Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 109245 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 546(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109245 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 546(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
The fifth was circling the floor and filming everything on her phone as if directing a porno.
Meridian stepped in first. Hood low, face concealed, Whisper back in the hidden compartment of his knee-length black armored trench.
He entered the room and let his mere existence do the introduction.
Ex walked in behind him, going toward the French doors that opened onto a balcony and checked each corner.
The woman filming gaped at him before she asked shakily, “Who’s that?”
Graham opened his eyes. When he saw Meridian, he didn’t answer her question—fear always stole the first words.
“Out,” Ex gritted at the women. “Drop the phone and leave. Do not turn around.”
The tone his partner used conveyed they should either obey or forfeit any chance of making it out of there alive.
The phone hit the rug. The women didn’t bother to search for their clothes. They wrapped their arms around their privates as they took wary steps toward the door.
Meridian stepped aside and allowed them to pass.
Graham swung his legs over the side of the bed and found Ex already in front of him. He pressed the barrel of his Glock in the center of his sternum and guided him back down.
“Stay there,” he ordered.
He stayed.
Meridian cut off the music.
“Do you know who we are?” he asked in a low voice.
Graham’s breath stuttered. “I’ve, um…I’ve heard…stories.”
“Of course you have,” he said, glaring. “Then you must’ve also heard that I don’t enjoy repeating myself or being fucked with.”
He glanced past him, noting the alarm panel on the headboard, the 9mm on top of the nightstand that Graham had glanced toward twice already.
“Don’t,” Meridian said calmly.
He didn’t.
Ex moved around the room, hood low, searching for anything usable, before he stopped in front of the safe concealed behind a painting and took a few pictures to send to their intelligence officer.
Meridian sat on the arm of the chaise, close enough so Graham could feel how near he was to danger.
He clasped Whisper’s onyx handle and unsheathed her the way a viper would reveal its fangs.
He let the blade rest flat against Graham’s naked thigh, the tip terrifyingly close to his flaccid cock. Meridian felt a tremor run through the muscle and radiate up the steel into his palm.
His mark’s eyes blew wide. “Wh—what do you want?”
“Everything,” Meridian said. “But we’ll start small.”
“What was your affiliation with the Ravens organization?”
Graham swallowed. “I was only an investor. I didn’t do anything, I swear it. I was never allowed inside.”
That was a lie. Footage recovered before the servers were destroyed showed Graham having multiple meetings with other investors and the former director inside the headquarters.
Meridian slid his dagger up an inch, making Graham’s breath hitch.
He leaned in, his voice so low and calm it almost sounded kind.
“If you lie to me again, I’ll make sure the last thing you experience is your brain trying to remember how to scream.”
Meridian shot his gloved hand up, clamped it around Graham’s throat, and pushed his thumb and index finger into the trigger points until tears flood Graham’s eyes.
“Do you understand?” he asked.
Graham answered with a tight nod.
“Now, let’s start again, shall we?” Meridian shifted his weight. “What was your investment supposed to get you?”
“The connections the organization had with certain agencies. To, y’know, keep the feds off my back and out of my business. And a new set of Ravens that would eliminate my competition. The director didn’t say it, but a lot of us knew that you two and the other Ravens were all uncontrollable.” He swallowed. “We were told the new ones would be loyal, and work for us.”
“Move on to the Whites,” Corvo spoke in his ear.
“These new Ravens… Where’d they come from?” he asked next.
“They were ex-cons, gang members, I think.”
“Names,” Ex said.
“Scar Calloway and Gage Harrington. Both were serving time in prison.” Graham blinked. “Why don’t you guys already know this? I mean, aren’t—”
Meridian moved faster than Graham’s next breath. Whisper spoke, carving a clean, shallow line across Graham’s cheek.
Meridian wasn’t angry… yet.
“You don’t ask the questions,” he said. “You answer them.”
As blood ran down Graham’s jaw, he cupped both hands over his junk, as if he were afraid his balls would be next.
Meridian rested his dagger’s edge just below Graham’s chin, waiting for his next mistake.
“I wasn’t given a whole lot of info on them, only what was public knowledge. The director was careful like that.” Graham’s lips trembled. “Scar and Gage were from rival crews in Chicago. One South Side, the other West.”
Meridian’s tone cooled another five degrees. “Which gangs?”
“South Side Kings and the 13th Ward Hustlers. The most vicious ones,” Graham muttered, no longer able to hold back his tears.
Ex sucked his teeth as Meridian rolled his eyes.
Goddamn crybaby.
“Was it the director who got them out of prison?”
“Yes. I mean, I think.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
Whisper kissed the other cheek.