Page 48 of Merciless

That motherfucker, unfortunately, has just as many allies as he does enemies, and they’ll protect him until their last dying breath.

Anyone stupid enough to attempt to take down Victor ‘Vicious’ Harris has a death wish. And while many of us might hate him, we choose our lives over ruining his.

I know what he does to people he’s supposed to like, so I hate to think what he’d do if one of us were to turn our backs on him and try to bring down his reign of terror over this town.

“You’re late,” Victor barks, his eyes locked on his prick of a son as he saunters in and pulls a chair out. Dad sits on one side of him, Kurt, Alana’s father on the other. Both of their expressions are blank as they wait impatiently. Reid’s best friend follows suit until the two of them are sitting there like everything is right in their fucked-up worlds.

“Didn’t realize we were on a deadline. You should have said.”

Victor’s lips press into a thin line, but he doesn’t respond.

“So, what’s going on? We’ve got shit to do.”

“Alana has disappeared.” My chest contracts at the cold, detached tone of his voice.

My eyes dart to Kurt but there isn’t a flicker of concern in his dark, demonic eyes.

They don’t give a shit that my wife is missing. Victor might have reluctantly agreed to hold a meeting, but he made it more than clear that he wasn’t interested in my domestic issues.

Not sure he’d have the same opinion if his woman disappeared.

Although, he’s Victor Harris. He probably wouldn’t even notice.

Hannah is nothing but a toy to him to use as he sees fit. Which, seeing as he spends most of his time here, isn’t very often.

Lucky her.

“And?” Reid asks, crossing his arms over his chest. There isn’t a flicker of concern, of anything, on his face.

“She’s gone,” I bark, my irritation levels rising.

There aren’t many things in this life that really get my blood boiling, but Alana is one of them.

“Yeah, I got that from the word disappeared,” Reid snarls.

I’m on my feet, my chair on the floor behind me before I realize the red haze has descended.

“Mav,” Dad barks, demanding I stand down.

This rivalry between me and Reid has been going on all our lives. When we were kids, it turned bloody more times than I can remember. I’m pretty sure it was how we both honed our fighting skills. But it’s been a few years since we’ve caused each other any real damage.

After the past twenty-four hours though, I’m more than fucking ready for it.

“She didn’t come home Saturday night, and I can’t find a trace of her,” I force out through gritted teeth, instead of doing what I really want and throwing a few punches in his smug fucking face.

“And this requires a meeting, why? I didn’t call one the last time I lost an odd sock.”

My teeth grind so hard I’ve no idea how one doesn’t crack.

“She’s my wife.”

“Is she, though?” JD counters.

“Yes.”

“We’ll keep an eye out for your stray, Mav. But can I suggest that you try and keep better care of the things that belong to you?” Reid pushes to his feet. “Are we done here? Or has someone lost a pet fucking hamster as well that we need to hear about?”

“We need to talk,” Victor says, holding his eldest son’s eyes. “Give us all a minute, will you.”

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