All you wanted to be was right, Max. That’s all you ever care about. Being seen as some big man with big plans and big dreams. And always, always right. That’s why you pushed college so hard. Because to you, this life was a fallback. Because you had nothing else to give this world. Well, you know what? I chose this life. Even though I had another road to take, I chose this one. It wasn’t a fallback for me. It wasn’t a last resort just to stay alive. I love what I do and the people that surround me. I don’t let my want to be right cloud my judgment. You do, though. All you care about is being right instead of being in the right.”

I hated how true his words were.

“Max. Let’s be honest for a second. Can we be honest?”

“I’d rather you shoot me.”

He chuckled. “All right, honesty it is. You and your little crew are nothing but a bunch of posers. You have no power. No wealth. You haven’t had jobs in months. You’ve got nothing. You have nothing. You’re flies compared to your father. No, no, no. You’re the larvae of flies. And that man’s offering me more money than I could even dream of. He’s offering me a life. A real life.”

“Killing people and making ties with one of the foulest men on the planet is a real life for you?”

He shrugged. “If I have to get my hands dirty to earn it, I’m fine with that. Plus, I don’t plan on staying by your father’s side forever.”

“So what? You’re going to be his part-time enforcer before you take his place?”

He grinned. “You won’t be alive for it, so what does it matter?”

“I mean, you’ve been flapping your lips this entire time. Might as well fill me in on the rest before you splatter my brains against the mirror. Right?”

“You think you can taunt me, but it won’t work. I know how this ends. I’ve seen it.”

“Seen it, huh? I wonder how my father would take to partnering himself with someone who has hallucinations. Guys, did you know he hears voices?”

He pressed the pistol to my forehead. “Shut up!”

I finally felt Dani lifting up my leather jacket. “And here I was thinking all you were good for was a punching bag.”

“Your father sees potential in me. Not my fault you didn’t.”

“All he sees in you is a dumbass that’s easy to take advantage of.”

Benji hissed, “He’s building a fucking empire, you ungrateful piece of shit. One sliver at a time. He knew he could pay the police off to broaden his operations. But he also knew that if you caught wind of what he was up to, you’d expose him. And you can’t build an empire from prison.”

I shook my head. “What the hell have you gotten yourself into, Benji?”

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