36. Chapter 36
Chapter 36
Royal
F uck. Fuck. Fuck.
This might be the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. But if it keeps my family safe, that’s all that matters to me. Regardless of how pissed they are going to be at me.
I guess if I fail, I don’t have to deal with the repercussions. And if I succeed, I hope they’ll be too happy to be too pissed.
Don’t die. Don’t die. Don’t die.
The house comes into view as I reach the edge of the woodline. Light from the porch and windows spill into the small yard, not quite reaching the forest. It’s a far cry from the house we burned to the ground, with the missing shutters and collapsing front porch. I don’t imagine the inside looks any better.
Watching and waiting, I try to spot any guards patrolling the area, but there’s no one out here. It can’t be this easy, right? I’d think the intel Jackson gave us was bad if the three SUVs that we saw leaving King’s mansion weren’t parked in the driveway.
He’s fucking here.
And he’s not alone. Of course, it would be too easy to just get inside and put a bullet in his skull and be done with it. But if I wanted it easy, I would have waited for the rest of my people to wake up and leave with me.
Creeping through the yard, my boots squelch into the soggy grass. Rain still drizzles from the sky, reflecting the dreary mood of what I’m about to do.
They’ll understand when this is over.
Unless I die. Somehow, I don’t think they’ll understand quite so much if that happens. Pushing the thoughts out of my mind, my back plasters to the side of the house as soon as I clear the corner. Conversation filters through the broken window above me.
“How long is he going to make us hide out in this shit hole?” A man asks, his speech slightly slurred as glass bottles clink together.
“I don’t fucking know, man. We wouldn’t be in the situation if he wasn’t so goddamn pussy whipped with that stupid whore.” A second man responds. “I don’t know what all the fuss is about. I’ll tell you, it wasn’t that special.”
Make that a dead man.
Keeping low, I slip beneath the window and around the back corner, halting dead in my tracks when I see what’s waiting– or rather, who. King sits on the back deck, reclined back in a lounge chair, a whiskey glass in one hand, swirling the ice around while looking lost in thought. His head snaps to me in an instant, eyes narrowing when he realizes who I am.
“You,” he growls, his movements slow and calculating as he turns his eyes back to the watered-down whiskey. In one slow motion, he puts it to his lips and drains it, then sits the empty class down on the wooden arm of the chair. “Where are your brothers ? Where is she ? ”
Ignoring his question, I step forward, my gun steady and level, aiming between his eyes. “You’ll never touch her again. It’s over, King.”
The laugh he barks back at me is haunting, coming from a man who thinks he’s still got a chance to come out on top. Too bad I’m willing to sacrifice myself to make sure that doesn’t fucking happen. I knew what I was doing when I left my family behind. There are at least six men here with King. The second I shoot this fucker in the head, they will be after me. I’m under no illusion that I’m going to make it out of here alive. But King will be dead, and my family will be safe. They’ll be okay.
“You’ll be dead before my body even hits the deck, son .”
“Then I’ll see you in hell, Dad.”
Without a second thought, I pull the trigger. But before I can see his brains splatter on the wall behind him, a brick wall slams into my side, following me to the ground.
I can’t make out who it is in the dark, but pain explodes against my temple, sending me careening into the darkness as my eyes close on their own accord.
No matter how much I fight against the inky fog that covers my mind, they do not open again.