Page 9 of Midnight Torment

Since her training was a secret, I didn’t want to clue him in that his would-be assassin was already fucked up when I arrived in the toilet. “She is never vulnerable, and you’ve lost another player,” I pointed out.

“Men are expendable,” he replied. “Over time you realise that.”

“No thanks. My circle is small and none of them are expendable. That’s another difference between you and me.”

“We’re more similar than you think, Jordan. Behind every photograph there is a full story. When I started on this path, I thought I was fighting for justice, then my family was slaughtered and all that is left is revenge.”

There were times I forgot he was Cassandra’s uncle and his brother Frank and his family had been killed. Cassandra only escaped because one man took pity on her and put her into a children’s home under a new name.

“Everything I’ve ever heard about Frank Jenkins screams that he wouldn’t approve of the man you’ve become,” I taunted him.

“Frank had his own demons to fight and I have mine. Keep your nose out of my business, Jordan, or that cute little blonde will find herself in the next shipment into slavery.”

A cold trickle rippled down my spine at the image of my beautiful angel being broken by evil men with small dicks.

“Let me assure you that since you brought Megan into this, I won’t rest until you join your brother. Have a pleasant day and may the faery of STDs bless you with a substantial dose of herpes and a sprinkling of genital lice.” I hung up on him because I’d heard enough.

Megan was about to find herself in my version of witness protection. If anyone even breathed wrong around her, I would know about it. I washed his phone in the sink and tossed it among the mess on the floor to contaminate it in case someone discovered the body before I had this mess cleaned.

I dialled my clean-up crew.

“I don’t do call-outs to Cuba,” Flynn said when he answered his phone.

“Fuck off,” I retaliated. “I’m back home. Grampa was driven off the road and is in hospital and the asshole behind it sent someone to snatch Megan.”

I’d been trying to keep her place in my life hidden, but there seemed to be little point since Dante knew all about her.

“Megan?” Flynn queried. “Is that the name of the blonde I’ve been hearing rumours about?”

Fuck. My. Life.

“Don’t be a dick. I have one for collection tonight.” I trailed my fingers through my hair. “There may be more depending on what happens next.”

“Do you want me to hold off since you’re considering starting a war?” The asshole sounded amused. “At this rate, I’ll have to give you a discount for multiple orders.”

“Hey, as a businessman, I’m just trying to do my bit for the economy.”

Flynn chuckled. “Yeah, right. Do I need to bring the metal detector?”

“Nope. All done by hand tonight, so no bullets or casings need recovered.”

“Send me the details on our secure network and I’ll have it dealt with.”

“Thanks.” I hung up and stared at the dead man. There was no point in keeping his phone and as soon as I hung up, I knew Dante would destroy that phone.

I wandered out of the toilet with my hands in my pockets and returned to the waiting area. Ash sat just inside the doorway with his legs crossed, looking as if he didn’t have a care in the world. He must have been camped out in the carpark. He raised a single eyebrow and I shook my head to let him know that the threat had been neutralised.

“How’s Horatio?” Ash asked, sliding his phone from his pocket to begin typing on it.

“Both him and Ivan are out of theatre, and we’re waiting to hear the next update.” I propped myself up on the doorframe so I could watch Megan, who was sitting holding Emma’s hand.

Her face had gone from pale to flushed and she gnawed at the corner of her mouth, the way she did when she was anxious. Her gaze slowly came up to meet mine. There was a thousand questions in her huge blue eyes, but I had no intention of answering any of them. The only place I let my defences down was in our bedroom.

The way I felt right now, if I opened my mouth to speak about what was lying in the toilet down the hall, I would end up losing control. Every instinct inside me demanded that I get on the first plane out of London to track Dante down until he was crushed and broken, then I would blow his brains out to stop him tormenting any other innocent souls. The only force holding me here was the need in Megan’s eyes. From day one, I had learned to read what she needed by studying her eyes.

Megan rose to her feet and wandered across to me without uttering a single word. I held my arms open and she burrowed deep into my chest, her head resting under my chin. She didn’t know it, but she alone had the power to command me to set the world on fire.

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