Kings of Chaos (Dirty Broken Savages #1)(29)

“Great idea. I’m sure that won’t make him shit directly into your shoes next time,” I say sweetly over my shoulder and head for the kitchen.

It’s one of those nice ones with plenty of counter space and gleaming appliances, and I half hope Dog shits in here too. I dig through the fridge and find some leftover Chinese food, which I drop on the floor in its plastic container.

Dog doesn’t waste any time, rushing over to it to start devouring the food. I pull a bowl from the dish rack by the sink and fill it with water, setting it down next to Dog for when he’s finished.

I don’t even know why I started feeding the damn mutt a few months ago, when he first started sniffing around me when I came and went from the apartment building. But the fact that having him around pisses off the guys just makes me like him even more.

There’s a pot of coffee already on, and I hunt down a mug and fill it, drinking it black.

Gage comes in a few minutes later, looking at Dog with distaste before zeroing in on me. “What are you going to do today about killing Ivan?” he asks right out of the gate.

I flip him off, taking a slow sip of my coffee before I answer him. “You don’t have to get up my ass about it,” I say. “I have some recon to do.”

“Like what?” he presses, clearly not satisfied with my answer. “Give me more than that.”

“Remember our deal,” I tell him. “I don’t have to give you anything.”

“This is allowed,” he insists. “It’s not about pasts, it’s about the present. About whether you have any valid leads on finding out where Ivan’s vulnerable points are.”

I curl my fingers tighter around my mug and huff at him in irritation. It sucks to admit, but… I don’t have any leads. Not that I want to tell Gage that.

He doesn’t seem to need the confirmation anyway. He glowers at me and marches out of the kitchen, coming back a moment later with a jacket slung over his arm. “Come with me.”

“I’m not your fucking dog,” I snap. “I don’t come when you say to. And this is my fucking mission, my project. Don’t think you can just take over.”

He just gives me a hard look, and I clench my jaw.

Shit. As fucking annoying as it is, I can’t turn down any possible help getting to Ivan, so I follow Gage when he heads out to one of the cars he and the guys own.

I slide into the passenger seat, letting out a breath.

Not long now, Hannah, I think. I promise, it won’t be much longer. I’ll end this soon.

It sucks because it makes me feel like a liar. I already promised her that the other night, when I thought I was closer to being able to cross Ivan off the list. There’s so much guilt in it taking so long, in not having finished getting my vengeance already, but I shove that aside, not wanting to dwell on it while I’m in the car with Gage and he could notice.

“Where are we going?” I ask, half for something to say and half because I do actually want to know.

“Just wait,” he replies, starting the car and getting us moving.

I grit my teeth against the urge to tell him where to shove it.

There really isn’t anything to do but wait like he told me, and I drum my fingers impatiently and settle into the car’s plush seat, looking out the window. The nice part of town we were in turns gradually shittier and shittier as we go. It’s even more crappy than the area I live in, which is saying something.

These are the real slums that we’re driving into, and I can tell from the people hanging out on corners in broad daylight, doing things that would probably get them thrown in jail if the police happened to come by.

Of course, the cops don’t usually fuck around in areas like this, either because they don’t care or because they’re paid not to, so whoever has the most power gets to say what happens.

I keep my wits about me, sitting up so I can pay attention as we head toward a rundown cluster of apartment buildings in the center of it all.

I know Ivan owns this property, so this must be his slum, which would explain what we’re doing here.

We get out of the car, and Gage leads the way into the complex, walking with the kind of confidence that only comes from knowing exactly where you’re going. He’s been here before, clearly.

I narrow my eyes at the back of his head as I follow him, wondering about that and trying not to. Our deal is that we don’t care about each other’s pasts, even if I am curious about how he knows so much about how to get around one of Ivan St. James’s slums. I could spin it that it’s important to the mission that he tell me, since it has something to do with Ivan, but then he could do the same to me about my own past, and I don’t want to get into that whole fucking story with him. So I just keep my mouth shut and follow.

We head up the stairs to the top floor, stepping over shoes and clothes and unconscious people littering the halls. Eventually, Gage stops outside a door. He knocks twice in quick succession and then once more after a few seconds. Maybe some kind of code.

At first, there’s no answer, then a thin voice calls out, “It’s open.”

I raise my eyebrows at that. What kind of idiot doesn’t lock their door in a place like this? But then again, a lot of the time the locks are mostly just symbolic, and anyone who really wanted to get in would be able to without much trouble.

Gage leads the way inside, and I’m immediately struck by how dim it is in the apartment’s cramped interior. It’s as if someone here hates sunlight, since all the blinds are drawn and there’s only one light on. The apartment is tiny, and we step right into the front room, where a woman is sitting in a chair that looks like it’s molded around her.