Page 59 of Bastard

“Our new line of work is panning out really well for us. Made more on that this month than your security gig.”

Fuck. The more illegal and disgusting the venture, the higher the payout. I braced for what was coming. “That’s great news.”

“We’ll need your attention here, boy. I’m not saying you can’t play bodyguard sometimes, but your focus needs to be on your family and our work.”

If we weren’t so close to ending this entire thing I probably would have put up a fight. But now? Now I could play along. Just not too nicely. Todd wouldn’t believe me if I went too willingly. “Not sure how I feel about organ harvesting, to be honest.”

He put his arm over my shoulder like we were friends. “I get that. I get that. I do. But you’re also the man who kills when I say kill. Not really sure how it’s any different.”

It wasn’t. I was. It didn’t matter. “Speaking of murder, any more trouble since that night?”

Todd grinned. Slapped me on the back and stepped away. “Honestly? It’s been amazing. They’re calling it,” he waved his hand through the air, “the Purge. I even heard it called The Devil’s Wrath. We lived up to our name, no thanks to you.”

I froze. “You have a problem with the way I do things?”

“It’s pussy. Letting the women leave? Cleaning the scene? We could have left an even bigger message.”

“And a crime scene. The point is to not get our asses thrown in jail.” I always wondered when Todd would turn on me. Someone was in his ear. Someone who wanted me gone. And Todd was listening this time.

“Sometimes a little prison time helps. It proves we are, in fact, outlaws and we’re willing to do the time.”

“Leaving no trace behind sends a different message.” The one I crafted as Red. It was part of my signature and what made them fear me. “We can kill you and no one will ever know what happened.”

“Well maybe I want everyone to know!” Todd yelled. His eyes went a little wild like they used to when I wasn’t quite so useful to him. “The stealth shit worked while we built up this club, but things have changed. It’s time to go from powerful to notorious.”

Jesus fucking Christ he’d lost his mind. I never thought it would actually happen. Todd was finally so power hungry he’d do anything to feed the beast inside.

Todd grinned. “You know why Knife was carving up those bodies instead of dumping them?”

Oh fuck. “He took their organs.”

“Fuck yeah he did. That’s why our accounts are overflowing.”

I saw where this was going now and I didn’t like it one bit. “You really want to do this? Fine. I’m in, like always. Club first.”

He grabbed my shoulder. “You deal with the devil, the price is your soul. Never forget that. Now, I think it’s your turn in the ring.” It was weird how excited he was about all this. From the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of Riddick following us from a distance. He shook his head quickly, then nodded at the ring.

My opponent waited. Shirt off, body covered in tattoos, tongue out. Knife. I laughed. “You pitting me against the psychopath? Damn, you really want to replace me?” Fucking hell.

“Just wondering if you still have what it takes to stand at my side, son. I have no doubt you’ll prove your worth.” He clapped his hands and walked away shouting, “Let’s have a fight!”

Prove my worth? Knife was a stone-cold murderer who hated me. This was kill or be killed, but what was new? The more things changed the more they stayed exactly the same.

“Here.” I dropped my cut off my shoulders and handed it to Home Run. Then I yanked off my shirt and kicked off my shoes.

“He’ll fight dirty,” Home Run said.

“He’ll fucking kill you if you let him,” Riddick agreed.

I knew all this. I leaned in. “I’ve got this.”

“We know.”

I clapped hands with each of them, then climbed into the ring. The crowd got thicker, probably the highlight of the night. Did Todd have this planned all along? Probably. The Chubbies’ grins were too big for it to be a coincidence. There was some blood in the dirt from the earlier fights, so I kicked more dirt over it where I could. Knife bounced all over the place. He was ready. This was his moment—at least that’s what the asshole thought.

He struck me as the kind of guy who had complete and unfailing confidence in his abilities. The kind of guy who couldn’t imagine losing until it happened.

I knew how to fight this guy. I’d been fighting him all my life.

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