Page 5 of Iron Princess
Mount’s expression stayed stoic. “That’s not all.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Figured there was a catch. Might as well hit me with it.”
Mount mimicked my posture, but for some reason, he looked menacing when he did. “After this is done, you do three more jobs for me. When those have been fulfilled, you can go on about your business.”
“What the fuck kind of jobs? I’m not doing shit that I don’t agree to first.”
“Kills. Hits. Contracts.”
“You want me to be your goddamned hit man? Because you don’t do wet work anymore?” I jerked my gaze from him to Jeremiah. “Is this guy fucking serious? After the first one, I’ll either end up in prison, the morgue, or in a third-world country.”
Mount shook his head slowly. “No. Because firstyouhave to die.”
My mouth dropped open in shock. “The fuck did you say?”
“You take the twenty-five K and this phone.” He pulled it out of his pocket and set it on the counter beside the envelope. “We arrange to fake your death—throw your dog tags on a body, shove it in a shit car, burn it. Then we change how you look so not even your own mother would recognize you. Last, I tell you when and where, and you take out Giles. Call when the job’s done and you get another twenty-five K. After that, you answer when I call, do the three jobs for the same price, and then you can decide where the hell you go from there.”
I swallowed. Jesus fucking Christ. He had it all figured out, and I was still struggling to believe we were having this conversation to begin with.
“You’re serious?” I asked. “You want me to ...” I replayed it all in my head again.
“Yes. You have five minutes to decide before I walk out that door and my offer disappears forever.”
“What if I don’t do it? You gonna farm this out for someone else to take care of?”
His expression was blank when he responded. “No. Because knowing that Giles bastard is knocking around your mother is enough to make you homicidal. You’ll kill him eventually, but you’ll do it without the fifty grand, a solid plan, and a way out. How would your mama like spending her Saturdays driving back and forth to the prison to have fifteen minutes to talk with you at the state pen?”
His words painted the picture as effectively as if he held a brush in his hand like a master artist. Giles’s brother, who was the DA, and their dirty cop of a sheriff would never let me get away with it. Hell, they wouldn’t rest until they saw me get the lethal injection.
“Kane, you should think on this. If you’re gonna do it anyway, this is the smartest option.”
This came from Jeremiah, whose advice I normally trusted. But how the fuck could I trust this guy I’d never met?
“Can’t believe you brought him here.”
Mount interrupted. “You’ve got three minutes, and I’m running out of patience.”
What the fuck am I doing even considering this?I asked myself.
“Who the hell are you, anyway?” I asked him.
“Lachlan Mount.”
“Should I have heard of you?”
The grin that tugged at his lips could only be described as feral. “No, because you don’t exist in my world. But you take this deal, and you’ll have yourself a seat at the table in it, even though you’ll be a ghost. The way I see it, you have two choices—prison, or a life you can’t even imagine. No more getting paid pennies for putting your ass on the line every day. No one making decisions for you but you.”
“And you,” I pointed out.
“For now. I don’t need a fucking pet, Savage. I need a trigger man who doesn’t owe anything to anyone and has the balls to take a shot no one else would dare. According to your friend here, that’s you. You have one minute to decide. You in or out? Because either way, the rest of your life changes right now.”
4
Kane
One month before the funeral
“What the hell did you just say?”
