Reckoning by Heather Atkinson Read Free Book Online Page A

then.”
    Ryan was rather enjoying listening to the conversation, a smirk on his face.
    “Let’s get in there,” whispered Rachel.
    “What? Oh…alright.”
    They pushed open the door and walked inside to find Thane facing off against three burly, ugly men, one of whom had a small hatchet in his hands and murder in his eyes. They all appeared surprised when Ryan and Rachel walked in.
    “What’s going on?” said Ryan politely.
    “Get out of here, this isn’t your fight,” said Thane.
    “I do believe it is. You’re our business partner.”
    “Fuck off you posh English prick,” yelled the biggest and ugliest of the men.
    Ryan’s eyebrow arched. “What an intelligent remark. Oscar Wilde would be proud.”
    The three men gaped at him.
    The biggest and ugliest hurled an insult at him in a rapid, heavy accent.
    Ryan looked to Thane. “Translation please.”
    “He wants you to leave, to put it mildly.”
    “Oh.” Ryan looked back at the gorillas. “No.”
    “Ryan, this isn’t your fight,” said Thane. “Get Rachel out of here before things get ugly.”
    “They got ugly when Shrek and Sons arrived.”
    “You fucking what?” exploded the big man, mashing his fist into his hand.
    Ryan ignored him. “And if you’d ever tried to get Rachel to do something she doesn’t want to do Thane then you’d realise how futile it is. She was the one who insisted we come in here and I’m starting to wish we hadn’t bothered. We do have other things to do, you know,” he said in a bored tone, examining his nails and stifling a yawn.
    “Is he fucking serious?” the big man demanded of Thane.
    The look in Ryan’s eyes silenced him. “Deadly, I assure you. Now, I repeat - and this time I had better get an answer because I am rapidly running out of patience - what is going on here?”
    “Stu and his pals want me to pay them money not to damage my house,” replied Thane, glaring at the three men.
    Ryan looked to his wife. “Do you hear that Rachel? A protection racket. How quaint.”
    Rachel didn’t bother to hide her smile.
    Gorilla number one squared up to her. “You think this is fucking funny, do ya bitch?”
    Her smile dropped, gaze cold. “I find it entertaining watching a bunch of amateurs stumbling about in the dark making complete prats of themselves.”
    “Rachel please, that’s not helping,” said Thane.
    “You’re right, it’s not and I’m bored,” she said before slamming her forehead into the gorilla’s nose. His eyes rolled back in his head and he toppled backwards. Her black gaze flicked to the remaining two. “If that’s what I’m capable of, imagine what my husband can do,” she said before Ryan launched himself at the second man, battering him unconscious in seconds while Thane knocked the third out with the handle of the hatchet the head gorilla had dropped.
    “Well that was amusing,” said Ryan, winking at Rachel.
    “Amusing?” spluttered Thane. “You’ve made things ten times worse. They’ll come back here tooled up and with more of their ugly friends.”
    Ryan’s look was disdainful. “Do you take us for amateurs?
    “We teach them the error of their ways before they even leave here,” said Rachel.
    Thane was ashamed of himself when the wickedness in her eyes turned him on.

CHAPTER 6
     
    Head Gorilla gasped when he was doused by a bucket of ice cold water.
    “Looks like it’s finally awake,” said Ryan.
    The gorilla’s eyes widened when he realised he was on the floor and they were all staring down at him. “You knocked me out,” he cried with surprise and a touch of indignation.
    Ryan grinned at Rachel and Thane. “Did you hear that? What rapier-like intelligence.” He brandished the hatchet the man had dropped. “I had a friend who used to love these, they were his weapon of choice. Perhaps you knew him? The name was Frankie McVay. We might be many miles from Glasgow but his name travelled far.”
    The gorilla’s huge Adam’s apple bobbed up and down in