Page 244 of Micah

“You walked into her place of business. You trashed the place. Threatened her. Terrified her. You put your slimy fucking hands on her.”

My jaw tightens.

“You were warned once. Then you came back and did it again. And that was your final mistake.”

Scarface finally finds his voice.

“We didn't know?—”

“No.”

I cut him off.

“You didn't. But you do now.”

He swallows.

Around us, the woods are perfectly still. Even the wind seems to have stopped listening.

I don’t glance at Benji or Sawyer.

A lifetime of trust passes between us without a word.

This is my mission.

My sin to carry.

And I will.

I’ll stack it with all the others. But this time, I’m doing it for the best possible reason.

This time I’m doing it for love.

I look at the four men kneeling before me.

“Please,” Scarface begs.

But the knife in my hand slices across his throat faster than he can finish his sentence.

“Oh shit. He killed him!”

The man next to him tries to scramble away. But he’s next. The last two them follow the movement of my blade with frightened eyes.

I dispatch the third. And when I get to the fourth I cock my head to the side. And I slice through his cuffs.

“You wanna live?”

“Yes. Fuck, yes. I’m sorry about your girl, man! I don’t even run with these guys!”

“I’ll let you live under one condition.”

“What?”

“You tell everyone. Every dealer. Every collector. Every wannabe tough guy. If they so much as breathe in our direction, they won’t live long enough to regret it. And that goes for our women, too.”

He nods frantically and I think he understands.

Then I blindfold him, and I knock him out.