The mayor’s sadistic eyes were locked on me, and even with his fear evident, he still managed to look cocky as fuck.
“Do you realize what I can do to you, Mr. Tucker?” he said slowly.
“Nothing you haven’t already done, I imagine.”
It was his turn to raise a brow now, his surprise clear.
“Dodgy judges, rotten cops, prison officers in your pocket… I was on the receiving end of them all, Walsh, and I paid for my sins via your games and need for power.”
“Yet, you’re still here, meddling in my business, turning my family against me, pointing guns at me without a care for your future, or those in it.” His eyes drifted to Ayda behind me, a slow smile creeping on his face.
I took three steps closer, my face twisting with anger, and my jaw ticking as I raised my gun higher.
“You look at her again, and I’ll put a bullet in your dick before I plant one in the center of your skull.”
Walsh’s attention slid back to me. I could practically smell his fear.
“This is where you and I differ,” I began, taking another step closer. “This is where I’m the man and you’re the boy because I don’t need to operate in dark, seedy corners. I don’t need other men, more capable than me, to do my dirty work. There’s no fun in that, Mayor. No fun at all. I like to see thefear in my enemy’s eyes before I pull the trigger. I like to dig their graves with my own bare hands. I like to pack that soil and dirt in real tight, stamp on it with my heavy boots and let Hell know I’ve sent another bastard its way. If I want to kill someone, I do it myself. So, if you think I’ve got any fear of following through with my threat to end your life, and if you so much as acknowledge my girl behind me, you might want to think again, because I will put your fucking light out faster than you can blink.”
Silence filled the air as we stared at one another, his eyes searching mine for any sign of a lie, while I remained still apart from the subtle flex of my finger over the trigger.
“Noted,” Walsh eventually whispered.
“Good.” My nostrils flared, and my finger pressed down gently on the trigger, skin meeting metal, desperate to extinguish another enemy while it was in my line of sight. Reality soon kicked in, and I released it, exhaling through my nose and side-eyeing Rubin. “Kid, I’m going to need you to lower your gun and go to Ayda.”
He shook his head violently. “Can’t do that, Drew.”
“Yes, you can. You’re safe. We’re here. Nothing’s going to happen to you now. I promise.”
Rubin’s arms were really shaking now, his emotion taking over. His sad eyes filled with moisture as he stared at his pathetic excuse for a father.
“Rubin,” I urged. “Go to Ayda.”
“He threatened to kill me,” Rubin eventually said on a shaky breath. “He said he knows what I’ve done, Drew. He said the judge who signed off the warrant had tipped him off—told him that they suspected something in this house that would send Dad down for a long time. He knows it's me. He knows what I’ve done.”
“And none of that matters because the ATF are on their way, Rubin. We need to get you out of here as quickly aspossible and let them come take care of this asshole you have to call a father.”
“If I can get away in time, so can he. I’d rather stay here and hold him in place. I need him to pay.”
Walsh sighed heavily, the slight roll of his eyes making me want to fly over there and punch the guy in the fucking throat.
“Pay for what?” Walsh groaned. “For keeping this town safe? For trying to rid it of the only problem it has ever had?”
“The Hounds are my family,” Rubin hit back angrily, his arms shaking wildly.
“Rubin,” I called out, my tone firmer. His head snapped my way, eyes wild and his body out of control. I could see the pain he was wearing and the torment running through his mind, and I wasn’t about to let him fall down a hole I’d fallen down one too many times myself. “Listen. Focus,” I mouthed to him. “Go. To. Ayda.”
As though something clicked, he began to lower his gun, both hands gripping it tightly as he pointed it to the floor.
“Go to her,” I whispered. “Get out of here. I’ll hold Walsh in place. I’ll stay here until the cops get here if I have to.”
“You’re not getting in any more trouble for him, Drew,” Rubin said quietly, shaking his head. “That’s what Dad wants.”
“Then I’ll get out before they see me here. Trust me.”
Rubin looked at me for guarantees, and all I could give him were promises with my eyes. Promises I intended to keep.
Slowly, Rubin began to move, never breaking eye contact the entire time as he made his way to the window ledge where Ayda was waiting, no doubt with open arms.