Page 129 of Angelic Vengeance

“Personalizes bullets,” Zane nodded towards sets of cartridge boxes next to the machine. “Some clients are…specific.”

“You mind?”

“Go ahead,” He replied before turning back to his conver-sation with Trevor.

Each box was labeled. I picked up the first –Python– sliding it open to see black bullets encrypted with the name. Placing it back, I looked through the others:Venom,Lilith,Ace, others in foreign calligraphy I couldn’t read,Angel,Phantom–

My blood froze when I turned back to the box and picked it up again. Sliding it open, I picked up one of the gold ammunitions. The name was spelled so clearly –ANGEL– it turned my vision red.

Some clients are specific.

Client.

Reaching into my suit pocket, I pulled out the similar ammo I’d been carrying around for the past two or so years. I placed the two bullets side by side…Identical.

Gold. Bold. Angel.

I turned around and pointed my Glock at Zane’s head. Probably out of instinct, he reached for a gun too, but stopped halfway and faced me instead.

“Woah,” Trevor stepped in between us. “The fuck are y’all doing?”

“You work with Maria? She’s your fucking client?!”

“What the fuck…” Trevor turned back to Zane. “You know Maria?”

“It’s why I asked you to come here today.”

“Bullshit.” I pulled off the safety.

Zane’s jaw clicked with tension. “Last night, a new client called my burner phone. They wanted me to take out two people: an assassin and a drug lord.”

“Zach and Maria?” Trevor crossed his arms, but remained between us.

Zane nodded before looking back at me. “Said you were fucking with their business, owed them money, ratted them out… So on.” He stepped away and flipped open a laptop on the center desk. “I lied and said I agreed. When they wired half the money in advance, I tracked them down. Call came from a dirty fed, supposedly dead.”

My pulse hammered in my veins because I knew the name he was about to say.

“Ruiz. No one knows of my involvement with the Su family, and thereforeyou. Or my long-time relationship with Maria.”

Long-time relationship. The fuck did that even mean?How did this fucker even know her?

My blood boiled in my veins and my trigger finger itched so bad, I almost pulled it. “Thanks for the shocking news but I was already aware of the situation.”

“I don’t really give a shit about you, but I can’t get a hold of Maria,” Zane spoke through gritted teeth.

He can’t get a hold of her… Meaning he used to be able to get a hold of her… He has her fucking phone number?!

“And you won’t ever again.” Not true since I wasn’t going to kill her, but he was starting to piss me off, so I thought I’d return the sentiment.

LoNg-TiMe ReLaTioNsHip. Blah,blah. Fucking dickhead.

Zane took a deliberate step towards me. “Fuck is that supposed to mean?”

I tilted my head to the side, hoping he tried to kill me just so I could kill him first. “It means she’s no longer a liability.”

Zane growled, about to attack me but Trevor grabbed his shoulder, steading him. “Zach… You said you two were good.”

I ran my tongue over my teeth, ignoring Trevor. “How do you know her?”