Page 11 of Darling Psycho

It was the fact Lawless had been caught unawares that stuck in his fucking craw.

A man who planned, plotted, schemed, and calculated got played.

And it tasted burnt on his tongue.

Lies were straightforward.

Deceit came naturally.

Manipulation was a thing of sport.

But this... This thing burning in his chest was brand new, and it was taking some swallowing around it.

Betrayal.

He felt betrayed.

Wasn’t that laughable, huh?

He’d be on the Dr. Phil show next, spewing up his feelings.

Lawless didn’t want his presence known. Not yet. He waited until Angela climbed into her car, and then a Black Mercedes came around the corner and picked Jay up, no doubt ever-faithful Marco behind the wheel.

Only when the two cars disappeared, he shifted on his feet before climbing back onto his bike.

One destination down, one to go.

He parked across the street nearly one-thirty in the morning, trudging to the apartment block. A car and a bike were parked out front, but the place was dark inside. Three sharp knocks on the door. He took a left and headed to the narrow alleyway. Around the back, a motion sensor light popped on, and he braced a shoulder to the wall next to the back door.

“No one was there, baby. Stay inside, gonna have a look around; it’s probably a wildcat.” The male voice said.

Wrong, Lawless smirked.

He had a woman, did he? Such a fucking shame for her to lose him then.

The back door opened, and Judge had only taken two steps outside before Lawless surprised the man by grabbing him by the throat, and he slammed the younger guy up against the wall.

“Lawless?” he said incredulously, looking at him through stunned eyes. “Shit.”

“Shit, indeed.” He rasped in return. “You have a lot of explaining to do.”

Lawless didn’t need to tighten the hand clasped around Judge’s throat, and the prospect stopped struggling the second he figured he was in trouble. “What’s going on, boss? When did you get out? I thought it wasn’t for a few months yet.”

“I don’t report to you, Son.”

Right then, the door creaked open, and he heard, “Oh, my god, Judge.”

Judge’s head swung to the side as much as he could. Lawless saw a woman older than them both in a short nightie, looking like she knew her man’s life was in danger.

Ding. Ding. Ding. Judge had chosen a smart one at least.

“Go inside, Christie. Everything is okay.”

“What’s going on? It doesn’t look okay.”

“It is, I promise, just having a word with my boss. Go on, sugar. I’ll be in soon.”

She hesitated, meeting Lawless’ steely, unsmiling eyes, and then the last look at Judge. She turned and went back inside.

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