“Fuck you,” Rafe grunts.
Pressing the gun harder into Rafe’s forehead, Sin says, “No, fuck you. You’re the one with a gun to your head, asshole. It won’t take much at this point to convince me to pull the trigger, but I guess I should tell you, that’s not why I fucking came here tonight.”
“Bullshit,” Rafe bites back. “Do I look like a fucking idiot?”
“No, you look like shit.” Raising his voice, he says, “Laurel, go get this asshole an ice pack to put on his face.”
What?
I don’t know, but I don’t want to miss anything, so I run to the fridge, grab an ice pack, a hand towel, and hasten back to the living room. Sin is still sitting on top of Rafe, still with the gun to his head, so I don’t try to shove the stuff at him. It’s cold, so I use the towel to hold the ice pack and wait.
“Now, if you can stop making me want to kill for five fucking seconds, I’m going to give you your options. Cool?” Sin asks, cocking an eyebrow at Rafe.
Rafe doesn’t respond, he just casts me a mean look.
Sin punches him again, then puts the gun back against his forehead. “Try again, dickbag. She’s the only reason you even stand a chance at walking out of here.”
“Just say what you need to say,” Rafe tells him.
“You have a big problem on your hands,” Sin informs him. “Not me—a bigger problem. There’s a mutiny brewing. I have a list as long as my arm of people who want you out of power, and at the top of that list is Gio. He wants your seat. Offered to bring me up if I turned on you.”
“Offered that right out of the blue, huh?” Rafe asks, not nearly as cowed as a man in his position should be.
“No, not out of the blue. Right on the heels of you telling Theo to take me out,” Sin replies. “Guess it seemed like an opportune time.”
My eyes widen, but Rafe doesn’t even deny it. Sighing, he reaches a hand out at me. “Give me the fucking towel.”
“I’m not sure I want to give you the towel now,” I inform him. “You sent someone to kill Sin?”
“Sin killed him first, don’t worry.”
“Good,” I snap.
“Give me the towel,” he says.
“No.”
Rafe sighs, thumping his head against the hardwood floor. “Fucking Christ.”
“Now, before the barrel of your gun touched Laurel, I came up with a different idea. She has this yearning to keep you around, though right now I can’t think why,” Sin informs Rafe.
“Right now I am also not married to that idea. Maybe you should kill him and we’ll just keep his house,” I suggest. “Just us playing by the pool with the baby also sounds fine, if he’s going to be a murdery bastard.”
“Thanks,” Rafe says dryly. “You’re a lot of help.”
“I’m not taking that off the table just yet,” Sin murmurs. “My first idea was this: I’m going to help you clean house. Wipe out all the assholes who want you gone—all of them. Attack with an iron fist. No more of this salvaging shit. If they were willing to flip, they’re gone, no matter who they are. One final round of housecleaning and clear out all the bad apples. It’s not going to be a small job. We’re going to need help. You’re going to have to call Mateo and ask if he can send us some guys, not necessarily to help us wipe them all out, but to help us keep the ship steady in the meantime while the ripples from this shit hit our crew. Other crews are going to hear about it. I have to kill Gio, he’s in too deep. He was in bed with Cassandra Carmichael—literally. She’s dead now.”
That gets Rafe’s attention. He tries to sit up. “What?”
“She tried to have Laurel poisoned. Abortion pill or some shit, didn’t want her to have your baby. Marlena did the drop. She’s dead, too.”
Rafe’s head falls back against the floor and he brings his hands up to cover his face.
“Yeah, I’ve been busy. Anyway,” Sin says, his gun moved away from Rafe’s face, but not putting it away yet. “This shit between us? It has to be over. We’ve gotta squash it. After you apologize to Laurel for that bullshit you just pulled,” he adds. “You’re gonna have to do that first. Then, once I help you get your crew cleaned up, you’re going to need a new number two to help you run shit. I’m giving myself a promotion since you never got around to it. I’m your new number two. I also get Laurel. She’s mine now. If you can accept these terms, great, let’s get to work. If you can’t, I’ll feed you a couple bullets and persuade Carly to move Vince out here so there’s a Morelli technically on the throne, but I’ll be the one calling the shots. I can do a better fucking job. I don’t want that job necessarily, but having her sister nearby would probably make Laurel pretty damn happy, so I can go for either option. We can work together and be stronger, or we can take each other on, but I’d caution you to notice which one of us is pinned to the floor with a bloody everything if you’re leaning toward the latter option. Do not try to fake me out. I’ve already done that shit with Gio, and I’ll see right through it. If I’m gonna have to kill you, I’d just as soon do it now and get it over with. If you agree to my terms, you better mean it. If you even think about double crossing me, I’ll kill Virginia. I know that matters to you now.”
“Fuck off,” Rafe mutters. “You already killed every other fucking woman I know.”
Sin shrugs. “You need to have better taste when it comes to women. I like Virginia. You should see if you can make it work with her. She could keep you busy. Laurel likes her, too, and if I’m not moving Vince and Carly out here, we’re gonna need couple friends.”