Page 3 of Cruel God

Never underestimate a man who had something to lose.

Me…I had something to lose. Something precious. Something so dear to me that I would slit every motherfucking throat of those who dared try to take it from me.

My most prized possession.

My butterfly.

My salvation.

For years I’ve plotted and planned, schemed and manipulated to make sure I protected my own. Now that I had come so far, there was no way in hell I would allow anything or anyone to jeopardize what I’ve managed to accomplish.

If there was one thing I’ve learned, it was to keep my enemies close…which was why I currently shared a limousine with the one man who had the potential to ruin everything. A man desperate to find what he thought was his. A man who would die by my hand before he’d get the chance.

I turned to face him. “So, Mr. Riggs. How is it that a man like you ended up in this business?”

He cocked a brow. “A man like me?”

“Yes. You don’t look like the type of man who has—how can I put it? Certain tastes.”

He righted in his seat. “First of all, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“That you may.”

“Secondly, I don’t have certain tastes. I just have a bank account I need to keep filled.”

I smiled. “We all have our own ambitions that drive us.”

He turned away, staring out the window. I could see the similarities. The eyes, the tiny freckles on and around the nose. They had the same pale, flawless skin as well.

I hated that he looked like her.

I hated that he had the same blood that flowed through his veins. If I didn’t need him as an intricate part of my plan, I would have slit his throat and let him hang upside down like a slaughtered pig.

Mr. Riggs had been on my radar for years. Someone whose every move I had watched from the shadows. I was never quite sure how I’d get him on my team once the time came that I needed him. But as fate would have it, an opportunity presented itself—an opportunity I caught with both hands and used to my advantage.

If I had to say so myself, everything worked out fucking perfectly.

Our world had rules. Our society had certain laws we all had to abide by. Without regulations, directions, and a strict code of conduct, this empire we had built would crumble. And I made sure there wouldn’t be as much as a single crack to rattle the foundation my empire was built upon.

“Tell me,” I started. “How do you feel about the theatrical events that led us here together in the same limousine?”

The bondage and wild sex between a slave and her master.

The butchering of a man who deserved no less.

And the final goodbye to a man he considered a friend.

He licked his lips and shifted on his seat. “I won’t lie and say it didn’t make me feel slightly uncomfortable.”

I snickered. “I like you, Mr. Riggs. Most men would feed me bullshit of how tough they are and how they could easily steal a baby from its mother’s breast without feeling even the slightest pang of guilt. But you…you’re honest. I like that. It’s refreshing.”And fucking stupid.

I rubbed my chin with my thumb and forefinger, thinking of the events that led us to this exact fucking moment.

A girl on the run.

A madman and rapist.

A father who wants to protect his daughter.

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