Rage

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Gideon

M y finger taps on the top of my desk as my right-hand man, Raul, tells me all the reasons this is a bad idea.

When he realizes that I’m not listening, he sighs.

“I’m not going to talk you out of this, am I?”

“No.”

“Why her?”

“Why not?”

“You know what I mean. Why go through all this to get the woman who you believe betrayed Boris?”

“Why not?”

“Dammit, Gideon, this isn’t funny.”

“Am I laughing?” I wait a beat. “I know what I’m doing.”

Raul is silent, which isn’t always a good thing. He lets me act on my impulses and then is there to remind me he was right when the shit hits the fan. This isn’t one of those cases because I know I’m right.

Wren Copeland killed my best friend, and now she must pay.

Raul stands. “I can see I’m not going to get through to you.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Let me leave with this parting word. Wren isn’t the one who killed Boris.”

I jump to my feet, pulling my gun on my second in command. To his credit, he doesn’t even flinch. Not even with my finger hovering over the trigger.

“Tread carefully.”

“She didn’t kill him, Gideon. Her father did. Just remember that before you punish her.”

I let out a laugh before I can stop myself. “We both know that’s not true. She was the one he was trying to save. She was the one who begged him for help. If he hadn’t listened to her pleas, he would be alive.”

Raul’s gaze searches mine as if he thinks he’ll find an answer to something he’s looking for.

Finally, he says, “You’re the boss, Gideon. I will follow your orders.”

I know he will. I don’t keep disloyal men around. If he doesn’t do this, he will be dead before sunrise.

“Good. I want her brought to me tonight.”

Raul dips his head before leaving. When he’s gone, I set my gun on the desk and sit in my chair, leaning back. I’ve studied Wren Copeland to the point of becoming obsessed. I know everything about her. And I’m going to use it all against her. By the time I’m finished with her, she will wish she had never met me.