Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
PERILOUS
“They’re not dead,” I say to Holom as he looks at the back of the van.
“This feels all fucked up.”
“It is fucked up. You caused this. Not me. You.”
He looks at me, his lip snarled. “I could fucking kill you right now, Perilous. I’m Legion. You’re not.”
“Yeah? And I’m the one saving your ass.”
“That’s because you want a promotion.”
“And why exactly did you pay me to kidnap your daughter and ex-wife?”
Holom stretches his neck and stares forward. The guy is sweating like crazy. He’s scared out of his mind. He should be. This is it. The big moment.
“Look, I had to kill Molly,” I say to him. “She knew too much. And you let her in on shit. No offense, Holom, but what the fuck?”
“She came after me,” he says. “She wanted it. I don’t know. Poor thing. It was like taking care of a sick animal.”
“That you wanted to fuck?”
“Hey! Easy.” He rubs his face. “This is going to work. We’re going to hit the Legion hard. Throw them off balance and… yeah…”
There’s a bright light shining from Holom’s eyes. He looks like a scumbag gambler, who already lost two months’ worth of paychecks and is about to bet the house.
And for the record, yeah, I injected both Annika and her mother with something special to knock them out. And, yeah, I meant to do it. No, they aren’t going to die.
And if you think for one second I’ve turned my back on the woman I love, you must be fucking insane.
How else was I going to get Holom to come crawling out of his cave? With the death of Molly on my hands, he knew he was next.
I staged a fight between myself and Ty, Vic, and Demo. I flew Annika’s mother in. I got in touch with Holom and let him know that I had both his ex and his daughter and I was fed up with all of this shit.
It didn’t hurt my case that Holom knew all about me. What Luc had me doing for so long.
Or the incident with the SUV…
Holom is so fucking weak and scared, you pat him on the shoulder a few times and he’s like a desperate dog looking for a belly rub.
My grip on the wheel gets tighter.
“Listen, I want you to know that I love my family,” Holom says. “There’s just something about it all. The thrill. The success. I wanted to build something on my own. She helped me.”
“She?”
“Allegra,” Holom says. “Annika’s mother.”
I nod.
“She’s a genius. She’s the real financial wizard. I was always just a good salesman. That’s why we worked so well together. You know, I was her boss. I’m ten years older than her. I can’t believe I’m telling you all of this.”
“None of it matters now,” I tell Holom. “Those two cunts are tied up and drugged. Mother and daughter duo. Right?”
Holom looks at me and starts to smile big. Very big. You can call me evil and a psycho, but I’m looking into the eyes of something worse.
My foot moves to the brake pedal.
I tell himself not to attack him.
Don’t do it… don’t…
I growl and throw my entire head toward Holom’s face. I hit him in the left eye and feel bones crunching.
He jumps out of his seat, hits his head on the roof of the van, and then falls into the dashboard. He holds his face, screaming in pain.
That’s when another black van appears, along with two sports cars. I’ve jumped the gun on things, but I can’t help it.
Men in masks pile out of the van and run toward us.
I sit and wait. My door is opened at the same time Holom’s is. Three men grab Holom and pull him out of the van. Three men do the same to me.
I start throwing elbows and punches. There's no need for me to play into this any longer.
“He knows!” I growl as I bring a fist down to someone’s face, shattering their nose.
I grab the other two men and throw them into the side of the van.
Luc gets out of one of the fancy cars. “Perilous!”
I walk toward Luc and he meets me halfway.
“I got him for you,” I call out. “I held out as much as I could.”
Luc runs a hand through his hair. We both then watch as the three men carry Holom Allistair. Someone already put a piece of silver tape over his mouth, which is good. I never want to hear his fucking voice again.
“What did he say?” Luc asks.
“Everything,” I say. “He wanted to now sell his daughter and ex-wife and use some kind of leverage to go after the Legion .”
“Fuck,” Luc growls. “I’m going to kill him myself. You do not come after—”
“No,” I say.
Luc looks at me. “What?”
“He’s mine, Luc. Everything I’ve done for you. Done for the Legion .”
“I thought there were no favors?”
“I just watched Annika meet her mother for the first time in years. That piece of shit Holom told Annika her mother was dead. He drugged his ex-wife for years to keep her away. She wrote letters to Annika and he never gave them to her.”
“Seems like you and I both should step back then,” Luc says. “Let Annika do it.”
I swallow hard.
Let Annika murder her own father?
* * *
I sit in a dark purple velvet room. Allegra is on her back on the floor, a silk pillow behind her head. Her daughter is in my arms. I hold Annika and keep checking her neck, feeling her pulse. They aren’t going to die. Not even close.
I haven’t had Annika like this. The extreme quietness. The reality of it all revealed. She’s in a drug induced slumber thinking I’m the one who did it out of a personal attack. As though I turned my back on her. As though I would work with her father willingly. It’s just that it all made sense. The moment presented itself and I took it.
I stroke Annika’s cheek. I study her face. My heart and my cock are now intertwined because of this woman.
She fell into my life—literally—and didn’t just consume it, but changed it. She showed me that life exists after pain. Love exists after thriving in hell.
But it also has opened a dark side of me. I didn’t think I could get any darker in life. Looking at Annika and knowing what she means to me, yeah, I can get much darker.
I cup her face, lean down and brush my lips to hers. I slide my hand down to her chest, over her right breast. My middle finger circles around right where I know her nipple is hidden inside her shirt and her bra.
The door to the room opens and a masked man enters. He doesn’t speak. Behind him, Luc steps in. He’s holding his golden mask.
“A discussion has been had,” he says. “The evidence spoken and shown. Even a confession from Holom himself.”
I can’t imagine the torture Holom must have undergone for him to confess.
“The deal was I won’t kill him,” Luc says.
“What?”
“My hands will be clean in this, Perilous.”
I nod and find myself smiling. I place Annika on the floor and stand tall. My robe and mask are brought to me and I dress myself.
There’s going to be a ceremony right now.
But that’s not the only surprise I’ve got for Annika.