“It’s a through and through. You’ll live.” Bones tells him.
I point the gun at Matt’s head and pull the trigger. Nothing happens.
“What the fuck, man?” he ducks and steps away from me. “What the fuck are you doing?” he shouts, grabbing his chest.
“Growing up, my father always told me that we were gambling men. It was in our blood.” I point the gun at him again, and he runs to the corner of the room. I almost laugh. Nite grabs him and brings him to the center. He throws him over the table and pins his arms behind his back. I grip his hair and lift his head, so he has to look up at me. His lips pulled back in a snarl. “Have you ever gambled with your life?” I ask.
“Fuck you!” He seethes. “All of you!” He fights Nite but he’s too strong for him. Mr. Bianchi bred Nite for this. To be a soldier. A killer. We’ve all been trained for battle, so we win the war.
Letting go of his hair I grip his chin and pry his teeth apart. He cries out as I shove the barrel of the revolver into his mouth. I pull the trigger. Again, nothing happens.
Nite steps back and Matt falls to the floor. He’s gasping for breath and tears run down his cheeks while he shakes uncontrollably. One look at his jeans and he’s pissed himself. “Shit!” he gasps, looking over at Steven who is still bleeding on the concrete floor from the gunshot in his thigh. But he’s removed his shirt and has it wrapped around tightly to try and stop the bleeding.
“Luca.” I nod towards him and he tosses a piece of paper on the table.
“What is this?” Tommy demands.
“This is a bank statement for fifteen grand deposited into your account.” I say to him. “Luca so happens to own the bank where you keep your money.” I smile. All he had to do was look up his account and check transactions. It’s easy to trace when it’s wired from another account. Don’t wanna get caught? Then always do hand-to-hand transactions with cash. No paper trail equals no evidence.
“What is he talking about?” Steven growls from his spot on the floor.
“I … I don’t know …” Tommy stutters.
“Your friend here. Took a bribe from George Wilton to let him get away.” Bones explained. Steven is losing blood, so he may have a hard time comprehending what is going on.
“You what?” Matt shouts at Tommy. “You put our lives in danger for fifteen thousand fucking dollars?” He runs at him, but Nite grabs the back of his shirt, and holds him captive again.
“He came to me!” Tommy snaps, pointing at his chest. “Me! Said you were too weak and that you’d never be able to get the job done. He needed a man.”
Bones snorts from beside me.
“You’re a fucking idiot.” Matt shouts.
“Be that as if may.” I speak. “I want answers. I’ve got three more shots and two more bullets. Who wants to gamble?” I ask.
“We didn’t do this.” Matt growls at me.
“Call it guilty by association.” Bones adds.
I step up to Matt and gesture for Nite to let him go. “Where the fuck is George?”
“Why are you asking me? I didn’t make a deal with him.”
I tilt my head to the side. “That has yet to be determined. You guys could have split the money.”
“Five grand a piece?” He shakes his head angrily. “Fuck that. Nothing is worth screwing over the Kings.”
“Ahh he’s smarter than he looks.” Luca finally speaks. He’s got a smirk on his face and his hands in the pockets of his slacks. He’s in a cheerful mood today. But I’m not surprised. He likes blood as much as the rest of us.
“We were told from a source that he’s in Paris, but I don’t think that is true either.” Bones adds. “So for the last time, where is he?”
Tommy squares his shoulders and I refrain from sighing. Matt was right, he’s an idiot. “He’ll come back for her. And he’ll give me fifteen more.” He spits out. “I won’t fucking tell you a goddamn …”
I lift the gun and pull the trigger. This time it goes off. And the bullet goes right between his eyes.
That is how you flush the system.
CHAPTER TWENTY
EMILEE
I EXIT THE shower and grab the white towel off the hook on the wall. Wrapping it under my arms, I tuck the corner into itself between my breasts.
I’ve been staying at Kingdom with Titan for a week now. I spend the day with my mother; it’s been tolerable since George is still gone on his work trip. I’m hoping his getaway plane crashed down in the Atlantic somewhere. But I’m not sure my luck is that good.
My mother doesn’t talk about him. I think she’s giving up on trying to sell me on the idea of them together. And she just hasn’t had the energy.