“I’m not gonna tell you shit, so just kill me.”
I step back, fighting a grin, “What would the point be in just killing you? We have so much fun planned.” Like hell we’d just kill this guy. Wiz and Manic are working on this asshole’s details first, getting all the information we can on him.
“Pres, Wiz, and Manic have shit for ya,” one of the prospects calls through the door.
Sighing, I stab my knife into this pissant’s leg and walk out of the room to the sound of his screams.
Chapter Two
Justine
Unpacking the last box, I sigh in relief. I hate moving and I swear to God this is the last damn time. I needed to get away from my overprotective, over-obsessed mother, and when Tomas was offered a teaching position here, and asked me to move with him, I couldn’t have said yes faster.
My parents had just separated, and it was all my mother’s fault. We never had the greatest of relationships as I was growing up, and as an adult, she tried to make up for it by being overbearing to the point it was driving a wedge between Tomas and I. Couldn’t even go out on a date night without her getting upset she wasn’t invited. She would punish me by not calling, not texting—thinking it was a punishment—for weeks at a time if I didn’t include her in date nights, or watch a movie with her. I’m an adult, so I don’t understand her logic.
Then it came out that she was cheating on my father, and I knew I had to cut her out of my life; the toxicity she let off was too much and I knew I was done with it all. I put up with her abuse my entire life. She was psychically abusive when I was a child, but once I hit seventeen, it was all about manipulation. Hell, when I told my dad that I was moving, he packed up and followed us. He found a house a few streets over from where Tomas and I now live. It was easy for him to move, as he now had nothing holding him back. He often went out to Alberta for months at a time with his job, so instead, he just got transferred here.
Tomas is great, although I never thought we’d be together this long, we’ve been best friends since we were in kindergarten, and started actively dating when we hit high school. We’re as opposite as they come. I’m a smoker, meat eater, and I’m all tattooed and pierced, while his skin is clean and he refuses to put anything into his body that isn’t organic. People always stop to stare at us while we’re out, but I don’t pay any mind to it. Could be because of my crazy-coloured hair, or could be because we don’t look like we suit each other.
“Justine?” Tomas’s voice echoes through the empty house. So far, I’ve only managed to unpack my bedroom and part of the kitchen. “I’m going to pick up some food, I’ll be back.”
“Okay, sounds good!” I shout back, trusting him to know what I like. I think back on the hot biker that showed up to my house last night. Damn, the man was fine. Older, beard untamed and greying, chocolate eyes that I could get lost in. And his bulk, hot damn he must work out. From what I could see, he didn’t have an ounce of fat on him.
A man like that has trouble written all over him. But it doesn’t stop me from fantasizing about him. I’ve started wondering if Tomas and I will go the distance, but quickly squash it. He’s been there for me through everything in my life, I would be stupid to give him up now.
A few minutes later, a knock comes to the front door, and I set the freshly unpacked dishes onto the counter. Opening the door, I’m greeted by my father.
“Hey, Daddy.”
“Hey, sweet girl, how’s the move going?” he asks, stepping into the house.
“It’s slow going, but I’m determined to get the kitchen at least done before bed. Bedroom is done, so that’s a plus.”
“Good, just thought I’d drop by and see if you wanted some help.”
I smile, “Of course, please help. Tomas just ran out to get us something to eat, want anything? I can text him quickly.”
“Sure, sweetheart. Tomas knows what I like, so surprise me.”
I grab my phone from the countertop and quickly text Tomas to also bring food back for dad. He replies with a thumbs up. Smiling, I set the phone back down and go back to the dishes I was unpacking before dad interrupted me.
“This house has some good bones.” Dad startles me slightly.
“Yeah, the house was just renovated but it’s the layout of the house that sold me. It’s not that big but it feels big.” I bought a four-level split, upstairs is three bedrooms, one bedroom has an ensuite and a main bathroom. The second floor, the main floor, is the kitchen, a dining room, and a living room. Third level is another living room, a bedroom, and a half bath. Off the living room is a door that leads to the laundry room and through that room, another door that leads to our double garage. Then you have the fourth floor, the basement, it’s one large room, and a door that connects is a storage room. Not sure what I will use that space for, but maybe a guest bedroom or something.
The kitchen gets unpacked in record time and I put the dishwasher through. Even though we didn’t dirty the plates, they were wrapped in newspaper so that’s gross. Hence getting washed. “That didn’t take long at all,” I say to dad with a smile.
“Nope, want to tackle the living room next?”
Seeing my cell light up with a notification, I glance at it and see it’s alerting me to the garage door opening. I look back to my dad and say, “After we eat, Tomas just pulled into the garage.”
I’m hoping this move will be good for us, but I have a gut feeling things are going to change.
Chapter Three
Hangman
“Whatcha got for me?” I ask my boys at their computers.
“Justine Reid, twenty-five, independent author. Father lives just a few streets over from you, mother is out of the picture. You want info on the parents or just her? ‘Cause fuck me, Pres, the mother is a cunt, the father a saint. So, she probably went through some shit with her mother before she cut her out.”
“Just Justine for now, gimmie the information on her mother later, I wanna know what I’m dealing with for now.”
“Okay, brother, she writes mostly biker romances, a few rom coms, but dabbles in all genres really. Doesn’t use a pen name, says on her website she refuses to hide who she is. Has dated a Tomas Hyder as far back as we can find out, he’s a schoolteacher. Trust fund baby, his father owns an oil company.” This information confuses me, he’s got a trust fund and should be working for his father, yet he’s a schoolteacher. I’ll have to ask Justine about it at some point.
“So, nothing shady?” I ask, not caring about the bitch boy she’s with.
“Nope, nothing, but brother, man, she’s been hurt bad; childhood trauma, her dad worked away a lot, so he might not know everything, but I hacked into the system and found her doctor files. Doctor even suggested multiple times child abuse by the mother but never reported it,” Wiz tells me. “That’s not all, found her original birth certificate and it seems her dad isn’t her biological father.”
My fists clench, I’ll kill the bitch. No one hurts what’s mine. I narrow my eyes, “Who’s her father?”