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I wasn’t expecting a parade just because I got my G.E.D, but Ididwant to tell him about it in person while we ate dinner together.

Muffled sounds from his end make my ears perk up, but I can’t make out a single word before his voice makes a return.

“I gotta go, baby.” More muffled voices and a car door closing punctuate his statement. “I love you. I’ll let you know when I’m on my way home.”

Chapter 45

Retaliation Pt. 2

ADONIS

Iwait until takeoff to walk out of the bedroom at the back of the plane and take the seat facing Samuel.

The woman cuddled up beside him, giving him fake affection, doesn’t notice me until Samuel’s jaw goes slack and her lips have nowhere to land.

Then her bucked eyes rove over me, pulling my lips into a smirk.

Damn. The unmistakable fear tensing their expressions unlocks a dormant, primal part of me.

It starts with a quickening in my chest and an involuntary flexing of my fingers as I slant my head to get a better look at them.

“You’re a hard man to track down, Sammy. You know that?”

He stiffens at the nickname while the wide-eyed brown skin woman beside him straightens in her seat.

I shift my attention to her.

“Go to the back for me. Sammy and I need to discuss something I’m sure he doesn’t want you to hear.”

Scrambling, Samuel Kirk fixes his sagging posture and nods like it was his idea. “Yeah, baby, go in the bedroom and get ready for me.” He ogles her with a twisted smile meant to encourage her, but her gaze falters on mine as her steps stutter.

All I do is nod and she’s retreating again.

One interaction and I already have his woman looking at me for instructions. The sense of satisfaction I feel doesn’t get a chance to fully form before my demeanor turns stony.

Speaking over Samuel’s stutters, I finger my collar and lean forward. “Not showing up at the charity gala was smart but damn it would have been a lot easier to kill you in that mansion.”

“A-uh-d-donis,” he trips over my name until I reach in my jacket and pull out my beloved Beretta.

“You saw what I did to your friends, and you kept your distance. Smart.” I snicker, cocking the hammer. “But then you thought it would be a good idea to book a flight on one of my planes.”

“I-”

“I’m not done,” I interject. “Out of all the people I’ve killed, you deserve it the most.”

Unlike the others, I could only watch his video with Delilah once. But the second Marcellus disappeared, and Samuel decided to drag her over the carpet like a rag doll, I knew I was going to have fun killing him.

Now disappointment riddles my mind because I can’t do it. Not yet.

“I was gonna use you as target practice, Sammy. Empty every round I had in my clip and leave you sitting here torot. But it’d be a shame to fuck up one of my planes just to teach you a lesson.”

Relief washes over his face and the sight makes me smile.

“More than that, you’re no good to me dead.”

Another flood of relief replaces his panicked expression.

“But trust me, by the time I finish with you, you’ll be begging for an exit. Any way out.”