Heavy grins. “You bet we could.”
“Right? I can see it now. You two as the new mobsters. But…” I tap a finger to my cheek as I stand.
Broken Nose scowls. He still has his gun very close to me. “No sudden movements,” he snaps.
“Alejandro, get your gun out of her face.”
“Don’t call me by my real name!”
“Sorry, Clown.”
Broken Nose gives Heavy the finger. “Can it, Marshall.”
“It’s Bull!”
I clap my hands. “Clown? No, no, that won’t do. I do like Bull, though.”
Heavy grins at me.
I eye Broken Nose. “How about Hook?”
“Hook?” Alejandro asks dubiously.
“It fits your nose,” I say sweetly. “Hook and Bull. Yes. I just hope…”
“Hope what?” Bull asks.
Hook narrows his eyes at me. “I don’t give a rat’s ass what you hope.”
I shrug. “Fine. Blow me away, but that’s a whole lot of thanks for being the one to push you two to become mobsters.”
“Put your gun away,” Bull snaps. Although Alejandro ignores him, Bull turns to me. “What do you hope?”
“I just don’t want you two to become rivals down the road. You need to work together. You make a good team, and I—”
“You don’t know dick about us,” Hook snaps, “and I see right through you. You’re trying to get us to turn on each other now, to shoot each other, so you can collect the bounties on us.”
I burst out laughing. “Oh, boys. Please. You’re not high up on anyone’s lists right now. There aren’t any bounties on either of you. Honestly, right now, no one considers you a threat. I hate to break it to you. You need to do more than just talk a good game, you know what I mean? But if you work together, you might be able to take over—”
“You can’t tell us what we can and can’t do,” Hook snaps.
I shrug. “I’m not,” I say honestly. “I’m just trying to give you some good advice, but if you don’t want to hear it…” I shrug again. “That’s on you. Free advice, though—”
“It’s worth what you pay for, just like everything else,” Hook grumbles. “It’s not worth a damn thing.”
I blink a few times. “Sure thing, Hook.”
“Don’t call me that!”
He’s angry, furious even. A fucking loose cannon. He can’t be reasoned with, but I’m betting Bull can be. It might be too late for that, though, because Hook looks like he’s seeing red. Maybe he should’ve been the one to have Bull as his nickname.
“I’m gonna off you and then—”
“And then what?” I ask. “Think a bit, Hook. You can turn this into an advantage.”
He scowls. “You talk too much. Anyone ever tell you that?”
“Your mom ever teach you manners?” Bull cuts in. “You’re so damn rude.”
“Fuck you. You want to be a mobster? You don’t have no fucking manners as a mobster!”
“No?” I ask sweetly. “I don’t know. I always thought the whole vinegar/honey thing was a good idea. Always worked for me.”
“What the fuck she talking about?” Hook asks Bull.
“Oh, it’s the whole saying that you catch—”
“You’re going to catch a fucking bullet if you don’t shut your damn mouth,” Hook says. He’s back to jabbing the gun against my temple.
I nod slowly and bite my lower lip. I've been able to talk my way out of situations before, but Hook is fucking unreasonable. Bull I can get to, maybe, if I had enough time, but I doubt I'll be given that long, so I keep my trap shut, but my mind continues to race.
“We can make this work for us, though,” Hook murmurs.
“How so?” Bull keeps his gaze on me and on the gun. I don’t think he likes that Hook wants to kill me, but Bull had been hunting me down too.
“All we have to do is think,” Hook says firmly. “Who else wants her dead? Maybe we can try to collect a bounty on her!”
Fuck. I was afraid he would think along those lines. Honestly, if I were in his position, I would consider it, but then I wouldn’t go through with it. I’m too dangerous to be left alive. I would just go ahead and blow me away.
They’re going to regret not doing that.
“Bull, what are you doing?” I shout.
They stare at me, but my mouth is wide.
“You’re better than that! Lower your gun!”
Hook starts to turn to Bull.
I shift away. “Don’t you dare cross Hook!”
Hook shoots Bull.
Bull gapes at me as he falls to the ground and starts to bleed out.
I grab Bull’s gun from his hand and shoot Hook straight through the forehead. He’s dead before he hits the dirt.
Straightening, I glance down at Bull. He’s gasping for breath.
A pang of remorse hits me. He won't survive this, but it's a dog-eat-dog world, and I have a lot of enemies. Even if Bull seemed like a decent guy, he still worked for a mobster. There's no telling what he might have been capable of.
“Pl…” he mumbles.
I nod and shoot him to end his suffering. My stomach twists. There are days like this, days where it’s more dark than light, and I hate that, but I won’t let anything take me out of this world. Not yet. I have too much living to do first.
3
Tox
For three weeks now, I’ve been on earth, and each day is a new adventure. It didn’t take me long to find the underbelly, to find those who need a mercenary, and I live day-to-day this way, accepting whatever job is asked of me. I already have a nice little pile of dough. Cash, I mean. Novans don’t have currency like the Earthlings do. I almost have enough to be able to buy myself a house, but I wonder if I should get myself a centuricmobile or a centuricar first. Walking around everywhere is getting a bit tiresome. Of course, I would have to have a refresher course on how to drive one of the vehicles. I never truly mastered it before I left Kuria. I knew being a driver wasn’t for me. Now that I
