Page 21 of Broken Discipline

“Benjamin,” I said.

I waited at the edge of the shop. Kien and the other customers scrolled through their phones. After I rolled up my sleeves, I grabbed my phone, matching the rest of the people in the room. Kien huffed, swearing to himself, and my jaw twitched. To be this close to him andnotstrangle him was torture.

But when you killed a member of the Marked Blooms Syndicate, you had to be smart. You couldn’t let your emotions control you, or you would draw unwanted attention.

“Ben!” the barista shouted. “Cappuccino with oat milk!”

I jogged to the barista, then reached over the counter, knocking a stack of lids to the floor.

“Shit,” the barista muttered.

I raised my hand, feigning clumsiness. “Sorry,” I said. “My bad.”

As he stumbled to clean up the mess and get a new stack of lids, I used my back to hide the cup from the view of the other customers. I pinched a substance from my pocket and quickly dropped it into the drink. The white powder blended in with the steamed foam.

“That’s mine, actually,” Kien said, putting an elbow in front of me. He grabbed it, then twirled the cup around, showing me the label on the side. “Oat milk,” he said. “I’ve got a bad,badmilk allergy, man. You get me.”

“I understand,” I said, bowing my head. “Enjoy.”

He tapped the counter, waiting for a lid, then took a sip off of the top, sighing with satisfaction at the taste. I swung around, striding toward the exit. Right as I opened the door, a crash of a body hit the floor and a chorus of gasps rang through the air.

“Are you all right?” a woman asked. “Someone help him!”

“I’ve got vomit on me!”

“Is he contagious?”

I kept walking. Kien wretched again, emitting the acid from his stomach onto the floor. In a few seconds, there would be blood in his vomit, and soon after that, he’d be dead.

Those baristas must not have been paying enough attention. Milk allergy. Poor Kien.

Back at the Carter Compound, a lightness came over me. It was never supposed to be personal when it came to Ramona, and in a way, it still wasn’t.

But after seeing that footage, I couldn’t keep to myself anymore. Those four fuckers had to die. One of four down, three more to go.

Chip knocked on the office door. “You’re right,” he said. “She’s trying to follow you.”

“Where is she?”

“Just outside of Opulent Gates, waiting in the next community. James is tailing her.”

I got out my phone, assigning Chip a contract through Carter Care. I could take Ramona by myself from here.

“Head to the airport,” I said. “Sage City is waiting.”

Chip stood in place, waiting for me to acknowledge him. He cleared his throat. I ignored him.

“We can take care of her,” he finally said, breaking the silence. “This is about the twins, right, sir? Why not just get rid of her? It would be easier, sir.”

I grabbed him by the throat, shoving him forward, and he threw a punch, landing his fist on my face, but that didn’t stop me. I squeezed his neck, holding him off of the ground. He was a big man, but the rage surged through me at those words. He wanted to kill her?

No one was going to ‘take care of her,’ butme.

“Ramona is mine,” I growled.

I let go of his neck and he grasped the wall, coughing into his fists. By the time he caught his breath, I was in the weapons room. He stumbled after me.

“I only meant that we make sure she’soccupied,sir,” Chip said, his voice scratchy. “Send her to the salon. Shopping. Anything to make sure she’s off your tail.”