Ruthless People (Ruthless People 1)

Backing away from her, I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to calm myself down. What the fuck was wrong with me? She had just started to speak less than twelve hours ago, and I was trying not to jump her. Being in the plane with her so close didn’t help. Never had I been happier to take her bitching.

“Mel . . .”

“Liam . . .”

We both stopped when there was a knock on the door. Sighing, Mel stood up and opened the lodge door, allowing both Neal and Declan to walk in. Declan immediately gave me a look as if he knew what had just happened. However, with the thin walls I wouldn’t be that surprised.

Vance was right in coming to Tanzania. Neither Mel nor I had ever been here before, but luckily the American dollar was as good as gold. It only cost us five hundred dollars to buy this wooden lodge in the middle of the fucking jungle. It wasn’t the Ritz, but it would do for now.

“Can we come in?” Neal asked.

“She opened the fucking door didn’t she?” I stated, pouring myself more brandy. Thank God that Nelson kid kept the plane well stocked.

Walking over to me, Mel capped the brandy bottle, glaring at me before looking back at them. “What do you have?”

Declan pulled out a map and opened it over the table. “So were in Seronera, here.” He pointed. “From what we’ve gathered speaking to some of the locals, a group of men with Vs on their arms came through here two weeks ago.”

“We think they are hiding out in Lobo, about forty-five miles from here. If we leave now, we can make it before daybreak. I’ve already bought a helicopter from one of the townsfolk, Jinx is fixing it up the best he can now,” Neal added, pulling on the strap of his sniper rifle.

“You, Antonio, and Jinx along with the rest of the snipers will stay back ten miles. I’m guessing the helicopter you bought isn’t going to hold all twelve of us, so look for another one and have Adriana fly it,” Mel stated looking over the map. “Declan, you and Monte, along with the rest of the men, will back the twenty-five mile mark.”

We stared at her as though she had just lost her fucking mind.

“So you and I are supposed to raid their hideout by ourselves?” I asked her slowly. Maybe she wasn’t quite ready to come back yet.

“Ma’am, Adriana didn’t even come with us.” Declan eyed her carefully before shooting me a look. This was too important to fuck up, and we only had a small window.

“Maybe you should rest,” Neal started, but was cut off by Mel cocking her gun.

“Please finish that sentence, motherfucker. I’m begging you to finish that sentence, so when I tell Olivia why her husband came home with a bullet, I can say he forgot who the fuck I am . . . a deadly mistake. Especially since I haven’t liked your bitch-ass from the get-go. So go ahead and tell me I need some rest.”

Neal made the wisest choice of his life and kept silent, Declan on the other hand . . .

“Ma’am . . .”

“And you,” Mel snapped, turning her gun on him. “You keep your mouth shut or I will be forced to tell Liam all the naughty things you’ve been dreaming of doing to me.”

“What the fuck!” Before he could even blink, I had a gun to his skull. I never thought I would have to shoot my best friend, but I’d been wrong on many occasions lately.

“Drop your gun, Liam.”

I just glared at the bitch-ass motherfucking cunt that dared to call himself my right-hand man. “Fuck no. I’d rather kill him slowly. Maybe set him on fire.”

Pushing Declan back, Mel stepped in front of my gun. “I wasn’t asking. Put the gun down now.”

“We will have words later, cousin.” I glared over at him before doing as she asked. I would deal with her later as well.

“Now that all your blood is pumping to the right places,” she hissed at me. “Adriana, come in.”

And sure enough, a blond-haired woman with green eyes stepped in. She was sexy, in a whorish type of way, and could definitely not be ugly duckling, Adriana. However, she walked over to Mel with her head held high and pulled a cell phone out of her bra.

“Is there anything else you needed, ma’am?”

Holy mother of fuck. Sure enough, that voice belonged to Adriana.

Nodding, Mel placed the phone in her back pocket. “Thank you, Adriana, feel free to change. I hope that wasn’t too much for you.”

“Never, ma’am,” Adriana replied, taking off the blond wig. “I placed the bombs throughout the compound like you asked. They sweep the place every morning though, so tonight is the only chance you have.”

“He didn’t touch you did he?” she asked with no emotion whatsoever. Anyone who knew her was aware that emotionless Mel was as ruthless as they come.

“No, ma’am. I was too European for him. He wanted to taste the native culture.” She frowned, blinking rapidly as she pulled off her fake nose.

“Thank you, Adriana.”

Adriana nodded before leaving, and I could feel my blood begin to boil over.

Why the fuck am I clueless right now? I thought to myself as I cracked my jaw. Walking in front of her, I leaned in on the other side of the table.

“Speak, now,” I said, afraid of losing my temper with her. One moment I wanted to fuck her brains out, the next, I wanted to snap her neck. Why did she torture me so much?

She leaned in and whispered, “I think I should rest.”

“Mel . . .”

“After Adriana let you know I was on the plane, I had her follow along on a commercial flight. We’ve cut off most of Vance’s drug supply, but the money he makes from trafficking is a lot higher—”

“You let Adriana get abducted?” That was the most reckless thing I had ever heard from her. Trafficking wasn’t a joke. Adriana was most likely drugged within seconds of being taken. They could’ve done God knows what during that time, and worst of all, Adriana could have been blown . . .

“I see the wheels of hell turning in your eyes, and you need to breathe,” she snapped at me. “Yes, I let Adriana get abducted, but she knew what she needed to do. After all, it wasn’t the first time the Valero had taken her. This time she didn’t go in as a victim, but as a motherfucking liberator. So as I was saying before you grew a heart, Mr. Grinch, Adriana was taken from the airport. What she did, and how she got out, I’m not aware of because it just fucking happened. All that matters is that their hideout is laced with Cyanide bombs.”

“You want to smoke them out.” Declan smirked stepping closer, and the moment he did, I stabbed the table right next to his hand. He looked up at me with eyes wide before taking a step back.

“We smoke them out like rats, and we shoot them down one by one while they’re blinded.” Neal grinned, circling the area around Valero’s hideout. “They will come running as fast as possible, but they will be too fucked up to even pull the trigger.”

“You planned this all out in a few hours.” I didn’t even bother trying to hide how impressed I was.

Turning to Neal and Declan, I signaled for them to leave. Declan was out the door faster than I had ever seen him move.

She poured herself a glass of brandy, but neither of us spoke. We both were too hardheaded for that. Knocking back the rest of my drink, I licked my lips.