Page 96 of Beautiful Prey

Rolling my shoulders, I watch Vasco’s men spread out around me, closing the gaps one by one.

“Still smiling?”

“I’m just deciding whether you brought enough.”

Vasco steps back, out of reach, his grin widening as the circle tightens. “Well, let’s find out, shall we?”

17

ASH

Idon’t back up. “Come on, then.”

Vasco’s men start moving. There are eight, maybe ten. Ugly, violent motherfuckers who won’t stop until they finish what someone else started. They close in, step by step, two drifting wide to flank me. Amateurs would rush. These don’t. Vasco’s paid for patience.

I watch him over the shoulders of his men, one thought cutting through everything else.

Did the asshole let me win, too? Fuck.

I turn toward the dark windows of Jade’s flat, but Vasco clicks his tongue, and the circle tightens before I can look for more than a second.

Let them take their time because I want to hit something. I want to hit something until it breaks, until I can no longer hear Dad’s voice and stop thinking about Aleron waiting on Tempest to be handed to me like another fucking contract.

I want to hit something until my knuckles split and red is all I can see, and Vasco has just brought me plenty of options.

I put my back to the building so nobody gets behind me, and I wait for the first one.

The first one always thinks he’s the clever one. He comes in low. I let him get close, then break his nose with the heel of my hand. He drops with a grunt.

Then the rest come at once.

A fist finds my kidney. Another clips my mouth, turning the streetlight into a smear.

“Not the face,” Vasco calls, bored, like a man minding furniture.

I drive an elbow into one throat, a knee into another gut, but they’re on me from every side now.

“Should’ve stayed on Tempest,” one of them grunts before I put my fist through his teeth. It’s the only thing he says.

I duck the next swing, catch his wrist, and wrench it wide. “How much did my father fucking pay you for this?”

The man grins through bloody teeth. “Enough that nobody here gives a fuck what your name is.”

A boot catches the back of my knee, and the world tips as one hand slams down to catch me.

“Oh, don’t sound so wounded.” Vasco watches me push myself back up. “Your old man was very clear about what he wanted.”

I wipe the blood from my mouth with the back of my hand. “Wounded? I’m trying to figure out how fucking cheap you are. All this, and you still needed my father to bankroll it.”

A hand knots in my hair and wrenches my head back. Another fist slams into my ribs.

“You didn’t expect that, did you?” Vasco steps closer. “You really thought you could come down here, take everything I own, and that your old man wouldn’t hear about it?”

“Once I’ve finished your men, I’ll come for you, motherfucker.” I rip free, leaving a fistful of hair behind, then drive my knuckles into the next man’s teeth.

Vasco only looks more pleased. There are too many of them, and he knows it. Light, I know it too. Doesn’t mean I’m going down without a fight.

“You’re a brave one, I’ll give you that.” He steps closer, fishing a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. “But you really thought signing a few papers meant this place suddenly belonged to you? I know every shaft, every foreman, every family living in those blocks. I was here before you landed, Clement, and I’ll still be here when you’re gone.” Someone offers him a flame, and he lights the cigarette. “I’ll take back what’s mine. Piece by piece. And I’m very fucking good at making people regret standing in my way.”