Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 148238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 741(@200wpm)___ 593(@250wpm)___ 494(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 741(@200wpm)___ 593(@250wpm)___ 494(@300wpm)
Grasshopper appeared from the tattered boxing ring in the middle of the room, where the rigging had been draped with extra jackets of the Corrupts, along with the items I’d told him to put in place. A large bucket of water, a blowtorch, towels, and a tattoo artist with a fully equipped mobile studio.
I nodded.
He nodded in return.
I hadn’t expected to find help on this side of the world, but Wallstreet had earned not just my loyalty in this Club but Grasshopper’s and Mo’s, too. I felt a kinship with them that I hoped wouldn’t bite me in the ass in the future.
“Everyone, pay attention,” Grasshopper shouted, cutting out grumbling conversation. “As you know, Kill, has been hand-selected by Wallstreet. We all know his instructions, and there won’t be any arguments. Got it?”
The room suddenly thickened with animosity.
Couldn’t really blame them. Staring at me with my unweathered face, no calluses on my hands, and no experience other than prison.
But it wasn’t up to them to decide if they liked me. It was up to them to obey me.
Stepping forward, I clasped a hand on Hopper’s shoulder. “I’ll take it from here.”
A few of the older members snickered, elbowing each other with anger in their eyes. I locked them in my stare. “I know a few of you won’t survive the transition. I have no doubt I’ll strip a few of you from your patches. And I also have no doubt that some of you will try and end this. But I’m here to tell you that I know how your mind works. I know because mine used to work the same way. You feel betrayed by someone you trusted. Furious at change.
“All I can offer is this. Yield or suffer. There is no other way.”
Stalking to the boxing ring, I swung up through the ropes, pointing at the tattoo artist. “Today, you will swear allegiance to me; there won’t be a ceremony to welcome me into your Club because the Corrupts no longer exist.”
Men moved forward with outrage. “What?”
“Listen here, you little pissant.”
Grasshopper jumped into the ring, waving his hand at the uproar rippling around the room. He dropped his voice. “Uh, Kill? What you doing, dude?”
I’m doing what he told me.
“I’m dissolving the Corrupts. From now on we’re Pure Corruption.”
His blue eyes narrowed. “And he sanctioned this?”
I nodded. “He knows. It was his plan. He knew I wouldn’t be able to take over as Prez and keep the name. It just wasn’t going to work. So I’m starting my own crew with his men.” Glaring around the room, I preached, “You follow me, I promise you everything Wallstreet ever did. I’ll give you money. I’ll give you power. I’ll ensure you never go to jail to serve time on shithead crimes that we don’t need to do. Our law will be steadfast and you’ll be true brothers again.”
My voice lowered. “Don’t follow me and you’ll be out. Your tattoo will be burned off, and you’ll be gone for good.”
Shrugging out of my borrowed jacket, I tore my T-shirt over my head and straddled the tattooist’s chair.
The Corrupts were about to leave their dinosaur-bone-chewing carcasses behind and enter a new century.
This was no longer a crime syndicate where personal hygiene and house cleanliness didn’t matter. This would be a smooth operation. A business. A brotherhood.
Mine.
My weapon against the men who owed me their screams.
“You—you can’t—”
My eyes fell on a potbellied man with a thick black beard. “Let me ask you a question. When you joined the Corrupts, what drew you to it?”
The room went quiet as men recalled their pasts.
Fists were still clenched, anger ripe in the air, but slowly answers trickled to my ears.
“To obey our own rules rather than a corrupt government.”
I nodded. “Good reason.”
“I joined for the business side. Wallstreet made me a wealthy man.”
I thumped my naked chest, vowing, “Follow me, and I will again.”
“To ride and have a place to go with brothers.”
I searched for the man who spoke but couldn’t pick him from the twenty pairs of eyes watching me. “Would you rather those brothers had no guidance? Violence and jail time ruining your peace?”
A ripple of discontent went through the room.
“Accept me as your president, join me and become a Pure, and I swear on my life and Wallstreet’s, you will have peace, you will have your wealth, you will have your brotherhood.”
My voice lost its edge; I allowed a small trace of vulnerability to show. “I know I’m new, I’m young, and I’m likely to screw up as I rebuild Wallstreet’s empire, but I promise I will deliver. I understand what it’s like to be betrayed, and that will never happen if you follow me.”
Shit, I wasn’t there for blood and glory. I was there for revenge. And if they didn’t fucking like it, they knew how to leave and it wasn’t through the front door.