Bare feet frozen on the linoleum, he watches me carefully, then crosses his arms. But stays silent.
I creep forward a few steps. “Did you hear me?”
“Yeah, I heard you, Aiden. So then shoot me.”
My jaw tightens. “Here’s the thing…You’regoing to do it.”
He chuckles without mirth. “Not going to happen.”
Shuffling over to the island, I tug the vial from my jacket pocket and place it on the counter. It’s the same I’d bought for President Harvey. It works; I know it does. But I haven’t gotten to see it in practice. “Drink this. And it’ll be over.”
Unyielding, he stands firm and doesn’t say a word.
I sigh, the mask hot against my skin. How do people wear these things?
“Listen. Ifyoudon’t? This will turn out worse for you. I’m doing you a favor. Asa Donovan. Name ring a bell?”
He shakes his head slowly, almost annoyed that I’m even in his presence. Poor guy doesn’t understand how short my patience is.
“Donovan isn’t happy with the Morettis right now.” Mention of their family name finally paints a worried look on Twinston’s face for a fraction of a second.
“What does that have to?—”
“They’ve been attempting to steal from the casino to fund your company. The merger between Power Puffz and whatever weird meat medical project you had going on. That means you’re stealing fromseveralinvestors in White Wolf Lodge and Casino. And its shareholders.”
Waving the Glock around, I loosen my wrist and place my finger on the trigger.
“The largest of which…is me.”
His eyes dart to the poison resting across from him, next to me.
“So why not go after them?”
I snort a laugh. “We will. It’s as good as done. In fact, I believe Tony Moretti won’t last the night. And his son? Talon? Well…I have a special place picked out for him.”
Reality setting in, he shakes his head rapidly. “No. I’m not drinking that. You’ll… You’ll have to shoot me.”
“Is that the way you want Hailey to find you later? Shot through the head?”
That disrupts his cool exterior. Voice dropping to a whisper, he opens his arms, pleading with me. “Please, Aiden. Don’t do this. I-I’ll take the mark of a traitor. I’ll… Let me go.”
I glance at the clock. This is taking way too much time. All I wanted was to get to Gnarled Pine Hollow so I could steal my future wife back to our house. Now, he’s wasting my night away.
“You have a few more seconds to make a move.”
Instead of going for the vial, he drops to his knees, clasping his hands together like a pathetic piece of shit.
Frustrated andannoyedthat I even have to get my hands dirty, I decide to take it out on him.One last time.
I stuff my Glock into my waistband and reach for a chef’s knife in the wood block near the stove. Wandering back over to him, I shove it under his nose and let him sniff the blade. A threat. A promise.
“You want pain? Or quick and easy?”
“No… I’ll drink. I will. Just…give me a minute to get some things straight.”
His head swivels toward his phone next to the recliner in the living room. When he gets up to go for it, I snag him back by the sweater.
Without a skip in my pulse, I slash the knife through his neck. It’s not enough to stop him, not by far, but it slows him down. Blood surges from the wound onto the tan carpet, footsteps dragging through it with every lunge forward.