“Stop it. We have to wait until Channing shows up. Doesn’t do any good to go after the hired muscle.” He was right. I knew the plan inside and out. I had helped come up with the damn thing. But that didn’t stop my heart from wanting to make rash decisions on my behalf. I’d had to fight tooth and nail to keep my shit together when Orley packed Noble up in the car and drove away. Sure, the fight was staged, but the fake break-up felt all too real and I was a little raw about it all.
“We sure Channing is gonna show?” That was the one outlier in the plan we couldn’t one-hundred percent pin down. If Channing didn’t show, then all of this was going to be for naught and there was a possibility Orley really would disappear on me.
“Yep. He’ll show. As soon as his goons realize they have the wrong girl and there’s no baby in the car, they’ll call him for instructions. She’ll say she’ll tell them where Noble is, but only if Channing shows up and is willing to pay. He’ll come. He thinks every problem can be solved with money, and he won’t be surprised that someone from the city is trying to leverage this situation for fast cash.” It was shockingly easy to use Vincent’s own prejudice toward the poor against him.
“He won’t come alone.” I sighed. There was no way he was going to roll into an unknown situation without an armed guard.
The Boss waved away my concern with the same hand he’d used to keep my ass in the seat as the leggy redhead climbed out of the car when the goons approached. From this distance, she did bear a striking resemblance to Orley. Both were tall and willowy. She was even dressed almost identically to how Orley had been dressed when she left me standing on the sidewalk. Only, this chick wasn’t wearing Converse. She had on some kind of spiked high heels with studs all over them and blood red soles. And my hat didn’t look nearly as cute on her as it did on my girl.
The woman halted in front of one of the goons, not even flinching when he pointed a gun at her. Her head tilted to the side, and a moment later, she pulled the long red wig off and threw it on the ground along with my hat. Her actual hair was a rich sable color, cut in a weird, asymmetrical style that only someone with her sharp, elegant features could pull off. She looked far more expensive than Orley ever had.
The Boss rolled down his window and braced his arm in the opening so he could lean his head outside.
“You better be prepared to use that thing if you’re going to point it at someone, hot shot. I told you already, if you want the kid, bring me your boss. If I don’t see Channing in fifteen minutes, he’ll never see his granddaughter again. I’m not scared of you, your gun, or your threats. If you make me repeat myself again, this is going to end so badly for you.” The woman crossed her arms over her chest and tapped a high-heeled foot impatiently. “Tell your boss the Devil says ‘hello.’”
He was the key to this entire plan working. Channing already knew the Devil was willing to set up an illegal fight where someone might lose their life. He would absolutely believe the man would be capable of kidnapping a three-year-old as long as he could profit off it. We were all betting that Channing Vincent wouldn’t believe anyone who came from this brutal city could have any morals.
One of the goons lifted his hand holding the gun and made like he was going to slam his fist into the side of the woman’s head while another made the call.
“Oh, fuck. If he hits her, we’re all going to suffer the consequences.” Hades wouldn’t stand by and let his Persephone get hurt, not without bringing the entire Underworld to its knees.
The Boss snorted and tapped the dash with the side of his fist. “Don’t worry about her. She can handle herself. You think a guy like him would put a ring on the finger of someone who wasn’t almost as scary as he was? Sometimes I think she’s worse since she willingly agreed to spend the rest of her life with him. She eats guys like that thug for breakfast.”
I was about to retort that the goon had a gun and she didn’t, but then the guy started convulsing on the ground like he was having a seizure. She calmly bent over and picked up his dropped weapon. A powerful taser gun was clasped in her other hand. The other goons watched with wide eyes as the stunning woman cocked a hip and pointed the weapon at them.
“Unlike your buddy, I only point a loaded gun at someone when I intend to pull the trigger. Get your boss down here, now!” The sharp bite in her tone even made me want to jump and obey her command.
One of the henchmen held up his hands in a gesture of surrender and showed her the cellphone clutched in his hand. “He’s on his way. Take it easy.”
She scoffed and pointed the gun at the front tire of the SUV next to him. He wasn’t the only one who screamed at the top of his lungs in surprise as she fired off a perfect shot at the tire, then at the other SUV. She took out both the front and back tires so neither vehicle was drivable.
“You ran me off the road. Your buddy pointed a gun at my face and threatened to hit me. If your boss doesn’t want to open his wallet, I guarantee your car isn’t the only thing that will have bullet holes in it, so no, I don’t think I’ll take it easy.” She tapped that expensive shoe again, and narrowed her eyes as another car made its way down the road.
The Boss shifted in his seat, reaching out to turn on the big, badass muscle car. The growl of the engine was sexy as fuck and I could freely admit to having car envy whenever he drove this particular beast.
He glanced at me, the tick in his cheek making the star tattooed near his eye jump. “Show time.”
I nodded. “I just want to bring my girls home.” Whatever it took. If I had to do the type of things I always swore I would never do, then so be it. I could live with disappointing my mother by becoming the kind of man she always warned me about. But I couldn’t live without Orley and Noble. I couldn’t leave my mom behind if she decided to run, so the only option was cutting the head off her monster so she felt safe enough to stay right by my side.
“You will.” I wish I had his confidence. He was acting like all of this was no big deal, but to me, it felt like everything I loved was hanging precariously in the balance.
A dark blue Jaguar, followed by three more SUVs, suddenly pulled off the side of the road. Traffic was totally blocked, but the area was pretty desolate since this was the road leading right into the heart of the bad part of town. The bold woman actually looked bored. Making a big show of yawning wide and lifting the hand holding the gun to cover it even as she was surrounded by approximately twenty armed men. Vincent wasn’t messing around. He brought a militia with him. It wasn’t until Channing himself climbed out of the Jag and made his way to the woman that the Boss put his powerful car into motion.
We didn’t have an army, but I guess we didn’t need one, not when every single one of the thugs Channing Vincent had rounded up last minute owed the Devil a favor. By the time the GTX pulled to a stop next to the Jag, all of the men who had initially run Orley’s car off the road were unarmed and secured with zip-ties. Channing was watching the scene, mouth agape, as a Rolls Royce Phantom joined the party; a familiar figure in a ridiculously expensive suit climbed out of the driver’s side.
Channing Vincent turned in a slow circle watching the events unfold with wide eyes and mouth hanging open in disbelief. “I paid you. What are you doing? This is unacceptable.”
All the new thugs chuckled under their breath. It was obvious Channing had been set up from the start. He went looking for bad guys in a rush, not knowing all the bad guys were already spoken for by the baddest guy in the entire town. They weren’t loyal to anyone, but they were afraid for their lives and stuck in a city run by the Devil, which trumped any other allegiance out there.
One of the guys who’d driven to the site with him snorted and waved his weapon in the air. “You paid us… but he owns us.” The gun was angled toward the Devil, who was standing next to the sexy brunette. The dark-haired, dapper man took the gun from her and tilted his head to make sure she was all right. His gaze then drifted to the man at her feet who was slowly coming out of the daze from being tazed
.
“He the one who threatened to hit you?” The question was quiet and menacing in his slight accent.
The woman sighed and pushed her hair back from her forehead. “Yep.” She held out her hand and made a gimme motion. “Give me the keys. I’ll wait in the car until you’re done with this.” She cut a narrow-eyed look toward a shocked Channing Vincent. “You, sir, are an idiot. Trying to separate a mother and child. I hope you get every bit of what you deserve.” She took the keys from her husband and, after planting a kiss on him, flounced away in a truly sassy way. I kind of agreed with the Boss; she might be even scarier than her husband.
The Devil in the perfectly tailored suit nudged the man on the ground with the toe of his wingtip and said, “This one goes back with us.”
Holy fuck. I’d never heard him use that particular tone before, and I never wanted to hear him use it again.
The mob immediately jumped to do his bidding as he faced off with Channing. Over the other man’s shoulder, the Devil’s odd, gold eyes landed on me. “Your call, kid. How you want to handle him? It can be bloody, or it can be civilized. One guarantees he won’t come after your girl ever again. The other…” He shook his head and shared an unreadable look with my boss. “I don’t like loose ends, but that’s just me.”
I looked down at my hand when the Boss suddenly pressed something cold and hard into it.
A gun.
I’d never even held one before.
My heart leapt into my throat and my vision went slightly hazy.
“The safety is off, kid. Be careful with that thing.” The lyrical, accented voice sounded amused, but the Boss looked anything but.
Channing was glaring at me, but I could see he was scared. He thought he was going to use his money and influence to get his way, but he had no idea what power plays were really all about. These guys didn’t manipulate in the boardroom. They put them in the ground in unmarked graves and didn’t blink twice. Shaking my head on a gulp, I very carefully handed the weapon back to my boss and scowled at Channing Vincent.
“I’m not a murderer. Not like him.” I couldn’t become everything I’d fought against my whole life. I couldn’t let my circumstances control me. “I want him gone and I want him to suffer, but I can’t kill him.” Who would I be if I pulled the trigger? Would I still be someone Orley could love, someone Noble could look up to? I wouldn’t risk everything I’d gained by taking Channing out.
I handed the gun back to my boss, and his heavy, tattooed palm landed on my shoulder and gave a squeeze. “Proud of you, kid. I knew you would make the right call. I always told you that you were better than me.”
They were words I’d always wanted to hear from him but they were lost when he coolly and methodically pulled the trigger on the gun in his hand. “Holy fucking shit!” The exclamation burst out of me as I reflexively lifted my hands to cover my ears. Channing Vincent fell to the ground with a bloody, gory hole where his left knee cap should be.
I jumped about a foot in the air at the sound, and couldn’t stop my mouth from falling open in shock. I always knew the Boss was a take-no-prisoners kind of guy. Witnessing just how ruthless and decisive he could be firsthand was something else altogether. I put a hand to my racing heart, and took a step back.
The Devil crouched down so he was eye level with Channing, writhing in agony on the side of the road. “He’s a good kid. Your granddaughter is way better off with him than with you. And since the only reason you’re desperate to get your hands on her is to hand over your fortune to someone in your bloodline, I went ahead and gave it to her already. All your accounts are now in the little girl’s name. Even the ones you thought you hid so well offshore. Oh, and all the Swiss accounts you put under your wife’s name. I have a couple of the best hackers in the world on my payroll, Vincent. The Boy Genius took every single asset you possess and passed them on to your granddaughter. No need for you to interfere in her life any longer.”
“You can’t do that!” The formerly rich businessman burst out, but the words were lost on a moan of pain as he clutched his destroyed leg.
“I can do whatever I want, and I just fucking did.” He rose to his feet and reached out a foot so he could press down painfully on the wounded man’s leg. “This hole in your knee hurts. Imagine how much worse it will be if we take out your other kneecap and then your elbows. I know ways to make you suffer for days, to never be the same again. And being poor on top of it will really suck. But I can also prolong the pain until you’re begging me to kill you, Vincent. It’s all up to you.”
“I’ll pay you!” It was the broken man’s failsafe. He really thought he could buy his way out of anything.
The Boss snickered and the man in the expensive suit rolled his eyes. “I already told you, you’re broke. Besides, I don’t need your money. I have my own.” He straightened his tie and glared down at the man who killed Orley’s mother. I hated him for what he put her through, but I guess at the end of the day, I owed him. She never would have ventured into my city if he hadn’t scared her to death.
“The kid doesn’t want you dead, and I don’t you want you bothering him and his girls ever again. So, these are your options, Vincent. You agree to turn yourself in for the murder of your wife and serve your sentence quietly, or you come with me and the guy who threatened to hit my wife, and you can find out exactly how I tie up loose ends.”
The man on the ground sputtered as his eyes rolled back in his head. “There is no evidence I killed my wife. Even if I confessed, no one would convict me.” Wasn’t that exactly how all privileged, powerful men felt these days? Like they could do no wrong, even if they came out and admitted it. It was annoying, and I was going to enjoy Vincent getting every bit of what he deserved.
The dark-haired man chuckled and inclined his chin slightly. “I have a Boy Genius, remember? If I need evidence, he’ll get me evidence in spades. Either way, you have nothing. Exactly what you left your daughter with when you decided to fuck up her life. I’m being generous, Vincent. It won’t last long, so make up your mind.” He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the man while the Boss clicked his tongue next to me.
“Always so dramatic.” He couldn’t hide the dry humor in his tone.
The other man quirked a black eyebrow and scoffed, “You’re the one who blew his leg in half. Touchy today, aren’t you?” They were poking each other like kids on a playground, but both talked about killing the man on the ground as easily as others chatted about the weather. I was endlessly glad they were on my side. “Call your brother. Get the detective down here and have him take Mr. Vincent away. Make sure he knows he was behind the attempted kidnapping of a minor while you’re at it.” Those gold eyes shifted back to me and I had to suppress a shiver. “You really are a good kid, Solomon. For what it’s worth, I think you made the right choice by not taking him out. You may live in a dark place, but there is no reason for your soul to end up tainted, or for it to go missing all together. Go get your girls and tell them it’s safe to come home. I’ll finish cleaning up this mess.”
The Boss practically dragged me away as the Devil once again put his foot on the open wound on Vincent’s leg and pressed down. The other man’s screams of pain echoed loudly down the empty road.
“Do you think it makes me weak? The fact that I couldn’t kill him.” I was almost scared to hear his answer.
The hand clamped on my shoulder squeezed again and I was given a rough little shake. “No. I think you’re stronger than anyone else on the roadside. It takes real strength to be the good guy in a bad place and still be respected and feared. When you’re the only hero in a story full of villains, it takes so much more to come out on top. You were brave to ask for help not knowing what the outcome would be, and you were brave deciding to let him live. Who knows what will happen ten, fifteen years from now? Your choice might come back to haunt you, but you made the right one, which is usually the hardest. I’m always proud of you, kid. Today only made me prouder.”
Heaving a relieved, thankful sigh, I followed him toward the car. “Now all I have to do is convince Orley to stay in the city with me.” Her options were wide open now that her biggest threat was gone giving her access to every cent of Channing’s money for her daughter’s future.
The Boss shook his head. “Oh, you know the Devil don’t come to play. The money really is in a trust for the little girl, and if anything happens to her, it gets allocated to various different outreach programs that help children in need. Her mom can access small amounts as needed, but she’ll have to go through him to get at it. It’s his way of making sure the little girl is always safe and never used as a pawn. Your lady is going to have to figure out how to make it on her own, just like the rest of us. Luckily, she’s got you to show her the way.”
And that was exactly what I was going to do.
I could teach her how to live hard, and I would gladly learn all Orley and Noble had to teach me about loving hard.
Life was never easy in my city… and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Orley
The massive deck off the back of the house hidden away in the woods was beautiful and frightening. It literally hung out over open space, leaving the person standing on it feeling like they were floating in mid-air amongst the clouds and trees. I’d never seen anything like it. Noble was fascinated by it and by the densely wooded area where the house was tucked away. She spent over an hour pointing out every bird and squirrel while begging to get closer to the railing so she could look at the impressive drop. There was no way I was letting her anywhere near the edge, even if the slats in the railing were too narrow for her to fit her head through. I forced her to enjoy the view from the comfort of the patio furniture until she got bored.
Downfall Page 21
