Page 32 of Tempt Me (Dark Odyssey 4)

Mark lifts his head as I enter the room.

He looks like shit, like hell came to claim him and he was dragged through the fire several times. He looks like that, and he hasn’t really taken a beating from me.

I went easy on him last night but kicked his ass mainly for getting his daughter dragged in and allowing her to make such a swap.

He’s chained to the wall, unable to move around. The guys outside on watch told me he started having the shakes late in the night, then begged for a drink. Not water. The fucker wanted a beer and pleaded with them to grab one from upstairs. He pissed himself when he didn’t get it.

I pull up a chair and sit on it backwards. I’m still deciding what to do with him. Ava made the trade. The thing to do would be to let him go, but that’s not how this will work. There are several reasons why I can’t just do that, and it wouldn’t be me breaking my end of the unwritten contract.

“Please, tell me she’s okay. My Ava…” Mark asks, and a tear streams from his eyes, dark and puffy with circles that look like smoke spreading around his skin.

“She’s okay,” I answer, sounding calmer than I feel.

“Please don’t hurt her, Vincent, I beg you, please don’t hurt her. She’s had… a rough life.”

I narrow my eyes. I know his son died a few years back, and that was a terrible time because it was gang related and the killer was never found. What I didn’t know was that Mark had turned to the dark side and was in so deep into trouble. That rough life he’s talking about could only have come as a result of something he did. Just like now.

“What are you going to do with her?” he asks.

“I’m not going to discuss that with you,” I answer. He knows why. The fact that more tears stream down his cheeks confirms he knows exactly what I’ll be doing with his daughter. His worry should be more focused on what I’m going to do to him.

“You accepted her offer?” Unspoken pain comes alive in his eyes.

“I did.”

“Vincent… she’s a bright young woman with a future ahead of her. She’s in love with her writing. Please, don’t bring her into the darkness of our world. I’ve tried my best to keep her out of the underground. I never meant for this to happen.”

“We never mean for most things to happen, but they do.”

“Please, don’t stop her from living her dreams,” he begs.

It’s strikes me as strange that he would say this to me when he nearly ruined everything all by himself. “Mark, you owe me over two million dollars you used to gamble and pay for prostitutes younger than your girl to fuck you. Don’t dictate shit to me. Be grateful I haven’t rammed your head into the wall and fucked you up so bad you have to piss backwards.” I bare my teeth, and he shudders, his red eyes bulging.

He’s never heard me talk like that. Chances are he would have had better sense if he had.

“Vincent, I’m really sorry. I really am.”

I hold up my hand and shake my head. I don’t want to hear him apologize again. I heard it practically all of last night. Now, it’s time for action.

What I’m about to tell him won’t be enough. Not by a long shot, and I already know I’m going to have to take a hit with the stress of it. I figured it this way, I’m still fucked and everything’s a mess whether he’s alive or dead. The death would be punishment. That’s all it would be and wouldn’t help me fix the shit one way or the other.

That’s what I’m telling myself to make it… tolerable.

“Ava will stay with me, and you… you will sort yourself out in whatever way you need to, so you can tell me all that you did.” It really doesn’t feel like it’s enough, absolutely unfair in comparison to the repercussions of his actions. I should beat the fuck out of him and mess him up more than I did. The truth is, I can’t.

It’s her again. I look at him and see her face. She’s payment, and I accepted, but even before I accepted, the beauty calmed the beast inside me.

“You will give me that chance?” His voice quivers.

I sneer at him. “Motherfucker…. Don’t make the mistake of thinking I’m freeing you. I’m not fucking doing that, and definitely not until I know all the damage and shit you’ve done.”

“I …I don’t remember anything much, and what I can remember is stuff you already know.”

“I’m sure you can shed more light than that,” I demand. “You will tell me everything. I want to know what happened and what you got me mixed up in. I can’t afford to waste any time. Who else did you hang out with?”

“Omar and a few of his associates. I made deals to follow through on the securities.”

“On Giordanos Inc.?” I seethe as he nods.

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