I turn back to the squirming bastard on the floor, his face slick with sweat and fear. I crouch low, grip his chin, make him look at me.
“Congratulations,” I murmur. “Your miserable little life just got spared.Temporarily.So if I were you, I’d cooperate, because Declan? He’s got a real talent for breaking people without ever spilling a drop of blood.”
I pat his cheek, mocking, slow, then rise to my full height and start to walk away.
And then he snaps. “You can do whatever you want to me, I'll take my secrets to the fucking grave!” he roars, and the little snakelunges.
He tackles me hard, wild and sloppy, fists crashing into my face.
“Fuck you! Fuck all of you! Your days are numbered! I’ll go down as the one who took outWyck fucking Vaughn!”
Ballsy.
He’s fast. I’ll give him that. But he forgot one important detail, I’m faster.
His hand flies behind his back, grabbing for something. A blade, a vial, maybe a button meant to call backup. He forgot who he was dealing with.
In a blink, my hands are on his throat. I squeeze.
Hard.
Until I hear the crack that ends the game.
Just like that… Dead.
His secrets rot with him.
I sigh. “Well… there goes my lead.”
Could I have held back? Sure. Did I want to? Not fucking really.
I shove his limp body off me and roll my shoulder like I just took out the trash.
“Declan,” I mutter, brushing soot off my jacket, “take his head. Put it on ice, might still have use for it. The rest of him? In the pit.”
“Yes, sir,” he nods, already reaching for me to pull me back to my feet.
I take his hand, stand, and let the adrenaline settle into my bones like it always does after a kill. There’s a high in the violence, a clarity. But it fades faster now.
Because as I brush ash off my clothes, one thought rises above the rest, my Little Fox.
The way she looked last time I saw her. The sound of her laugh. The way her breath caught when I pressed her against the door and told her she was mine.
And not hours ago, my father had the audacity to drop her name. Said he needed her. Said she was part of some sick plan.
Fuck that.
I’ve been too wrapped up in her. I know it. I’ve let my obsession bleed into my strategy, let her softness slow the blade I’m holding at my father’s throat. But I can’t stop.
Because she’s not a distraction. She’s the reason Ineedto win.
I won’t put her at risk. I won’t fail my Devils. And I won’t stop until my father is dead and rotting beneath the empire he built.
Still… Killing always puts me in a good mood.
And seeing her again?
That’ll be the fucking icing on my cake.
