Ex didn’t lower his arm.
“I fucking swear, man!”
“I don’t believe you,” Ex snarled. He pointed to the other side of the room. “Go stand in the corner until you can stop crying.”
The man’s watery brown eyes widened dramatically. “W-what?” he stammered.
“Don’t make me force you,” Ex gritted. “Get in the fucking corner until you can make better choices.”
“Okay, okay.” The guy sniffled and hurried to the wall with an unobstructed corner and shoved his face into it like a misbehaving kindergartener.
Now it was just them and the Stewarts. Meridian watched as his partner stared down at the two brothers trying to protect each other. Ex squatted where they still sat on the floor applying pressure to Jason’s shoulder wound. His face was void of all emotion as he stared at them for a long moment. None of them spoke. Ex’s voice sounded full of grit and anger when he finally seemed to find the words he wanted to say.
“It’s hard to see your brother hurt, isn’t it?” Ex rasped.
Neither Marcus nor Jason answered, continuing to scowl at Ex.
“I’m going to give the two of you the chance to do the right thing. To turn yourselves in, admit to the crimes you’ve committed. Cooperate with the police. And name names of the officials you’ve paid off, and maybe—it’s still not a guarantee—I’ll let you live. You have no home to go back to, and after I’m done tonight you’ll have no money, no acquaintances, no bosses, no life.”
Jason looked at them as if they’d lost their minds. “I’m not doing a damn thing. If I snitch I’ll be dead by the end of the week.”
“What do you think I’m gonna do to you if you don’t?” Ex took aim again, this time between Jason’s eyes. “Or, I’ll just save myself the trouble right now.”
“No!” the younger Stewart screamed, almost hurling his body over his older brother’s. “Don’t! We’ll do it, we’ll talk. Just don’t kill him!”
“I know who you are,” Jason grunted when Ex turned to leave. “You’re the fucking Devil.”
Meridian walked past, glaring one final time. “Say that loud enough... maybe God will save you.”
Slade didn’t come inside after he dropped them off in front of Ex’s porch and helped place their gun cases on the steps. Their driver’s eyes were slightly red, with dark bags beneath them. He looked ready to drop from exhaustion. It was almost five in the morning by the time they’d returned from the city, but Ex could still feel the adrenaline coursing through his system.
“I’ll see you later.” Slade yawned and got into his SUV, leaving them on the porch.
“I’ll get the weapons cleaned after I get some sleep,” Meridian muttered, walking past him.
Ex frowned. The hell? He picked up the last two cases and followed Meridian. Was he going to his room and closing him out? Ex felt as though the night wasn’t over, and he and Meridian had unfinished business. But, he wasn’t sure how to broach that subject. He also didn’t want to be left alone, because he knew the moment Meridian closed himself away Ex would be left with just his thoughts. If he went to bed, it wouldn’t be long before the nightmares came for him
Meridian set his steel cases beneath the dining table, then shed his coat and draped it over the back of one of the chairs. Ex stood staring at Meridian’s strong posture, the way he looked as he uncovered and revealed the weapons he kept on him. Ex’s pulse started to race as he remembered feeling the hard handles of Meridian’s thirty-inch, expandable batons when he was pressed against his back on that fence. Ex’s dick got harder when he eyed the brown leather sheath for the Talon blade he kept beneath his left armpit. He recalled when Meridian had used it to slit a Russian arms dealer’s throat after he’d suddenly appeared behind Ex. His partner walked away slowly, knowing Ex was standing there gawking as he headed towards his room without a word.
The heat was on inside, but Ex was still freezing. He was always fucking cold and he was sick of it. He dropped the cases a little harder than he should’ve on the hardwood floor, and Meridian froze at the entrance to his bedroom. He didn’t turn around, just stood with his hand on the knob and his back rigid. Ex needed to say something now, but for the first time in a very long time, he was lost. He was swimming in pain and grief and he only knew one way to come up for air, to take away the ache for just a few moments. And because he’d just recently discovered this amazing remedy, he wanted more—all the time.
Maybe Meridian didn’t.
Ex wanted to go to him, but he ended up stopping in front of his own door. Meridian’s concern was evident, and Ex wondered if he was also struggling with how to voice what he needed. Damn those drugs the program had pumped into them for years. Ex tried to speak but had to clear his throat before a sound came out. “Did you mean it when you said a man fucking his partner doesn’t make him weak but more dangerous?”