Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 128812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 644(@200wpm)___ 515(@250wpm)___ 429(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 644(@200wpm)___ 515(@250wpm)___ 429(@300wpm)
"You wanted to defend your country?" Bobby asks, the twitch near his right eye giving away his feelings on the subject, but I know better than to look back at Zeus to see if he caught it.
Zeus scoffs. "Fuck no. I just wanted to kill people."
I know those words have to taste like acid on his tongue, but they come out as if they're a hundred percent the truth.
"That," he says, pointing at my friend. "May come in handy."
I allow a smile to spread across my face when Bobby turns his attention to me. "You're two years younger than your cousin, but you had some skills last night, too."
"Our dads taught us well. We learned at a young age that if we weren't willing to save ourselves, we'd die. There's no one coming to our rescue. We couldn't put that much trust in other people. If we wanted to survive, we had to know how to do it on our own."
Bobby nods in understanding, and I know he was probably raised exactly like that by a man who'd throw him in the deep end of the pool to teach him to swim and feel nothing but disappointment if he died. A lot of the people I've come into contact with over the years shared that same ideology. They didn't sugarcoat anything, and they sure as hell weren't going to raise men who were scared of anything.
"I have another job for you two tonight. Be at The Garage at midnight," he says before turning back around in his chair, and just that quickly, we're dismissed.
Zeus stands quickly, I know, in a rush to get the hell out of there, but I'm slower to rise, a hesitation in my steps as we inch closer to the conference room door.
I pause at the doorway and turn back. "Are there organizational accommodations for us?"
Bobby turns back around in his chair, a look of confusion on his face.
"We're month to month in that shitty house of ours, and three times now someone from the organization has made their way on the property without us knowing," I explain, knowing that a healthy dose of paranoia is always seen as a good thing for men like him. "I'd like to get a good night's sleep."
Bobby grins as if he loves the idea of us being here full-time. "We're full at the moment, but we have a few people leaving soon, and then we'll be able to get you home."
I hate thinking about what "leaving soon" means to this man. I doubt they have people transferring out, but there's not really anything I can do about that at the moment.
"Appreciate it," I say before turning to leave.
Zeus and I don't look at each other as we walk out of the building, escorted by Gene, of course.
"Be safe," the man tells us as we step outside. I swear there's an ominous tone to his voice, something that hints that bad things are to come for us, but we get in the truck and leave the compound without incident.
Chapter 20
Zeus
The drive back is silent. We have no clue what they did to our vehicle while we were inside that building.
I know Zayne left it unlocked because it would be suspicious to lock the damn thing.
A guy is standing on the front porch when we pull back into the driveway. He's wearing a delivery outfit, but he doesn't look like he's delivering a package so much as waiting for us.
When I open the passenger side door, I realize it's Nyx. Fuck, this dude is so damn intimidating and unapproachable, despite us being on the same team.
He has a small package under his arm but holds out a tablet instead of offering it.
"You have to sign for it," he mutters.
I take the tablet from his hands and pull the stylus from the slot.
The tablet reads, THEY BUGGED THE HOUSE WHILE YOU WERE GONE.
"This is for you," I say, handing the tablet to Zayne so he can read it. I don't know the extent of their surveillance, so it's just a precaution.
Zayne scratches out a signature before handing the tablet back to Nyx.
"Thanks, man," Zayne says, taking the package from his hand.
The guy walks off without a word.
I pull out my key and unlock the front door.
"Fucking perfect," Zayne says. "This is the scope I ordered. Took them long enough to ship the motherfucker. Look."
I glance in his direction to see a scope sitting in the box, but the open flap of the box reads, ONLY THE LIVING ROOM IS BUGGED, LOW-GRADE AUDIO TECH. CONVOS ARE FINE OUTSIDE OF THE ROOM, BUT NOT IN THE KITCHEN.
"That's fucking sweet," I say. "Gotta try it out soon."
"Maybe they have a range they'll let us use," Zayne says, excitement I know he doesn't really feel in his voice.