Page 167 of The Incredible Ordinary

Dallas tilts his head to the side and points the gun at Jordan.

“You. Why don’t you come and sit down next to Rory here?”

Jordan doesn’t move right away. His gaze flicks to me.

Dallas motions with his gun, visibly impatient. “Let’s move. We don’t have all night.”

Jordan starts to move. I grab his arm, but he looks at me, deep blue eyes as calm as I’ve ever seen them as he shakes his head at me and goes to Rory.

“Now,” Dallas says. “Time to talk business.”

“Put. The gun. Down,” I grit out through my teeth.

He tuts. “I don’t think you understand how this works. See, I have the gun, which means I call the shots.” He smirks. “Call the shots. Get it?”

“Clever,” I say, a compliment stretched to mockery, complete with a slow clap.

“Glad we’re on the same page. Should make this quicker.”

“At least we agree on something. Not seeing your face anymore as soon as humanly possible sounds like the best idea you’ve had so far.”

His fingers tighten around the gun, and his lips pull into a sneer.

“Enough!”

He jerks the barrel of the gun up to point it right into my face, and my shoulders relax the tiniest bit.

That’s it. Keep it on me, fucker.

My heart is in my throat, but I ignore it as best as I can. My gaze finds Jordan, and he looks back with the kind of steady calm and trust I honestly don’t think I deserve, but it makes me determined to live up to it, if nothing else.

“I don’t know who you think you are,” Dallas says.

“Among other things.” I widen my eyes. “Oh, did I somehow get the wrong impression? You don’t exactly strike me as the brightest bulb in a chandelier.”

He strides forward until the gun is aimed straight at my face in the kind of proximity that is decidedly not comfortable.

“I should shoot you right now,” he says, just as Rory jumps up.

“No!” he shouts.

The panic in his voice makes my breath hitch. Dallas turns around. I could tackle him to the floor. His back is to me. But the gun is aimed at Rory again now, and I hesitate a beat too long.

Dallas takes a look at me over his shoulder, and then his gaze settles on Rory again. He marches back to Rory, grabs his forearm, and pulls him up.

“Hey!” Jordan snaps, but the moment he jumps up, Dallas presses the gun to Rory’s head, and Jordan comes to a screeching halt. He takes a deep breath, raises his hands in front of himself, then takes a slow, deliberate step back.

“Enough of this shit,” Dallas says.

“That’s the first good idea you’ve had in, I suspect, ever,” I manage to get out. “So we’re gonna head out, then.”

“Not so fast,” Dallas says, voice hardening. “You want to leave? Fine by me. All you have to do is settle the small issue of payment, and you’re free to go.”

“Payment?”

“You can’t expect me to part ways with my dear nephew just like that? No, I figure I need some kind of compensation. To ease the ache in my heart.”

“Are you sure you have one that’s capable of aching?” I ask.