Never Give You Up by Shady Grace Read Free Book Online Page A

minutes, he finally lifted his head and breathed as if he’d completed the longest marathon in existence. Two blurry bodies filled his vision.
    “What happened?” He spit into the bucket, not daring to look up too fast and feel that hot sickness again. He already knew who occupied the room with him, and only one of them had a key.
    “You’re drinking too much, dickhead,” Gabe blurted.
    “No. He was most likely poisoned, shitstick,” said the other man.
    “What?” Of all the ways to try and kill him in this day and age, being poisoned would be his last guess. And he didn’t drink that much.
    He lifted his heavy head to find Gabe and Sammy Hayes sitting opposite him. If not for Sam—who knew pretty much every way to kill a person—Terry might not be alive right now. Barely alive, but still breathing at least.
    “Hey, Sam,” he mumbled, completely baffled and ill to the bone. He wanted to die and get it over with. “What are you doing here?” Every word he uttered sounded like drunken gibberish.
    Sam chuckled. “What, no thank you?”
    “Thanks,” Terry muttered. “How did this happen? How did you know?” Saying the words took great difficulty.
    “Well, you were disoriented, mumbling shit that didn’t make sense. You were burning up, and drooling and twitching. Top signs for poisoning, and most likely arsenic.”
    “Why the hell—”
    “You just lie there and be quiet, boy.”
    Terry tensed at the sound of his father’s voice through the speakerphone. Of all the people he wanted to chat with, Colton would be the last. He sighed and shook his head, prepared to have his ass handed to him, even though this wasn’t his fault. “Hello, Father. Nice of you to check in.”
    “Shut up and do as you’re told. You’re not invincible, you know. Time to watch your ass and quit fucking around. Now, what are we looking at here?”
    Gabe sat forward in his chair and spoke loud enough to be clear to Colton. “Good thing Sam knows his stuff, sir.” He directed his attention to Terry. “Once you finish puking you’ll need to eat something and drink lots of water. You’ll be sitting on the toilet more than puking. I truly feel sorry for you.” Yet his grin totally belied that, the snarky bastard.
    Ugh . Eating was seriously the last thing on Terry’s mind. I just want some fucking vodka.
    “Well, it’s obvious this person didn’t know what they were doing. This is not the work of a professional.”
    Terry watched in silence as Gabe closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Hard to say, Boss. Could be this person was interrupted and had to compromise, or poison isn’t their usual method. There’s no easy answer. Terry took your place at the meeting today. There were several new faces in the mix. They should all be questioned.”
    “Well, it’s clear to me my son needs a little vacation and we’ll figure this out, quietly, without him. God knows he needs to sober up anyway. You know what to do.”
    Terry glared at the phone as Colton hung up.
    At least it was the three of them now, and he could speak his mind. Terry, Gabe, and Sam were like brothers, although Sam wasn’t always around. His missions usually consisted of eliminating unsavory characters in all corners of the world. Right now Sammy was on the home front, and nobody knew why.
    Either way, he was a smartass like Gabe. Terry had the pleasure of constant mockery at his hip.
    “Colton’s right. We can’t risk your health when he’s already under the weather. You’re all he has left.” Gabe leaned forward, his expression hard. “And you’re my only brother. Don’t fuck this up.”
    Terry wasn’t afraid to die; to take a number and wait for it. Death was the one sure thing in life. But he understood his father and Gabe didn’t want to lose him. But why did his father have to speak as if Terry was at fault? All he ever did was try to be the best he could be, yet it wasn’t good enough. He knew his father loved him, but sometimes it