Page 15 of Vigilante
It’s funny to think they truly believed that people would be sad about this man going missing. He’s disgusting, vile, and completely deserving of what’s coming to him.
“Please,” he babbles, “just let me go.”
“I thought about that,” I reply darkly. “But then I remembered what a fucking piece of shit you are.”
“I have a wife,” he cries.
“And all the people you denied the right of healthcare to did too. Kids, husbands, fathers, and sons. Women and children that were someone’s wives, daughters.”
“Max, can we just kill him already? I haveLove Actuallyto get home to.”
My phone starts blaring from the table behind me.
“Who’s Julia?” Rocco asks with humor lacing his tone.
Shit.
Turning around, I storm over to him and snatch it out of his hand. I slide my thumb along the screen and answer it.
“Bella—”
“Bella, huh?” Rocco chuckles.
I smack him on the back of the head, putting some distance between us. “I’m kind of—” That’s when I hear her crying. “Julia, what’s wrong?”
“He...fuck...I just got fired.”
“What?” I exclaim, shocked.
“I was late from my second job, and he...fuck!”
I turn to face Rocco, my eyes flicking between him and John. This really isn’t the right time for me to be taking this call. Shit.
“That motherfucker fired me and then had the audacity to ask me out on a fucking date!”
My body stills at her words.
“God, he’s such a greasy ass?—”
“Julia, what did you just say?”
“My boss, Ned, he fired me. Are you busy? Did I?—”
“You didn’t interrupt anything. You’re more important than what I have going on. But I got the part where you said he fired you. It was the second part I want you to repeat.”
“Oh...yeah, uh, he fired me, and as I was getting up to leave, he grabbed my wrist and asked me out. Slime ball. He claimed I’d been flirting with him for a while. What is it with men? Why can’t a woman just be nice without them thinking there is something behind it, as though they’re entitled to?—”
Her babbling filters off into the distance, and my whole body goes rigid. That prick fired her and then thought it would be a great idea to put it on her like that was going to make her feel better. It’s only when my cousin walks beside me, resting hishand on my shoulder, that I realize how tight I’m clenching my fist.
The pinch between his brows tells me he’s just as confused as I am at this moment. How can I be so possessive over this girl—correction woman—that I’m filled with rage thinking about another man touching her.
“Max?” Her sweet voice brings me out of my rage-filled stupor.
“I’m right here,Bella.Where are you now?”
The faint honking of New York traffic blares in the background, and I hope she’s not standing outside the coffee shop crying.
“I’m heading home. I need to figure out a way to?—”
