Page 89 of Hell's Claim

I blinked as Sunny stepped in front of me. Carnage? Wasn’t he meant to be dead?

“Always slow to understand shit, you and Chance, two fuckin’ peas in a pod. Not anymore, though, I did you both damage,” Carnage crowed. “Livvy, take his weapon.”

Livvy moved forward and took Sunny’s gun from his waistband.

“Move into the living room and sit down,” Carnage ordered.

“That ain’t happening,” Sunny stated.

“Because your little lady would be exposed. Pretty dumb of you to bring her. This time, she won’t survive me,” Carnage promised.

“You pushed me?” I exclaimed, trying to get around Sunny. Sunny held me back.

“Yeah, you fought, but I was stronger. I’ll have my cross back,” Carnage said.

“The cross you stole from Tiny to frame him?” Sunny demanded.

“That what you think? I took that cross because I liked it,” Carnage replied.

“Sounds about right, but the police have it,” I muttered. Tacky likes tacky.

“You were behind my shooting?” Sunny asked.

“Jesus, boy, ain’t you worked anything out?”

“I’m missing pieces of the puzzle,” Sunny admitted.

“Number one, weren’t Zeus who killed Enigma. I did that because he was a sanctimonious prick.” He lifted a hand and swiped at the air. “Livvy, get me a beer. Seems I gotta explain shit to clueless here.”

“Why did you kill him?” Sunny ground out.

“Because I did not like him or the way he ran the club. The fucker ran me off and told me to black my ink. Instead, I faked my death. When Zeus took over, I contemplated coming back to life, but I’d started a new career,” Carnage said as Livvy handed him a beer.

“As what?” Sunny asked.

“I was a hitman. Didn’t care who I hit, just as long as I got paid. I’ve blood on my hands, boy, and I couldn’t give a fuck. I let Livvy have the pension, and she saved it and opened her shop. Perfect cover for her. And Tati, bleeding heart she is, placed an order every week for years. She’d no idea I was watching her from theback. That bitch aged like fine wine.” Carnage smacked his lips together, and I shuddered.

Livvy sent him a dirty stare but didn’t say anything.

“So, you killed Enigma for shits and giggles?” Sunny said.

“Yup.”

“Why me?”

“I fuckin’ hated you and Michaelson. Snotty-nosed kids. Seriously, boy, you thought you were better than everyone else. I proved you wrong. Hurt both you and Michaelson. I shot you because I wanted to. Simple as that. I took Tiny’s phone. He never learned how to hide things properly, and I sent you the text.”

“For nothing other than the fact you didn’t like me?” Sunny sounded incredulous. I could understand why. Sunny was shot for no real reason?

“Yup. Ain’t hard to understand. Hated your fuckin’ spoiled guts, so killed Enigma and set the ball rolling on a world of pain for you both. Really thought you were dead, though, that was a good deception,” Carnage said, amused.

“And you’ve been spying on Hellfire? Why?”

“Didn’t bother until you came home. I wanted to know what you’d been up to and what your story was. Of course, I missed the initial explanation, but I pieced things together over time.”

“You told the cops where the bodies were,” Sunny stated, and Carnage nodded.

I squeezed Sunny’s waist, and he stiffened slightly. I think he’d forgotten I was there.

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