Page 56 of Undying Resilience
. . .
In the morning, I wake before everyone else. It’s nice to have all four of us together, even if it’s a little cramped. When Wren asked if we could all sleep in the same bed, I was skeptical that it would be comfortable, but I wasn’t about to deny her what she needed. Backache be damned, we made it work.
Carefully, I untangle myself from Oliver. He moans but doesn’t wake, and I smile when I see that Wren is still holding his hands.
Downstairs, I make a pot of coffee and pour myself a mug. Then I head to the room we’re keeping Jordan in. He’s awake, although his face is so bruised he can barely get one of his eyes open.
When he sees the mug in his hands, he recoils. “I don’t want any of that shit.”
“Wasn’t offering.” I lean against the dresser that’s directly in his view, sipping from the mug. I don’t say anything else, choosing to stare at him silently.
He squirms. “What are you going to do to me?”
Whatever Wren wants.
But I don’t say anything out loud.
The longer I stare at Jordan, the more panicked he gets. It’s probably cruel of me to pull this shit, but I can’t find it in me to care.
“I’m hungry,” he says eventually.
“Did you feed Wren?”
I already know the answer.
Jordan presses his lips into a thin line while he contemplates a response. He must know that lying is a terrible idea—I’d never believe his word over Wren’s—and the truth is probably too uncomfortable for him to speak out loud.
“You’re a real piece of shit, you know that?” I say.
“I was getting justice for my brother,” he snarls.
I laugh bitterly. “Right. Justice for a man who didn’t see any value in human life. That’s the only way he could willingly take over your uncle’s businesses. How many people die at Williams factories every year? How many more can’t feed their families?”
“You’re a fucking hitman! Don’t talk to me about the value of life.”
I shrug. “Never said I was perfect.”
Jordan rolls his eyes. “You can’t stand there and tell me you killed my uncle and my brother because of their ethics. You did it because it paid well.”
“Was damn good money, I’ll tell you that.”
Watching Jordan’s face light up with fury has me hiding my smile behind my mug. He’s wrong, of course. We didn’t take the Williams job for money. We did it to earn more of Ludo’s trust. Taking out two exploitative assholes at the same time was an added bonus.
“So this is your twisted sense of justice?” Jordan says. “Torturing and killing my men in front of me? And then doing the same to me?”
“No,” I say with a petty smile. “It’s yours.”
Jordan shifts uncomfortably as he thinks my statement through. And then he sags against the headboard when he finds nothing but truth.
He’s the one who was going to torture Wren and kill her in front of us.
He’s the one who kept her locked up in an empty room without food or anything to keep her warm.
He’s the one who nearly drowned her five times.
“Your treatment of Wren proves that you’re cut from the same cloth as your family. She had nothing to do with their deaths. Nothing. Yet look what you put her through. You deserve whatever she decides to do, Jordan. Every single thing.”
“Bullshit!”