Page 69 of Until the Day You're Mine

“You think it's wise to mess with that guy?” Sullivan gives him a look that suggests his opinion on the matter very clearly. Ty couldn’t agree more – it was dangerous to trust Harley, but what choice does he have? He wasn’t going to let Sullivan talk him out of it.

“It’s happening whether you like it or not. Stay out of it, okay? You don’t need to be here.”

Sullivan remains quiet. Ty glances back at him, narrowing his eyes. “Sullivan?”

His friend looks away, shaking his head. He’s obviously pretty pissed. Using Harley's connections on the outside is an issue Sullivan isn’t willing to disregard. Rightfully so. Harley is a dangerous criminal.

Harley was one of those guys who had taken full advantage of the opportunities their military career afforded them. He had gotten involved in moving drugs using cargo planes. Rumor had it he had also been able to rig his inventories, for long enough, to get away with selling crates of ammunition and weapons in the very same war zones the US Army bases were located, later branching out to drug cartels in Mexico and Brazil.

With his fingers dipped in this many pies, one had to be a stone-cold bastard to be able to hold the reins of his criminal empire all the way from the confines of a military jail.

He was supposedly lying low for the duration of his sentence. It was hardly a secret he was getting out a rich man. The money he had stashed was nowhere to be found but judging by the very expensive lawyer handling his affairs for years, it was still very much somewhere out there, probably buried in the desert.

His connections on the outside were just as solid as they had always been. He had most of the guards on his payroll and was living a pretty comfortable life even if it was behind bars.

There was something he neededtaken care of.

A delivery of sortswere his exact words. Ty seized the opportunity and offered his services in exchange for a favor.

The cargo, Ty was yet to be told the nature of, was way too valuable for Harley to risk using anyone from his previously known associates. He needed a fresh face. Someone capable, and efficient. Someone who had no one on the outside. Disposable. Tayida fit the bill just right.

Sullivan is still trying to talk him out of it. “You don't want this shit hanging over your head when you get out! You don’t have a prior criminal record, dude! Why would you fuck up the rest of your life, dealing with that scumbag?”

Sullivan had begun chewing his ass out about it as soon as he had told him what he was about to do. He had to tell him. It was his last day, and they had been practically stitched together for long hours. Ty wouldn’t be able to simply fuck off for his meeting with Harley after their scheduled duties were over.

Ty snaps, frustrated with how spot-on Sullivan’s line of thought is. He has acted in desperation, and the wiser part of him knows that’s never a good idea. Cy would have most likely given him shit for being this reckless too. He shakes his head clenching his jaw.

Cy was dead. Ty had to get to Rian, by any means necessary.

“I don’t have a fucking choice! Okay? Time’s fucking up! I’m not waiting around anymore! Not fucking ever! I’m going to get Rian, as I should have all those years ago.”

“I’m just saying there’s got to be another way to do this––” Sullivan’s following him close, refusing to be brushed off, but Ty isn't having any of it either. Normally, Sullivan could talk his way out of concrete, and no matter how much Ty admired him for his composure and silver tongue, today was not the day he would let himself be swayed.

Ty turns abruptly and growls in his face, “No! It’s done!”

In typical Sullivan fashion, his friend swats him away like a petulant child. He isn’t intimidated by Ty’s muscles or taller stature. To anyone else, his warning growl might look particularly menacing, but Sullivan treats his outburst like nothing more than a tantrum.

He walks around him, making Ty feel like an idiot as he often does. Sullivan is no taller than five-foot-five, but he is one tough, mean motherfucker. Ty knows Sullivan could take him and do some real damage, even if Ty has thirty pounds of muscle on him.

Sullivan gives him a moment to sort through the beehive of thoughts in his head. He tries to reason with Ty one last time.

“You told me there’s a child in the picture now. A baby boy, not even a year old. Can you honestly justify putting a target on his back and making him a fugitive, possibly having Rian lose custody of him if Harley doesn’t make good on his promise?”

Ty stops dead in his tracks. Fuck Sullivan for always having his head screwed on just fucking right. Fuck this clever motherfucker. Before Ty could answer, they are interrupted by Harley himself.

“Now why would I do that?” The man of the hour slides out of the shadows like he had planned his creepy villain-esque entrance.

He smirks, and Ty thinks Harley really is the devil, with his thin lips, and cold calculating menacing eyes. Something in his expression reminds him of the Penguin from all the old Batman comic books he’s read as a kid. Only he looks like a grizzled forty-year-old, construction worker with a colorful mouth and a receding hairline. He is smiling, but his dark eyes give off a warning vibe as he observes every twitch and move between Tayida and Sullivan.

Ty breaks the silence. “I’m ready to do my part. You prepared to do yours?”

Harley’s smile stretches wider, showcasing all his teeth, “Straight to the point. I see. Of course.”

Ty grunts to indicate that he’s done chatting.

Harley arches an eyebrow and mutters teasingly, “That’s some cold-ass attitude. And here I was, thinking we were about to begin a long-lasting, mutually beneficial professional partnership.” He wags his thin eyebrows, thoroughly amused with his mocking comments.

Ty glares at him. He can’t figure out if this guy is fucking with him, or if he really is the ruthless crazy criminal mastermind everyone claims that he is. He doesn’t have time for his games. If this is a mistake, he wants out now.

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