Page 9 of Poisoned Promise
“Your reputation?”
“Mhm.” I lean forward across the table and slowly steal his glass from the coaster in front of him. “So I thought we could come to some sort of agreement. You tell me what it costs and I’ll pay it.”
Lifting the glass to my lips, I tip it to create the illusion I’m drinking it but nothing passes my lips.
Best case scenario, this greedy fucker accepts a cheque and I can lure him into the back to sign it.
Worst case, I have to take care of this right here.
“Pay it,” Tee repeats. “You can’t afford it.”
“I can’t?” I lower the glass.
“You think this is about the fucking car? You think you can just walk in here and make demands of me? Do you know who the fuck I am?!”
It astounds me how the ego and an inflated sense of importance are always stronger with the rats at the bottom of the ladder.
Those at the top don’t need to declare their importance for it to be felt.
Tee surges forward and places his gun on the table, speaking so rapidly that the ash rains down from his cigarette and leaves little scorch marks on the paper below. “I’m fucking Tee Rossi. Organized crime, you fucking bitch. That’s right, your bastard of a son stole from the Mafia and you know what’s worse? It wasn’t just the car he stole but there was something pretty fucking important in that car, which is now fucking destroyed because your cunt of an offspring can’t fucking drive!”
Anger ignites beneath my ribs at every insult he throws my way but I maintain the polite smile on my face. “Organized crime?” I repeat softly. “That’s not… real. How can crime be organized?”
“Are you thick?” He spits out his cigarette and stands. “The warning I sent this morning should have gotten through to you that you’re dead, you hear me? You’ve got a crosshair right between those pretty eyes of yours and you come in here thinking you can pay?” With both hands on the table, he leansforward until we’re face to face. “Bitch, the only thing you have that interests me is the slit between your legs but you wouldn’tsurvivethe amount of times I’d fuck you to pay back what was lost.”
I swallow hard, feigning fear and pulling back from him. “I-I don’t understand. I thought… I thought all you cared about was money? I can pay— I have money!”
“Money?” Tee sneers and straightens up just as two of his men sweep in from the bar and haul me from my seat, one grabbing each arm. “Money isn’t how the debt is paid, sweetheart. This debt requires life. You people think you can steal from me?” He starts laughing. “Me?!”
Tee leads the way past the tables and toward silver metal doors that lead into the kitchen.
He throws them both open with a flourish of his hands and I’m dragged after him by the two brutes.
“What do you mean by life?” I gasp, pulling against the men and testing their strength. “Are you going to kill me?!”
“Kill you?” Tee spins around and walks backward as he talks. “No, sweetheart. I am actually going to get my payment by fucking you until my dick falls off but that payment is for fucking interrupting me while I was working. The real debt?” He stops by the heavy door leading to the walk-in fridge.
The door rests open and cold clouds over the floor while Tee waves a hand inside. “This is payment.”
I stumble over myself as they drag me in front of the door. Just inside, a familiar face rests on a chair with congealed blood staining a white t-shirt.
Michael.
No wonder he wasn’t calling Alex back.
Shit.
“We thought he was the driver,” Tee sneered. “Turns out it was your brat. Is he at home? Don’t worry, you can keep me busy while I send my boy here to pick him up.”
He presses into me and the barrel of his gun starts at my hip and slowly strokes up toward my breasts.
“If you suck my dick well enough, I won’t kill him in front of you,” Tee sneers. “Fucking bitch coming in here making demands of me. Fucking hell.” He steps back, raises his hand and slaps me hard across the face.
My head snaps to the side and my hair drifts across my face, blinding me for half a second.
I instantly go limp and the man to my left loosens his grip in alarm, giving me the window I’m looking for.
Letting my legs give out from underneath me, I twist my arm and slip from his grasp until my knees hit the tiles.
