The Family Business 3(70)

That’s when the reality hit me so hard that I felt my knees nearly give out. He’d exchanged himself for me.

“No!” I screamed. This was not what I wanted, but all I could do was watch helplessly as Elijah brought Vegas close enough to make the exchange.

Elijah attempted to pull me away, but I resisted, kicking and squirming. “You bastard. I thought you were a good guy. I trusted you!”

“I’m gonna be all right, cuz.” Vegas was still attempting to reassure me. “Just go with him.”

“She’s not going anywhere,” X sneered as he wrenched me away from a shocked Elijah.

“What are you doing? We agreed to an exchange, her for him.” Elijah attempted to pull me back.

“I changed my mind. I’ve decided to take this one as a second wife.” He leered at me, not bothering to disguise his lust.

“Let her go!” Vegas growled. God, I wished there was some way for him to get out of those handcuffs, because those *s wouldn’t stand a chance against my cousin.

“Xavier, I gave my word, and my word is my bond. Let her go!” Elijah’s voice had a warning tone that I hadn’t heard before. “I’m taking her home.”

“No, you’re not taking her anywhere,” X growled at Elijah. He was clearly unaccustomed to having his orders questioned.

Brother X pushed Vegas into the room I’d just come from and shut the door, locking it from the outside. Then he turned to Elijah with anger in his eyes. “Have you forgotten who I am?”

“No, I think you’ve forgotten who you are. Now, I’m taking this girl.” Elijah reached for me—and X reached for his gun.

“You just had to challenge me, didn’t you? You couldn’t just follow orders.” He pointed the gun at me, but Elijah stepped in the way.

Xavier looked disgusted. “It was her, wasn’t it?” he said. “It was her who changed you. You let this bitch come between us, Elijah.”

“I didn’t let anyone come between us, Xavier. It was you who strayed from the teachings. You who got in bed with that Jew, Bernie Goldman.”

Bam! Bam! Bam!

X pulled the trigger and shot Elijah three times in the chest. Elijah crumpled to the ground, staring at X in disbelief. I felt paralyzed as X shouted to his men. This dude was out of f*ckin’ control.

Three men ran into the room. When they caught sight of Elijah lying bloody on the floor, they looked even more upset than I felt.

“Unless you three want to be next, get him out of here. And put her in the other room. When I am done with Mr. Duncan, I will deal with her myself.”

The next thing I knew, they were pulling me away, leaving Elijah’s body on the ground and Vegas alone to deal with X.





Vegas





49


The second Brother X threw me into that room, I hit the floor and the door slammed behind me. I scrambled to my feet, which wasn’t the easiest thing to do with my hands cuffed behind my back, and started kicking the door in frustration. At this point things were out of my control, and I could only pray that Brother Elijah was truly a man of his word and would get Sasha back home safely.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

All faith went out the window a few moments later when I heard gunshots coming from the other side of the door and then I heard Brother X shouting orders.

“Fuck!” I cried out, stomping my foot. I leaned against a wall, slowly coming to terms with the reality that I’d probably lost my little cousin.

I took a deep breath, trying to get my shit together. If he killed Sasha, it was only a matter of time before he came for me.

As expected, the door opened a minute later, and X walked in, grinning. “Miss me, bitch?”

My first instinct was to rush at him, but I had to temper that and try to stick to the plan. “Did you kill my cousin, motherf*cker?”

He laughed. “And what if I did?”

Wham! He hit me, his fist landing against my face. I couldn’t worry about Sasha right now. I had to deal with this * in front of me. “I can’t wait to do this to your brother.”

“You wouldn’t be doing this at all if I wasn’t handcuffed,” I challenged, staring angrily at him like the piece of shit he was.

“Yes, I would. It wouldn’t be as easy, but I’ve made it my mission in life to destroy punks like you. Even without you handcuffed, I would still be more than capable of kicking your ass. This way is just more fun.”

“No, fun is what my brother is doing to your wife. Did you know they’re having a baby?” I knew my words would destroy him, so when the expression on his face darkened with rage, I knew I’d accomplished exactly what I needed to. Emotions made most people reactive and threw them off their game, and X was no different. I just had to keep pushing his buttons to distract him from what I was doing, all while making sure I didn’t push so hard that he reached for his gun.

He swung his fist around, and it landed with force against my abdomen. I ain’t gonna lie—that shit hurt like hell. I didn’t plan on sitting here like his victim for long, though.

“You probably used to those pussies in prison you been f*cking,” I taunted, knowing that my words were making him even more angry. “Makes sense that your wife would go after Junior. He’s a real man’s man. Not like you. You’re like the ultimate girly-boy.”