Page 74 of Deranged (American Street Kings 3)

“I’m fine.”

“Just like Ink’s fine?”

I pulled my eyes into slits. “Don’t compare me to Ink.”

“You’re both fueled by your emotions. Ink’s rage…and you, your pride.”

I clenched my jaw, and I had to fill my head with visions of Slither’s dead body rather than Wraith’s face, her tears. All it did was make me feel shit I didn’t want to feel.

“Are we sure there’s not a bigger picture here?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I dunno, man. I just think when it comes to Slither, there’s always a motherfucking bigger picture.”

Clutching the steering wheel, knuckles turning white, I thought back to our confrontation. Slither’s cocky attitude. Her tears. Crow’s surprise. And the goddamn knife in my back.

The image of that son of bitch standing next to her, having his hand on her—an act of possession—made me sick. How he looked at me with that smirk on his face, knowing exactly how fucked up it all was. At least there was one part of that entire conversation that went our way…the motherfucking look on his face when he realized we trumped his ass, that Granite was no longer president. The look of shock on his ugly face was priceless, the moment nothing short of triumphant glee. He never saw it coming.

He never saw it coming.

“Wait.” My thoughts scattered.

“What is it?”

“He didn’t know.”

Granite frowned. “Didn’t know what?”

“But she did.”

“Onyx, you’re not making sense. What the fuck are you on about?”

“Wraith.” I looked at him. “She knew I was president. She knew you stepped down, and that I took your place.”

“How?

“I told her.”

“Okay.” He seemed confused.

I shifted in my seat, adrenaline swooshing through me. “Wraith knew, but Slither didn’t. That means she didn’t tell him.”

Granite tapped on the edge of the window. “It’s some big shit info for her to keep to herself if she was a rat.”

“Yeah. What the fuck does this mean, though?”

He shrugged. “Like I said, when it comes to Slither, there’s always a bigger picture.”

I put the van in gear. “I’m about to find out what that bigger fucking picture is.”

Manic got into the van. “Ink’s on his way.”

Granite stepped back, and I revved the engine. “This is it, brother, the day we’ve been waiting years for.”

20

Wraith

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