For the Taking

Prologue

“Do not do this! I beg of you. Please, don’t.” Riley Lord wasn’t used to begging anyone. As he looked at the ground where his pregnant wife lay, he had never felt so fucking broken. He didn’t even know how this had come to be. What had gone wrong in his life? He was nearly thirty years old and had been a loyal puppet to David Peace since he was sixteen. He’d been nothing but a punk-ass kid in the street, intent on making a name for himself. He’d joined David’s crew, trained, and was now considered one of the most feared hitmen David had.

Now, he stared at the woman he had promised to love and protect, and he couldn’t do it. They had him chained to a wall with four men, guns poised, ready to take him out.

“You know I have to. You know I can’t have any weakness,” David said.

“Then take it out on me,” Riley screamed at the man he would have taken a bullet for.

“She talked, Riley. You should be thanking me.”

“She didn’t know what she was doing. They didn’t tell her who they were. She thought they were guards.”

“Then this will teach you to think about the kind of woman you fuck, Riley. One day, you will thank me for this. You shouldn’t have a stupid cunt at your side, ready to talk to any willing cock. This is on you. All on you. The reason I am having to kill her is because you didn’t train her right.”

“She’s pregnant,” Riley said. “Please, don’t do this. Please.” He loved Bethany so much. She was his entire life. Nothing he did had ever pushed her away. When he was covered in blood, she welcomed him with open arms, and he treated her like a queen. They had found each other in all the chaos and pain.

“I’m sorry,” Bethany said, sniffling.

David walked up to Bethany and tutted. “For what it is worth, I am sorry for what I’m about to do.”

He held the gun out, and Riley screamed. He fought against the chains that bound him, but nothing would budge. His wife was shot in the head.

Killed instantly.

His baby wouldn’t even have a chance.

He screamed and fought.

“I suggest you kill him,” David said, removing the silencer from his gun. “And do it quick. I don’t have any more time to waste on this trash.”

Riley looked at the man he had killed for. So many people he’d hurt, all in the name of keeping David Peace on time. He was the ultimate crime lord. His was the name was to be feared, and Riley had helped to put him on top.

Staring into David’s eyes, he smiled. “As God is my witness, I promise you, you will rue the day you did that!”

“You’re not going to live to see another day, Riley. You think this doesn’t hurt me too? You were the best man I ever had working for me. I find this a real … irritation. I deserved better from the likes of you. Next time, I won’t make that mistake again.”

David tutted but didn’t linger.

Riley watched him go as only one man stayed behind. A man he’d trained, and he saw the man was torn.

“It’s okay, John.”

“I don’t want to do this.”

“You heard the man.”

John raised his gun but rather than shoot Riley in the head, he put a bullet in his left leg. “I am sorry.”

Seconds passed, and Riley heard the door close.

John should have killed him.

He was known for getting out of tight situations, and being chained to a wall, bleeding to death, was a piece of fucking cake to him.

All chains had a weakness, and he’d felt the cement in the old warehouse give. He tugged on the chains, and within minutes, the chains broke free.

He dove toward his wife, the love of his life and held her lifeless body in his arms.

“I will kill him, baby. I promise. This is not your fault. I will make sure he suffers before I finally kill him.” He kissed her cheek and held her close.

As much as it grieved him, he couldn’t stay here. He had to leave, and to do that he had to wipe away all traces of his presence.

This wasn’t the first time he had to disappear, and it wouldn’t be the last. Even broken, hurt, shot, in pain, Riley had always been able to survive, and now, he had a mission—take out David Peace, one man at a time.

Chapter One

Ten years later

Meghan Short screamed as the man broke her arm. The pain was intense, and she knew without a shadow of a doubt her arm was broken. Why did they have to go for her arms? Why not her feet? Or her face?

Tears fell down her face, and she wished she could hurt the man in front of her. She would leave to see the shock and fear on their face as she burned them all alive and tore them to pieces.