Page 11 of Graveyards & Greed

His cold gaze scanned me. “I don’t deal with women. ‘Suffer not a woman to usurp authority over a man, but to be in silence.’”

The creepy fucker was quoting misogynistic scripture at me. “You’re an idiot if you believe that.”

Carver gritted his teeth and pointed at me. “You need a lesson in respectin’ your elders?”

“I think getting a lesson in respecting anything would be hypocritical coming from you.”

Terrance folded his arms. “You called me an idiot. I’ve killed people for less.”

“I saidifyou believe that, you’re an idiot. The House of Spades could have retaliated by going after your little granddaughter in Oakland or your twelve-year-old niece in Miami, but we didn’t.” I’d cyberstalked the LeBarons after what happened to Camilla.

The smirk slid off Terrance’s weathered face, and his eye ticked. “Are you threatening my family, girl?”

I kept my expression carefully neutral. “No, but I’m telling you we could have. Innocent children and families shouldn’t be targeted in business or turf wars, and Camilla is innocent. If you had requested a formal meeting, we would have accommodated you. However, showing up at our business unannounced and uninvited is disrespectful and overly aggressive.”

Terrance tilted his head. “How is it you know so much about territory and turf wars, girl?”

“My family recognizes that women have brains too, and I have a voice in what occurs.”

Terrance looked around the quiet mortuary. “Alright, if you have a brain and a say, then you should be able to help me. My boy went missin’ not long after a hook-up with your girl, and another MC brother disappeared around the same time. Do you or your family know anything about it?”

My boiling temper finally exploded. “Hook up? Is that what you’re calling it? That girl’s name is Camilla, and your ‘boy’ is a thirty-something-year-old child rapist. So even if I knew where your pedophile rapist son is, I wouldn’t help you. Your gang is a blight on society. You peddle hardcore drugs and prostitution, and you hurt innocent children. I bet most of you have more sexually transmitted diseases than brain cells.” My temper hadn’t just slipped its leash, it had grown two heads and torn the roof off.

Terrance’s face went red with anger, and he didn’t hold Carver back this time when he came after me. My cousins taught us how to defend ourselves, but there were two of them, and I didn’t have any weapons. Carver tried to grab my arm, so I twisted and backed away.

He scoffed. “Take your beating like a good little bitch and I may not kill you.” Carver lunged again, and I gave him a swift kick to the crotch. He raised his thigh at the last millisecond, so it wasn’t a direct hit, but he grunted in pain and backed up a little. Then he rushed me hard. I went low and to the side, tripping him as he barreled past and hit the wall behind me. But now they were on both sides, and I had nowhere to go.

“Enough,” Terrance growled. He reached out to grab my shoulder as Carver shoved me into the older man’s chest. Carver sent us all sprawling, and somehow I ended up on the bottom. The air expelled from my lungs, and I gasped. Then I caught a whiff of unwashed bodies.

“Oh, my God,” I wheezed as I struggled to get out from under them. “You smell like rancid meat. Do humankind a favor and shower once in a while.”

Terrance rolled off me as Carver roared in rage, grabbing me by the hair and pulling me to my feet. “Boss, I’m gonna kill this mouthy bitch.” When I tried to twist away, Carver dragged me to him and wrapped his arm around my neck.

The older man glared at me as he slowly got to his feet. “Shut your fuckin’ mouth and quit provoking him.”

Keeping my voice calm, I stared back at him. “You showed up at our business and accosted me after your son raped and assaulted a minor. Who’s doing the provoking here? If you know Fennick, you know how he’s going to react to this.”

“Shut up. Just shut the fuck up!” Carver screamed, spittle flying from his mouth as he tightened his arm around my neck. He cocked his fist back and punched my cheekbone, and then my ribcage. Pain radiated through my skull and side.

I’d had enough. Sliding my hand behind me, I fumbled around and grabbed his junk, squeezing hard. Then I slammed the back of my head into his face. Carver howled and feebly punched me again before folding over on himself. I stayed on my feet and ripped away from Carver’s grasp as Terrance pulled a gun and calmly aimed it at my head. Carver stooped and held his bleeding mouth with one hand and his crotch with the other.

Slowly, I lifted my hands, my heart thudding hard. “Really? You’re going to shoot me now?” I jerked my chin to the small, almost invisible camera above Ezra’s office door. “We have security cameras. If you leave now, you might skate by without Fenn and Kilian killing you, or Ezra calling the police. But if you shoot me, you and Carver here are royally fucked.”

Terrance stared up at the camera above Ezra’s door, and I helped him out by pointing to another camera above the front entrance behind him. He stepped back and put the gun away. “I didn’t come here to kill anyone or start a war. I’m just looking for my son.”

“I don’t know anything about him, but I hope he never comes back.” Lowering my hands, I turned to Carver. “A little advice, dumbass. When Fenn sees the video of you punching and manhandling me, he’s going to lose his mind. Your life is over as you know it. If I were you, I’d move far away and stay there if you don’t want to die.”

“Your family doesn’t scare me, you stupid cunt.”

I studied him dispassionately, ignoring my throbbing cheekbone. “Are you trying to convince me, or yourself?”

Terrance smiled humorlessly, the scar across his lip stretching. “You need to learn to control your temper and your tongue, Sylvie Spade. ‘A quick-tempered man acts foolishly.’”

I rolled my eyes and huffed out an annoyed breath. “Good thing I’m a woman then, and you left out the rest of the scripture. ‘A man of wicked intentions is hated.’ I’ll be sure to tell Ezra and Fenn you stopped by.”

Chapter 6

Sylvie

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