Page 68 of Ride Forever
Chapter 24
Sloane
We were dragged into the Halcyon’s penthouse at gunpoint, all our hopes bursting into flame.
The main living room stretched out before us, the space filled with leather sofas, expensive art on the walls, plush carpets, and floor-to-ceiling windows that showed a panoramic view of the Las Vegas skyline. If it weren’t for our imminent deaths, it would’ve been almost pretty with all the twinkling lights.
Two men waited for us in the middle of the expanse…one of them was King himself.
He was just as refined as the moment I’d first met him at the FBI field office. His silver-streaked hair was swept back in the same fancy quiff, his beard short and clipped to perfection. When his gaze met mine, a familiar chill prickled my skin.Psychopath.
He stared at me, basking in his triumph. He’d been looking forward to this moment ever since he visited me in that interrogation room. Was this his plan all along? Did he know I would never agree to his terms? Probably, which made our capture burn worse.
The man standing next to him was rougher around the edges. A little chubby, tall, broad shoulders, and thinning hair. When he saw us, he looked almost…sorry. It was messed up, to say the least.
“Holden… Son of a bitch!” Chaser exclaimed, taking a step toward the man. The muscle behind Chaser grasped both his arms and pulled him back.
Holden? I glanced at Chaser and realized the guy was the FBI agent he’d gone to see. The same agent who apparently got us a signed deal. My heart sank. I guessed exoneration was probably off the table, not that it mattered considering our current situation.
“I’m sorry, Mason,” he said with a shrug. “Like you said. Things have changed.”
“You twisted son—” Chaser was pulled backward, the motion cutting off his curse.
“He knows too much,” King said, not even bothering to tear his gaze from mine. He waved a hand, and a second later, one of the men behind Holden raised his gun and fired.
I jumped, the sudden noise making my heart skip a beat. The crooked FBI agent fell to the ground, his eyes wide and blood pooling beneath him.
“An American hero,” King drawled. “Shot in the line of duty trying to defend his country.” He laughed at his own joke. “There are no heroes left in this world. Just duplicitous filth.”
Chaser tensed beside me, his expression darkening.
King raised his eyebrows. “He crossed you, and you were his partner for how many years? That’s telling. He would’ve done the same to me, given the right amount. He bought his own ending, Mason. Just like you’re buying yours.”
“And what about you?” I asked. “What ending areyoubuying?”
He smirked and raked his gaze over me. “If you live long enough, I might tell you.”
“You tried to manipulate me once, but I won’t let you do it again.”
King prowled forward, and I jerked away from him, but the bodyguard behind me grasped my arm and yanked me back.
“Do you really think you’re worth so little?” he asked, completely ignoring everyone else in the room. “Your freedom for that man.” He pointed at Chaser. “That’s all you had to give me, and you could’ve avoided all this. I get everything, and you get nothing.”
“You can’t put a price on human life,” I snarled. “And you especially can’t put it on love.”
King let out a laugh, and on cue, his entourage of armed heavies joined in. The result was an empty charade of what this man’s life had become. He didn’t know love. These men would kill for him but not because they cared for the guy. They were as sadistic as he was. Money, sex, power. It was like the male trifecta of getting off, and they all partook, thanks to King.
“Love?” His eyebrows rose. “Love is a farce, Sloane. The sooner you realize it, the sooner you’ll be happy.”
“More pliable to your sick sex games, you mean?” I spat at him.
It only took a split second for his expression to change from amusement to complete darkness. He raised his hand and struck me across the face, his knuckles rapping the side of my mouth. His ring dragged against my skin, splitting my lip. My head fell to the side, and my vision blurred.
“Bastard!” Chaser roared.
I tasted blood on my tongue as Chaser’s legs were kicked out from beneath him, forcing him down on his knees. There was nothing I could do.
“As you now realize,” King began. “You now belong to me.Both of you. You can’t fight. You’ll never win, so you can save yourselves a lot of pain by coming to terms with that fact. Simple, no?” He eyed both of us.
