Page 17 of Explode
But if my gut was right, that Colin was hiding something, then Icouldn’t let him walk away.
Channeling every ounce of Kai I could find, I gave him my best deathstare. I wasn’t sure if I looked intimidating or constipated, either way, he withered under it.
“Riley, please,” he begged quietly, his eyes turning pleading, and thatwas enough for me to know that the second he was free to walk out of here, he’d go snitching.
And that’s why I met Ash’s eye and gave a nod of my head, silentlyordering him to seize Colin.
Ash didn’t hesitate. Within a second, he had yanked a terrifiedColin to his feet. Colin, who had not expected to be suddenly grabbed, started trying to wriggle his way out of Ash’s grasp and protesting his innocence. But there was only ever going to be one winner, Ash was the size of a tree.
If I ever needed more conviction as to why I should order a man to bekilled, it was right at that very moment I received it. As Colin grappled, something fell from his pocket, thudding on the floor and grabbing my attention.
Everyone in the room froze, including Colin.
“That’s not mine!” he cried as I reached down to pick the object up.
Like the fool he was, Colin tried to break free from Ash’s grasp, butAsh was too strong. Within seconds, Colin was pinned to the wall, held in place not only by Ash’s huge hands, but with both Travis and Dan’s guns aimed at him.
Miles, however, hadn’t moved a muscle from the wall he wasleaning against. He was still watching, still assessing, waiting for my next move.
Grabbing the silver item, I stood back up, and a wave of anger surgedthrough me as I realized what I was holding in my hands.
A fucking recording device.
“Riley, I promise, that’s not mine! Someone planted it on me,” Colinbegged, but his pleas fell on deaf ears.
Quickly pressing the rewind button followed by the play button, myvoice echoed around the room where I had announced my marriage to Kai, and my claim to take back control of the city. Colin whimpered the entire time, tears springing to life and rolling down his cheeks.
When the recording finished, he met my eyes, his filled with sorrow.
“Please believe me, it’s not mine! I have a family!” Ash’s big hand covered Colin’s mouth, silencing him.
But it wouldn’t take back the words he had just said.
Why did he have to tell me he had a family? It was easy to imaginehe was just a lowlife with nothing and no one, but now he’d said it, my head filled with pictures of a faceless wife and their children.
I stared back at him, a war raging in my head about what the fuck todo. The logical part knew the answer, but the part of me that was just a human, the part I thought had died after witnessing Kai’s death, was still there, telling me not to give the order to end this man’s life.
Miles must have known I was facing an internal battle. He finallyleft his place against the wall and walked over, stopping next to me, and speaking low enough so only I could hear.
“You can’t let him live, Riley, you’ll never be able to trust him. It’ll be aBlaze situation all over again.”
I hated that he was right. I’d made a deal with the devil in exchangefor saving Blaze’s life, and she repaid me by handing the location of Angel to Hendrix after Danny had taken her. Colin might not have been a drug addict like Blaze, but he had his addiction in the form of gambling.
If I let him go, I knew full damn well all it would take would be the offerof money to sway Colin’s loyalties. Quite frankly, I’d had enough of people turning into traitorous little bitches.
Did that make what I was about to say easier?
No, of course it didn’t.
But there was no other choice.
Swallowing past the knot of emotion lodged in my throat, I kept myeyes fixed on Colin, refusing to show any sign of weakness as I found the words that needed to be said.
“Kill him.”
There was no time to take back the decision. Within a second, Miles’bullet had found its target.
Chapter 5
