Page 132 of House of Payne

When he disappears, I step out into the dying light and stuff a hand into my pocket. I unfasten a button on my jacket and take long, even strides. One of Michael’s men spots me, but he’s too slow to reach for his gun. My bullet slices through the air and lodges between his eyes, and he’s on the ground before the panic has even fully registered on his face.

I turn my gun on Lance’s men next.

One more drops, and the other clutches his arm and fumbles for his gun as I step over him and kick it away. Then, I point the trigger at his temple and watch the life leave his eyes. I look up to see that the remaining security detail has formed a protective barrier around Michael and Lance.

Fucking cowards.

Why don’t they have the nerve to face me themselves?

They’re all bluster and bullshit behind closed doors. When push comes to shove, they don’t have the balls to do what needs to be done.

So much for renegotiating a deal that honors the alliance under new terms.

Michael shoves forward, his face is bright red with anger. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

I don’t miss a beat. “I’m assuming my invitation got lost in the mail.” I don’t blink at the several guns aimed at my chest. “Having to clean up after you two is getting so tiring.”

Michael bristles. “Who told you we need you to clean up after us?”

I raise an eyebrow. “Meeting behind my back once is a stupid mistake. Doing it twice is just asking for trouble.”

“We’re not meeting behind your—”

I throw a knife toward Lance, and it slices his ear. “Enough with the fucking lies. I already know your plan. What I’m trying to understand is why you two morons are still allowed to run around.”

Or why the higher-ups haven’t reigned them in.

Either the heads of their respective families have no idea what’s going on, or they’re testing the waters to see how we’ll react.

I don’t like either of those options.

Michael Everett and Lance Fitzpatrick are no longer thorns in my side.

They’re bad enough separately, but together, they’re becoming something of a threat, and I need to eliminate the problem before it causes any further damage.

They’re the reason business has been slow.

Without constant access to the docks and marinas, I’ve had to come up with other costly arrangements, and I don’t know how much longer I can fend off my father’s questions.

The news will reach him eventually, and I want to have this tied up by the time it does. If someone else goes to him first, I have no idea how we’ll react, or how far the damage will spread.

Lance stands next to Michael, and his eyebrows draw together. “Look around you, Payne. You’re not exactly in a position to be making threats.”

I let out a low, humorless laugh. “When I fucking threaten you, you’ll know.”

“You’re outgunned,” Michael adds. “If I were you, I would turn around and walk away. There’s nothing here for you.”

They actually think they’re going to walk out of this unscathed. Either they have something else up their sleeve, or they really are dumber than they look.

I give them both a slow, cold smile. “It’s a good thing neither of you are me, then. I assumed that I knocked some sense into your thick fucking head in my office the other day, but I can see I’m going to have to resortto more drastic measures.”

Think this through, Mason. Don’t do anything stupid.

Except the time for caution has passed.

They’ve all but waved the banner of war in our faces, and I can’t allow their behavior to go unchecked if I want the empire to emerge unscathed.

I can’t let them continue to test the boundaries more each day.