Page 68 of Dirty Gambit

Jaxon bit back his revulsion and the brewing desire to break the fucker’s nose. He reminded himself he needed to stay focused and levelheaded if he was going to get his family out of this.

“One million.” That stopped the amusement and won him the man’s full attention. “Plus, whatever is missing from the bag. In return, I keep the girls, and you clear Lena’s name.”

Travis narrowed his eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“I know you framed her for killing those cops.” He knew no such thing, but he’d pieced enough of it together during his fly down to safely assume he was on the right path. “You planted that evidence and made sure she took the fall just so you could get your money back. A little extreme, don’t you think?”

A dirty nail lifted and absently scratched at a scab next to his nose. “Let’s say I did, she stole from me. It’s what she deserved.”

“To be labeled a cop killer?” Jaxon pressed.

“I may have gone a little overboard, but I take stealing from me very personally.”

“You murdered three innocent men and left three families devastated.”

The fucker hissed through his teeth. “I may have been on a wild trip when I gave the orders. My bad. I may also have some anger issues. But Benny will tell you,” he motioned to one of the gorillas, “I’m working on that.”

Jaxon let it go. “Clear her name. It doesn’t matter how you do it. Get them off her back.”

A sharp scoff burst from Travis’s nasal cavity. “What makes you think I have that kind of power?”

“Because you were clever enough to get her DNA on the scene. I know you’re clever enough to fix it.”

Travis groaned like a child being told to eat his veggies before dessert. His head dropped back against the headrest of the armchair, and he rolled his eyes up towards the ceiling, petulant. “Do you have any idea how hard it was to pull that off? It’s not like they show you on CSI. It took days to perfect.”

“Do you want your money or not?”

Consideration twisted over the man’s vile features. Jaxon could almost smell the stench of burning rubber as he rubbed his two remaining brain cells together. The way Lena talked about this guy, feared him, Jaxon had expected someone well-spoken and suave, someone who commanded authority and terror by walking into a room, not a sleaze bag with bad hygiene. Without his goons and their guns, Travis wasn’t intimidating. Jaxon knew he could easily break him with one hand. But he didn’t allow that thought to overshadow what was important: clearing Lena, getting those assholes out of his parent’s house. Once he’d done that, he’d find a way to get Travis alone in some back alley and make him pay for everything he’s ever done.

“Two million.” Travis lifted his head at last and fixed Jaxon with surprisingly clear eyes. “Plus, whatever is missing from the bag, and I will make sure theevidenceaccidentally goes missing.”

Jaxon gave a nod. “Deal.”

The man scrutinized him with a wary frown. Those rusty wheels were turning behind that stare. Jaxon could almost see them struggling.

“Why?” Travis slumped back in his seat. “Don’t get me wrong, I really don’t care, but that’s a whole lot of cash for some pussy.”

Jaxon ignored the spear of rage puncturing his side and offered a curt shrug. “Doesn’t matter. Point is, you get your money.”

Travis chuckled. “You’re not wrong.” He heaved himself up to his feet. His arms extended wide to either side as he stretched scrawny arms, flashing Jaxon with another view of his flappy belly lined with coarse, gray hair and the handle of a Glock stuffed between the fat and a leather belt. “I love when shit comes together, don’t you? I mean, I came here expecting to have to butcher a couple of rich fuckers and, instead, I’m four million richer.”

“Two million,” Jaxon corrected.

Travis let his arms drop with a resounding smack. “Interest for the money gone from the bag. Come on.” He gestured to the room around them. “I know you can swing it.”

He could and still not make a dent in his account, but that wasn’t the point. Allowing him to change the deal after agreeing to it would open a gateway that may never end. He would keep coming back, keep asking for more. His family would never stop being in danger. Lena would never be free of this guy.

Jaxon shook his head. “That’s not what we agreed.”

Dark amusement twisted the curves of Travis’s mouth. “We can always forget it. I take the girls. You keep your money. Everyone wins, except that cunt who stole from me, because, trust me, I am going to do things to her…” he whistled through his stained teeth. “She’s going to wish I end her miserable life.”

Hot coals blazed in the pit of Jaxon’s gut, a simmering brew of boiling fury he had to bite down to keep from spewing over. His fingers bit into the armrest, restraining him from leaping up and breaking the man’s face.

“She’s fucking hot, right?” Travis went on, squinting at Jaxon as if sharing a joke. “Man, those legs…” He made a smacking chef kiss. “I am going to spread them wide and—”

Jaxon had no memory of leaping across the coffee table and tackling the fucker to the ground, but he was on him, had one hand twisted in the bastard’s stinking top, the other cocked back, five fingers of bloodthirsty rage flying. The knuckles split on the first impact. Blood spewed across Jaxon’s face, his top, the carpet. It sprayed Travis’s face, drenching his collar. Something fractured with the second blow. Jaxon had no idea if he’d broken a finger or Travis’s jaw, but that was his final blow. The numbing haze lifted with the sharp crack of a gun cocking right against the side of his skull.

His mother’s wails registered before anything else. They cut through the curtain of bloodlust and brought him to his senses if only slightly.

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