Page 54 of Midnight Torment

Johannes screwed his face up. “That’s a bit of an understatement. The man has an ego bigger than God and the reputation of the devil.”

“Ash doesn’t like his father either,” I replied. “His top lip tends to curl up in disgust when anyone mentions him.”

“I’ve only dealt with his son Michael.”

“He died a few months ago.”

“Well that means another soul reached Hell then.”

I’d never met Michael and I’d never heard anyone saying anything nice about him either. Everyone should leave at least one happy memory with their family before they leave this world. “I’m sure there was something pleasant about him,” I muttered.

“Not with a father like Matteus. That man comes from evil and spawned evil in Michael.”

I didn’t argue as I’d never had the misfortune of meeting Ash’s brother. “It still wasn’t very nice pointing a gun at Jordan.”

Johannes froze, his gaze boring into me with laser precision. “What did you say?”

My eyebrows rose. “That it wasn’t very nice pointing a gun.”

He waved his bound hands from side to side in front of him. “Not that part. The next bit.”

Now he’d completely lost me.

“Did you say his name was Jordan?” Johannes demanded and I nodded. “As in Jordan Berkeley?”

“The one and only,” Jordan replied easily from behind him and he appeared with his normal predator stealth.

Johannes almost shied back. “I would never have pulled a gun on you if I’d known who you were.”

Jordan rolled his eyes and pushed past him. He wrapped my hair around his hand as if to secure it in a messy bun, but instead he tucked it under a floppy hat with a brim that fell down to cover the rest of my hair. He carefully pushed my fringe under it and wiggled the hat into place.

“Sunglasses,” he commanded and stood back to study me. “I’d still recognise you, but it’s the best I can do right now.” He placed his own sunglasses into position, which just made him appear even more aloof and dangerous.

“I think people in the market are going to notice his hands,” I said, nodding to the cable tie around Johannes’ wrists.

“I spoke to Seth. He says that Johannes is an asshole but a harmless one.” Jordan fixed our guest with one of his famous scowls. “Seth said he’ll deal with you himself.”

Whoever this Seth was appeared to be scary enough to wipe the smile off Johannes’ face. Jordan produced a flick knife from his back pocket and cut through the cable tie.

“Don’t give me reason to tie you up again, or next time, you’ll be found in an alley with a bullet in your brain.” This was the part of Jordan that I had difficulty reconciling, because he said it pleasantly as if it would be perfectly normal to leave someone lying dead in an alley.

Johannes started to move toward the market, but Jordan hauled him back by the rear of his shirt.

“I don’t think so,” Jordan snapped. “You’re coming with us. I need to see that mine, so I may as well use you as a shield when we get there. You move with us, and if you so much as try to run away or alert anyone to who we are, I will snap your scrawny neck and stamp on you on the way past.”

Johannes moved his focus to me. “Is he always so intense?”

“This is mild,” I replied as I threaded my arm through Jordan’s. “Sometimes he can be really scary.”

“You have balls of solid rock,” he said while shaking his head. “Either that or you’re completely insane.”

I placed my other hand on Jordan’s chest. “He’s a pussy cat.”

Johannes chuckled and turned toward the market. “Yeah, a fucking big scary one with massive teeth and huge claws that rips your head off and leaves your bones to be scavenged by the birds.”

I stared up at Jordan for a few seconds and he bounced his eyebrows at me with a grin playing on his lips. I rubbed my hand down over his rock-hard abs.

“You’re my pussy cat,” I murmured and he growled before tugging me into walking.

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