Sneaking around the back of the house, I draw my gun. The back door looks easy enough to kick in, but before I do that, I grab the door handle and try to see if it’s unlocked. I turn the knob and push the door open.
Idiots.
With a smile on my face, I stroll into his house undetected, closing the door quietly behind me. I follow the voices coming from the living room until I stand in the door with my gun raised.
The two dumbasses are so into their game that they don’t even see me standing a few feet away.
“Sorry to interrupt your party.” I grin.
Both Thomas and Ryan jump up from the couch, shock and fear written all over their faces. Ryan reaches for something behind him, but I’m faster. I pull the trigger, and the bullet hits him in the shoulder.
He groans and falls back onto the couch, clutching the spot I just shot him.
Before Thomas can make a move, I lower my gun and pull the trigger again, hitting him in his right knee.
“Motherfucker!” he yells and crumbles to the ground.
When I see Ryan reaching for something again, I step further into the room, pointing my gun at him. He freezes, and I walk around the coffee table to where he is sitting. Reaching behind him with my gun pointed at his head, I pull out a Glock from his waistband and step back, stuffing the gun in my jacket.
“What do you want?” Ryan groans, blood soaking the complete front of his shirt now.
“I want my five grand,” I lie. I couldn’t care less about the money right now. “You don’t happen to have that kind of cash lying around here, do you?”
“I didn’t borrow it. Penny did.”
The moment the words leave his mouth, I’m on him. My fists fly, hitting him square in the jaw. His head snaps back so hard, I think I might have broken his neck.
“Don’t you say her fucking name! Actually, don’t say anything at all.”
“What the hell is he talking about?” Thomas groans from the floor.
“You didn’t know your friend here was the one who took Penny from your house? Don’t worry, he won’t make it out of here alive… and neither will you.”
* * *
I didn’t come here planningto kill either of them, but it happened anyway. I killed them, and I’m not sorry about it one bit. I enjoyed it, relished in the way the life drained from their eyes, especially with Thomas. The moment he took his last breath, a weight lifted from me. I didn’t know how much I held onto that hate for him until then.
I text the clean-up crew on my way out. They’ll take care of this. Now I only need to explain this shit to Maddox. Problem is, I don’t know how to. How do I explain why I killed him without lying to my best friend?
Technically, Ryan was the one who owed the club money, but dead men can’t pay. I should have beat him up and told him to get our money instead of putting a bullet in his brain. And I really have no excuse for killing Thomas, other than I wanted to. Not that the club is concerned.
As if he can hear me thinking about him, my phone vibrates, and Maddox’s name flashes across the screen. I hit the green button.
“Yeah–”
“What the fuck is going on with you?” Maddox’s angry voice comes through the receiver.
“Look, those fuckers deserved it.”
“That doesn’t answer my question,” Maddox snaps.
“I know. I don’t have all the answers myself. Can you just trust me on this? I needed to kill them for my own sanity. It’s a long story, and I promise I’ll explain it all, but not tonight, okay?”
“You know I trust you, but you have been acting strange lately. Not like yourself.”
I don’t feel like myself either.
“It’s done now. Killing them is the end of it. Now we only have to figure out which one of our brothers is stealing from us, and everything can go back to normal.”