D X
Chapter 27
I blocked him. “You want to see her? Close your fucking eyes and imagine what she looked like before someone tried to kill her.”
He bristled. “Don’t start. I’m not the one-”
“You’re not?” I leaned closer. “Then who is? You think I don’t know you’ve been poking where you shouldn’t? You think I haven’t heard about your mess with the Lambert funds and the silent shares she uncovered?”
He blinked, once. Twice.
I grinned without humor. “Thought so.”
He stepped back a little. “You can’t go around accusing people without proof.”
I stepped forward. “I don’t need proof to dig a grave. I just need motive. And you, brother, you got more of those than fucking scars on your soul.”
His jaw clenched. “You’re losing it.”
“If something happens to her,” I whispered, low and cold, “wait and see how deep your grave will be.”
“I’m not-”
“You better pray I find someone else’s fingerprints, Torren. Because if I don’t, I swear on the blood in my family, I’ll make sure the last face you see is mine. And I won’t be here as your rival. I’ll be here as your reaper.”
He turned and stormed off. But he didn’t say anything else. Didn’t look back. Because he
knew.
I’d tear the world apart for her.
And I just might have to.
**
I pulled every connection I had, and I mean every damn one. Bribes, blackmail, favors I was saving for my own funeral… gone in a heartbeat. I didn’t sleep. I didn’t eat. I didn’t breathe
unless it was for her.
Therese was in a coma and nobody was giving me answers. So I made my own.
hired a private team. Off–books, no paper trail, loyal to the bone. Ex–cops, ex–military, ex–criminals who owed me blood. I had them at the crash site before the sun rose, even though the place had already been sanitized and burned to hell.
But they found it. A sliver of paint, black, wedged into her door like a needle. And the dent on her frame, it wasn’t from impact with the rocks. It was angled. Clean. That car wasn’t out of control.
It was rammed.
He Left Me for Dead Now He Beas Me for Mercy
1/2 70.9
ס
X
Hard.
Deliberate.
Her seatbelt had been sliced clean, like someone wanted her thrown. The others in the car? Burned or vanished. No trace. No names. And no one in the media even bothered to ask who the passengers were. Because someone paid to keep it quiet.
Then came the tip.
An anonymous text. No number. Just a location and a timestamp. Someone saw a black car tailing hers hours before the crash. I traced the source, dug deeper, and found him.
The driver.
I didn’t call the cops. Didn’t hand him over to the security team. I picked him up myself. Quiet. Clean. No noise.
Dragged his ass straight into the Langford estate’s old wine cellar. That place hadn’t seen sunlight since my grandfather tortured spies for the war. Now it was mine. Reinforced steel doors. Soundproof walls. Concrete soaked in more secrets than blood.
I tied him to a chair. Plastic zip cuffs biting into his wrists. He was shivering before I even said a word. Reeked of piss and sweat. A coward’s scent.
I lit a cigarette, stepped into the dark, and cocked my pistol. The sound echoed like a death
sentence.
“Why the fuck was your car behind hers?” I asked, voice low.
He started shaking his head before I even finished. “I didn’t know who she was, man. I swear. I was just told to scare her. Just a bump. That’s all.”
“You scared her into a coma,” I said. I stepped closer, crouched down to his eye level. “Now
scare you into hell.”
His eyes went wide. “No, no please! I was paid, that’s all. Just a job. A tap. It wasn’t meant to-”
“Who paid you.”
“I don’t know. It was a burner phone. Messages only.”
“You think that saves you?” I took the safety off and pressed the barrel against his kneecap. “Last chance.”
“I’m telling the truth,” he sobbed. “They didn’t say names, just instructions. But the last drop–off, the cash, it was with a woman.”
“What woman.”
“I don’t know her name. She wore black, pearls. Older. Expensive car. I thought she was just a rep, man, please-”
“Name,” I snapped. “Now.”
Chapter 27
TL
L IL
47%
He squeezed his eyes shut. “Massaro. It was the old woman. The matriarch. I heard
someone call her that. She was there, alright? But I don’t know anything else. I just took the cash. I swear, I just-”
pulled the trigger.
Right into his leg. He screamed, loud, raw, like an animal in a cage. Blood gushed across the stone floor.
I stood up and flicked the cigarette away. It landed near the puddle of gas I’d spilled on purpose. Just a reminder.
“You think you get to live after touching her?” I asked, almost calm. “You think you get mercy for almost killing the only person I give a fuck about?”
He was sobbing now, gasping, begging. “Please, please, I told you everything. It was her. Mrs. Massaro. I swear. That’s all I know-”
I shot him between the eyes.
Silence dropped fast.
I stared at the mess on the floor, then holstered my gun and walked out. No hesitation. No guilt. Just a vow.
She wanted to destroy Therese.
Now I destroy her.
And I don’t stop till the whole fucking family burns.
**
I called my assistant to arrange a closed–door summit. Told him to make it look like a philanthropic gathering on paper. Charity, sustainability, some feel–good bullshit. Behind the scenes? It was war council.
showed up wearing all black. No tie. No smile. I shook hands, looked every one of those bastards in the eye, and let them feel it that I wasn’t here to talk. I was here to end something.
Once everyone settled, I walked to the podium and didn’t bother clearing my throat. I just said it straight.
“The Lambert Foundation is pulling everything now from Massaro Pharmaceuticals and Companies. All research funds. All shares. All alliances. Effective immediately.”
The silence lasted two seconds before panic hit. One guy actually stood up and started pacing. Another wiped sweat from his bald head like someone had lit a match under his balls. Whispers flew across the table like gunfire. Half of them knew what this meant. The other half were too stupid to figure it out yet.
I let them stew for a beat longer and then looked straight at the board president, smiled for
Chapter 37
212 91.9%
11
22:33 Sun, Aug 10
other half were too stupid to figure it out yet.
47%
D X
I let them stew for a beat longer and then looked straight at the board president, smiled for the first time, and said, “If the Massaros want war, I’ll show them what extinction looks like
