Primal Pursuit

I narrow my eyes at him. There’s a reason he’s being a bigger cunt than usual today—a reason he brought Rabbit into the conversation. It’s not to get me raked over the coals—this isn’t fucking school—but out of concern, maybe?

Fuck.He knows something. She said something to him.

Tobias knows I’d usually deal with an issue like Poppy and walk away. Put a stop to her and her poking about without getting my dick wet. Whether through threats or a more permanent route, I could shut her the fuck up. We all know that.

“She’s the daughter of my first hit. Way back, with Fowler.” I rub a hand over the mark on my neck, knowing they’ve all seen the wounds on my hands. “I took out her family.”

“Do I need to be worried?” Alexius asks, clutching his fists together on the table.

“She’s not bringing trouble to Dark Sovereign.”

“We’ve got a lot of shit coming our way here.”

“She’s young.” Tobias taps his foot.

I shoot him an even darker look. “Fuck off, Toby.”

“How young?” Gabriel asks.

“Your level of young,” I bite back. “So drop it. I’ll take care of her, and when it’s done, it’ll be done.”

“You can’t whack her, man,” Tobias blurts. “She’s visited my confessional.”

“Do you have to make it sound like it’s a euphemism for fucking?”

He slides me a look. “Well?—”

“I’ll take care of her. Iamtaking care of her. No blow-back on us.”

“What the fuck ever.” Alexius nods at the file I left on the desk. “And that?”

“I’ll need to coordinate with some people in the UK and Europe. Here, too. But if you take care of your end like you said, I’ll take care of mine. I can start tomorrow.”

“No.” Alexius frowns. “I need confirmation of two people. I need them taken down and out when I get their names. Beyond clean. Beyond dead. Like they never existed. But we’ll keep them for last. They’ll be the most protected.”

“And the girls?”

“We’ll get them out at the same time.”

The others leave, but I stay and pour a small finger for me and the Del Rossa twins as we discuss the details of what I plan on doing. It’s still rough sketching, yet detailed. God, I’m a freak and all kinds of fucked up,because this shit excited me. The stalking and planning, deciding who dies how. All of it.

I know this series of hits will end up being more than what we’re discussing, but they need to know my plans, and I need to know what they really want to accomplish and why. There’s more to this than just taking down some high-profile targets who decided to take a piss on our side of the ocean.

Alexius knows I suspect there’s more.

“Real talk?” he asks.

“Fuck, yes.”

“It’s a good fucking deed, saving these girls. But others will come up through the swamp and take over.”

He’s right. It’ll be a game of whack a fucking mole. One that’s soaked in blood and the kind of vile misdeeds that destroy the innocent.

“I want this group gone. They interfere and encroach on our territory. And…” He takes a breath, leaning back in his seat, his bright blue eyes conflicted. “These fuckers, they allowed what happened to Gabriel’s woman and her sister.”

That little reveal has me sitting up straight. “I thought that was a sick stalker. A rapist.”

“And a psychopath I found out had some deep ties. Child pornography. That shit. So I want them all wiped out. And this one.” He slides me a photo. “Take your time with him, Davian. This bastard is hiding out in Scotland or Ireland. He’s done similar shit here. A string of young girls, and he’s set it all up to make others take the fall.” He gets up and buttons his suit jacket. “I want him to suffer. A lot.” And withthat, he stalks out, leaving an air of authority in his wake.