Page 92 of Wicked Refusal

“How about this?” He twists his weapon so that it’s facing forward. “You fight back, I start shooting those nice people on the street. Now, wouldn’t that be a real tragedy?”

“Bold of you to assume I’d give a shit.”

“Is it?” He cocks his gun. “You can’t bluff with me, Yul. I know you’ve still got the same bleeding heart you grew up with.”

“Any compassion I ever had drowned with you.”

“And yet, I’m still breathing.”

My gaze flicks to the crowd. Businesspeople, commuters—the usual Manhattan fauna.

Then I see her.

A woman with two kids, pushing a stroller.

Desya follows my line of sight. “That one, huh? Good choice. I’ll blow her brains out first. Let the little ones watch.”

I grit my teeth. Letting him get me like this—what an amateur fucking move. Even though I’m the stronger fighter, the quicker draw, I can’t guarantee he won’t fire at least one shot. And knowing Desya, he’ll make it count.

Then let them die.It’s that voice again, cold and calculating.They’re nobodies.

“Our feud is ours,” I say. “It’s me you want.”

“Oh, but I don’t just want your life. How boring would that be?” He starts tilting the gun this way and that, from me to them, them to me. “I want to break you, brother. Just like you broke me.”

“If that’s all you wanted, you would have shot me already.”

Thatmakes him laugh. “You always were the smart one. Kira liked to think it was her, but she couldn’t hold a candle to either of us in the end, could she?”

“You leave Kira out of this.”

“So sentimental.” He sighs wistfully. “Even now, you just can’t see the big picture. And here I thought I was the half-blind one.”

“If you came here to monologue, I’d rather you just shoot me.”

More laughter. “God, you’re a riot.”

“And you’re stalling. So why don’t you just tell me what it is you came here to say and get the fuck out of my sight?”

His tone turns serious after that. “I came to see if you’ve changed your mind yet.”

“Changed my mind?”

“About joining me.”

Now,Ifeel like I could laugh. “Give me one good reason.”

“How about I won’t go after your girl?”

I see red. “If you so much as touch her?—”

“Oh, give me a break with the alpha act.” The gun digs into my side again, harder this time. “I’ve swiped both your bishops offthe board. You think I won’t get to the rest? Your rooks, your knights, your queen?”

“You’ll be a dead man walking.”

“I already am,” he sasses. “You killed me, remember?”

“Clearly, I didn’t do a good enough job of it.”