Page 17 of Corruption
“She still makes you scared? After all this time?”
“Of course not! I simply don’t want her to know too much. Vince, she’s supposed to return to her normal life in 24 days.”
“But you still plan to shatter that normal life, don’t you?” he asked.
“Yes!”
“Then what does it matter what she knows? You’re going to burn it all down. She’ll likely end up in jail, as will her husband, and their families will exile them from their community. Explain to me how bringing her here poses any threat. Keep her confined to her room, withhold information, and she won’t have anything to use against you,” he argued.
As Vince outlined these points, I began to see that I had been concerned over nothing. He made a compelling argument, and while I had been anxious about bringing Alison here, Vince convinced me that she couldn’t harm me. I held the power, not Alison Brown.
“Well?” Vince asked, smiling, noticing my relief.
“No, you’re right. I guess I was just a little shaken from the whole ordeal. They nearly killed her,” I pointed out.
“Can’t have that. You still have three weeks of fun left,” he chuckled.
“Exactly.”
“Is your mind at ease now?” he asked.
“Yes. She won’t pose any problems.”
“Good. Now, have breakfast with me. It’s been ages since we’ve done that,” he suggested.
I smiled but shook my head. “I’ll eat later. I was hoping to return to the house to retrieve some items.”
“Items for your games, I presume?” Vince quipped.
“I did have that room designed for a reason,” I reminded him, and he chuckled.
“She has no idea how unique she is,” he teased.
“More like how unfortunate,” I corrected, finding our conversation oddly amusing. However, Vince didn’t respond. “Vince? I also need the house to be cleaned up.”
“It’s already been taken care of.”
“Can I go back then, or should I expect a sniper lying in wait for me?” I retorted.
“Well, I am still working on the little discussion I’m going to have with the big wolf. He didn’t appreciate that I had his pup killed.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t mess with the North,” I cautioned.
Vince waved his hand dismissively, as if it were no big deal that I had killed Pete, and now his father wanted to strangle me for it. I hadn’t believed Pete when he said he was more afraid of his own family than of me, but I hadn’t realized the extent of the crime family he was connected to. That symbol on his lower back had revealed too much, and now I was neck-deep in trouble.
“Do you have a death wish? You know how this works. An eye for an eye. Pete is dead now!” I exclaimed.
“He was a lowlife. A drug addict. He wasn’t even involved in his family’s business anymore because he snorted the cargo instead of selling it,” Vince argued.
“No, but his family still protected him. His father won’t just kill me slowly. He’ll drag it out until I beg for death, and then he’ll keep me alive, probably like a limbless blob sitting on the floor as a trophy.”
“Very vivid description. You always were quite the artist,” Vince teased.
“Vince, this is serious! I don’t want to become a limbless blob!”
“No, I can understand why you wouldn’t. I’d prefer dealing with Parkinson’s over being a limbless blob too,” he agreed.
“Then what’s happening? Could you share a bit more? Why are you going after them? Why now? They’ve been around longer than you have, even.”
