Lover (Betrothed 3)

Ash and I sat in the back seat of the SUV at the docks. Damien was in another car, but we could communicate with him through our comms system. Things were so tense between us that he didn’t even want to be in my vicinity.

The feeling was mutual.

It was pitch black outside, and the ships at the dock were dark because no one was on board. We had taken over security and infiltrated with our own guys so we would know exactly when Maddox’s team was about to arrive.

An hour later, a large ship approached the dock, and two men popped out to secure it. At the same time, one of my guys spoke in my ear. “The truck is approaching.”

I turned to Ash and gave him a nod. “Any moment now.”

Ash had an assault rifle around his shoulders, and he held it in front of him at the ready to do what was necessary when the moment came.

The truck stopped, and a few men hopped out and opened the back. From our camera feed, we could see that it was completely stuffed with meth. There had to be several tons on board, ready to be shipped to the rest of Europe.

Looking at his product pissed me off. It was inferior to mine, which just annoyed me more.

I gave the signal to my team. “Let’s go.”

The bodies were piled on the concrete, and the truck full of drugs had been driven right into the water. I wanted to make sure Maddox couldn’t recover it so he would be at a complete loss. The men on the ship had been executed, and my men would make sure they were stuffed in oil drums to be dropped deep into the ocean.

Only one guy remained. On his knees with his hands in the air, he shook on the spot. It was dark outside, but it was clear he had a wet outline on the front of his jeans. The pussy pissed himself like a little boy. “I got kids. Come on.”

My wife had a husband, but that didn’t stop Maddox. “Everyone else is dead. You think there’s any possibility you’re gonna get out of this alive?”

He dropped his gaze and began to shake more. He even began to cry.

I wanted to shoot him in the head for being such a coward. When I’d thought Maddox was going to kill me, I held my head high and didn’t give in. He beat me with a bat, and not once did I make a single sound.

Ash sat beside me, his arms folded over his chest. He looked bored.

“You know what? I will let you go.”

The man looked up at me, astonished.

“Just tell me where I can find Maddox.”

His face turned white. “I don’t know where he is…”

I cocked my gun. “Yes, you do.”

“Even if I did, I can’t tell you. Maybe you’ll spare my life now, but he won’t spare mine later.”

I held my gun at my side. “You’re taking a gamble, I get it. But if you tell me where he’s at, and I kill him, no one’s coming after you.”

He lowered his hands to his thighs and considered what I said. There was a small look of hope in his eyes, a dream he might be able to get out of this. But then that shine slowly faded away. “No.” He shook his head as he gave his final answer. “No one can kill him. No one.”

Every single one of his men refused to roll on him. It was the kind of loyalty I couldn’t explain. Maddox was a psychotic madman. How could he scare these men so deeply? “You should’ve put your money on me.” I raised my gun, aimed between the eyes, and pulled the trigger.

He fell back with a thud, his blood everywhere.

Ash didn’t react at all, not even to the sound of the loud gunshot as it echoed off all the cargo bins. “It’s like they’re robots.”

“He must have dirt on all of them. Must keep track of all their affairs, their debts. He probably promised to ruin their legacy if they compromised him before they died.” Maddox was thorough and paranoid. He left nothing to chance…which was why I couldn’t get rid of him.

Damien walked over to us, mostly looking at Ash and avoiding me. “Maddox is officially finished. We could either wait for him to call, or we could call him first.” He turned his eyes on me. “What do you wanna do?”

I clicked the safety on my gun and stuffed it into the back of my jeans. “I need to think about it.”

Damien continued to stare at me, like he had something to say. A full minute passed, and his gaze seemed to become more formidable. “I’m the one who tracked down every distributor. I’m the one who tailed all the guys. I’m the one who was out every night trying to get this shit done.” Like that was supposed to be enough to earn my forgiveness, he waited for me to acknowledge his sacrifice.