“Something about being soiled.”
“Yes, that’s the word that he used. He’s absolutely positive that you’re…” Simon’s eyes drift down her body, causing my jaw to clench. “Well, you’re probably too loose in certain places. Right, Bobby?”
Bobby sighs with disappointment. “A shame neither of us could try it before it got destroyed. I can’t imagine what four cocks have done to that pretty little puss.”
“Well, that’s fine.” Simon advances and grabs her left arm. “We should still send her off with a bang, right, Bobby?”
“I think you’re right, Simon.”
The two attempt to wrestle her to the bed, curses exploding from her lips as she frantically fights them off. Their chaotic attempt at taking what’s rightfully mine is so loud that neither of them hears me kick open the closet door. I march into the room, raising my gun to Bobby’s temple while turning off the safety. The moment he notices the metal on his skin, I pull the trigger, brains and blood spattering my face as Simon scampers away from the bed.
Mikhail tugs Alex from the mattress and shoves her behind him, holding up a gun that he keeps fixed on Simon. My right cheek twitches as I stare at the corpse of Bobby Sanderson on the ground. A hole in his head reveals bits of skull and brain matter, the mush that once housed his consciousness reduced to flesh and useless goo.
Simon wheezes loudly behind me, panting heavily. It’s the sound of a man cornered, an animal that’s too frightened to fight back, which is such a damn shame considering one of these two fuckers killed my father. It doesn’t matter. They’ll both be dead soon, and my promise to Alex will be completed, just as I assured her it would be.
“I was hoping for you to be a little bit more—I don’t know,” I say while turning toward him. I use the back of my wrist to wipe some of his brother’s blood from beneath my eye. “I guess I wanted you to fight back or something.”
“I can give you whatever you seek, Parker,” Simon states, on the verge of tears while wearing a menacing smile. “Even the Persian couldn’t touch you. Just wait and see. I’ll secure a place for you as well. Right next to—”
“I don’t fucking care.”
I pull the trigger, landing a bullet in his neck. A small black hole pours blood all over his shirt, a waterfall of crimson that thickens as it hits the cream carpet. Damn, I’d hate to be the maid cleaning that shit up. Blood bubbles on his lips as he falls to his knees and clutches his neck, struggling to crawl toward me.
One hand extends, clean save for the speck of blood from the bullet wound on the top of his knuckles. I march toward him and plant my shoe on the back of his hand, listening with satisfaction to the painful groan that surfaces from his damaged throat. A sickening gurgle rises next and then he goes limp, blood continuing to flow from the wound until it stops.
“God, that took forever,” Alex says while hugging her gut. “You couldn’t have done that faster, Parker?”
“He suggested raping you,” I comment flatly while grabbing a cloth from the bedside table. I wipe my face and add, “That meant he had to die slower.”
Her lower lip quivers as emotions flood her eyes. She reaches for me, pushing past Mikhail to yank me into a hug. I’m so caught off-guard by her response that I almost don’t hear Mikhail insisting that we leave.
“Come on,” he urges while gesturing to a rear door. “Someone heard that. There are probably people on the way. Alex, grab your suitcase and the cash bag. There you go, girl. All right, follow me…”
The next few minutes are a bit of an emotional haze. While keeping my promise to Alex is something I always intended to do, whether I end up with her or not, it makes me realize the extent to which I’m committed to her. And no other girl could ever have boasted of such a thing. I will kill for Alex Moretti.
I just proved that today.
Mikhail leads us into a private shed next to the parking lot of Thasos, pausing to catch his breath against a small wooden table near a window. He shakes his head and turns to us. “You two should be set now. I have to leave.”
“Where the hell are you going in a rush?” I ask while wrapping my arm around Alex. Her face is buried in my neck—and I’m not complaining about that. “I thought you were going to work with your father or something.”
“My father is dead.”
I bow my head respectfully, unsure of how to express my condolences. So, all the fathers in Macedon are officially whacked. It’s really our town now, isn’t it? “I see.”
“That idea about going to California…Well, it seems a lot nicer now.”
“I wasn’t sure if you were serious about that.”
He shrugs while pulling out his gun and checking the chamber. It seems more of a habit than anything else, perhaps even a nervous tick. “The Persian is out there, and I intend to avenge my father and brother’s deaths.”
“The Persian is out there?” I shake my head. “Yeah, we’ve met that guy. Darren—he’s in Capital City right now.”
“Are you so sure about that?”
My eyebrows dip together with frustration. Of fucking course we’re sure about that. The guy revealed himself to me less than a damn week ago after killing my security detail. He’s dangerous, but we’ll be getting him soon enough. Why would Mikhail go after what’s already being handled?
“You’re not making any sense,” I say. “Maybe your father’s death is hitting a little deeper than you think. You should sit down and catch your breath or something.”