I’m made for a good man.
I’m made for Fury.
26
Fury
* * *
“Where the fuck is your head today, brother?” King asks, a week after I made Zara mine. We’re about to confront Hagarty, and King’s right: my head is not in the game. It’s with Zara. Fuck, it’s always with her. It’s also focussed on the fact I’m still to tell King about us. I promised Zara two weeks. Once those weeks are up, I’ll tell him. And hopefully survive the conversation. Not that I foresee much of a conversation. King won’t bother with words to get his point across.
“It’s here,” I reassure him as we walk from our bikes to Hagarty’s front door.
“It fucking better be. I don’t need this shit fucked up.” He’s still filthy after confronting me over Zara.
We reach the front door of Hagarty’s riverside mansion and King bashes on it. Fancy cars line the street because Hagarty is celebrating his wife’s birthday today with a party that he’s invited all his rich, powerful friends to. If the politicians and businessmen he’s tied up with knew the dirty shit he gets up to in his spare time, not one of those cars would be here today.
King continues bashing on the door until it’s flung open by a woman who’s overdressed and overdone. What the fuck possesses women to hide themselves under all that shit, I’ll never know, but with this one, I’m betting she’s hiding from her husband’s flaws.
Looking us up and down with disdain, she says, “Who are you?”
King places one boot inside, against the door, preventing it from being closed. “We’re friends of your husband, Natalie. We just need a quick conversation with him.”
She eyes his boot before crossing her arms. “That’s not possible today. We have friends over; he’s busy. Perhaps you could schedule—”
“No,” King says darkly. “You’ll get him for us now.”
Her eyes snap wide as her face tightens. “I will not.”
King takes another step into the house, crowding her and forcing her to walk backwards, allowing him to fully enter her home. Jabbing his finger towards the back of the house, he growls, “Unless you want your husband’s dirty fucking laundry aired to all your friends, you’ll go and fucking get him for us.”
The alarm flashing in her eyes tells me she knows her husband is a piece of shit. Nodding furiously, she stutters, “Okay…. W-wait here.”
She hurries in the direction of the noise from the party, and a couple of minutes later, Hagarty stalks into the room, his eyes black with rage. “What the fuck are you doing, King?”
King moves in close to him, standing a good few inches taller, and a whole lot broader than him. He’s a threatening presence any way you cut it, but Hagarty has an inflated ego and sense of invincibility, which causes him to push his shoulders back and challenge King.
“I’m keeping Sydney in fucking line is what I’m doing. And you need to play your part in that.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the fact you’re looking at life in prison, and we all know the streets will go to shit if you’re in there. I mightn’t like you, but you’re part of the fucking ecosystem. A part that helps control the rest of the motherfuckers around here.”
“Jesus, the way your brain works leaves a lot to be desired. What the fuck do you mean?”
King’s nostrils flare. “I mean, pull your fucking head in and stop being such a greedy cunt. The cops are looking at you. Don’t fucking give them anything they can drag you in for. And that starts with the boys and the porn. You need to get those kids out of Sydney, shut your filthy operation down, and never touch another boy again. Am I fucking understood?”
Hagarty’s lips pull into a flat, angry line, and his eyes shoot daggers at King. “You don’t come here and threaten me, King. That’s not how this works. I’m the one with a network of powerful men who’ll take my back at the drop of a hat. I’m the one with more money than I know what to do with. And I’m the one who could stamp you out faster than you can say ‘fuck you.’ So get the fuck out of my sight and never step foot near me again.”
Wild, ferocious energy surges through the room as King grabs a handful of Hagarty’s shirt and yanks him close. “You’re forgetting that you’re also the one who likes to stick his dick in asses it shouldn’t go in, and that shit isn’t something any of your powerful friends would take your back on if it became public knowledg
e.” He pushes Hagarty away with enough force to send him to the floor with a thunderous crack to his head. His boots are heavy thuds as he stalks to where Hagarty now lies. Bending over him, he punches him harder than I’ve seen King punch someone in a long while. He rinses and repeats a few times before roaring, “I’m the one who can fuck your life up and put you in a world of hurt. You think those assholes at your party have power? That’s not real power. Not the kind that brings a man to his knees to beg for fucking mercy. Not the kind that deals with people so they’re never heard from again. And sure as fuck not the kind that can save you from me.” He leans forward and brings his face to Hagarty’s. “You will do as I’ve said, by the end of the fucking day, or you’re going to learn that when I make a promise, I fucking deliver on it.”
As King’s finishing up delivering his message, another guy enters the room, quickly pulling his gun when he eyes us. But I’ve already seen that coming and am two steps ahead of him. By the time he’s got his gun out, I’ve covered the distance between us and have my fist in his face. I catch him off guard and knock his gun from his hand. He fights back, taking aim at my cheek, but I anticipate that and dodge the punch. Slamming into him, I propel him back against the wall. With one hand to his throat, gripping hard enough to cut his oxygen, I reach for my gun and have it to his head before he even knows what the fuck’s happening.
“Move and you’ll have a bullet in your skull,” I growl, my body raging with the desire to inflict pain.
He jerks in my hold, grunting his anger, but he’s smart and doesn’t fight me.