Downfall(66)

One of the guys who’d driven to the site with him snorted and waved his weapon in the air. “You paid us… but he owns us.” The gun was angled toward the Devil, who was standing next to the sexy brunette. The dark-haired, dapper man took the gun from her and tilted his head to make sure she was all right. His gaze then drifted to the man at her feet who was slowly coming out of the daze from being tazed.

“He the one who threatened to hit you?” The question was quiet and menacing in his slight accent.

The woman sighed and pushed her hair back from her forehead. “Yep.” She held out her hand and made a gimme motion. “Give me the keys. I’ll wait in the car until you’re done with this.” She cut a narrow-eyed look toward a shocked Channing Vincent. “You, sir, are an idiot. Trying to separate a mother and child. I hope you get every bit of what you deserve.” She took the keys from her husband and, after planting a kiss on him, flounced away in a truly sassy way. I kind of agreed with the Boss; she might be even scarier than her husband.

The Devil in the perfectly tailored suit nudged the man on the ground with the toe of his wingtip and said, “This one goes back with us.”

Holy fuck. I’d never heard him use that particular tone before, and I never wanted to hear him use it again.

The mob immediately jumped to do his bidding as he faced off with Channing. Over the other man’s shoulder, the Devil’s odd, gold eyes landed on me. “Your call, kid. How you want to handle him? It can be bloody, or it can be civilized. One guarantees he won’t come after your girl ever again. The other…” He shook his head and shared an unreadable look with my boss. “I don’t like loose ends, but that’s just me.”

I looked down at my hand when the Boss suddenly pressed something cold and hard into it.

A gun.

I’d never even held one before.

My heart leapt into my throat and my vision went slightly hazy.

“The safety is off, kid. Be careful with that thing.” The lyrical, accented voice sounded amused, but the Boss looked anything but.

Channing was glaring at me, but I could see he was scared. He thought he was going to use his money and influence to get his way, but he had no idea what power plays were really all about. These guys didn’t manipulate in the boardroom. They put them in the ground in unmarked graves and didn’t blink twice. Shaking my head on a gulp, I very carefully handed the weapon back to my boss and scowled at Channing Vincent.

“I’m not a murderer. Not like him.” I couldn’t become everything I’d fought against my whole life. I couldn’t let my circumstances control me. “I want him gone and I want him to suffer, but I can’t kill him.” Who would I be if I pulled the trigger? Would I still be someone Orley could love, someone Noble could look up to? I wouldn’t risk everything I’d gained by taking Channing out.

I handed the gun back to my boss, and his heavy, tattooed palm landed on my shoulder and gave a squeeze. “Proud of you, kid. I knew you would make the right call. I always told you that you were better than me.”

They were words I’d always wanted to hear from him but they were lost when he coolly and methodically pulled the trigger on the gun in his hand. “Holy fucking shit!” The exclamation burst out of me as I reflexively lifted my hands to cover my ears. Channing Vincent fell to the ground with a bloody, gory hole where his left knee cap should be.

I jumped about a foot in the air at the sound, and couldn’t stop my mouth from falling open in shock. I always knew the Boss was a take-no-prisoners kind of guy. Witnessing just how ruthless and decisive he could be firsthand was something else altogether. I put a hand to my racing heart, and took a step back.

The Devil crouched down so he was eye level with Channing, writhing in agony on the side of the road. “He’s a good kid. Your granddaughter is way better off with him than with you. And since the only reason you’re desperate to get your hands on her is to hand over your fortune to someone in your bloodline, I went ahead and gave it to her already. All your accounts are now in the little girl’s name. Even the ones you thought you hid so well offshore. Oh, and all the Swiss accounts you put under your wife’s name. I have a couple of the best hackers in the world on my payroll, Vincent. The Boy Genius took every single asset you possess and passed them on to your granddaughter. No need for you to interfere in her life any longer.”

“You can’t do that!” The formerly rich businessman burst out, but the words were lost on a moan of pain as he clutched his destroyed leg.

“I can do whatever I want, and I just fucking did.” He rose to his feet and reached out a foot so he could press down painfully on the wounded man’s leg. “This hole in your knee hurts. Imagine how much worse it will be if we take out your other kneecap and then your elbows. I know ways to make you suffer for days, to never be the same again. And being poor on top of it will really suck. But I can also prolong the pain until you’re begging me to kill you, Vincent. It’s all up to you.”

“I’ll pay you!” It was the broken man’s failsafe. He really thought he could buy his way out of anything.

The Boss snickered and the man in the expensive suit rolled his eyes. “I already told you, you’re broke. Besides, I don’t need your money. I have my own.” He straightened his tie and glared down at the man who killed Orley’s mother. I hated him for what he put her through, but I guess at the end of the day, I owed him. She never would have ventured into my city if he hadn’t scared her to death.