An Eye For An Eye (The Club #11) by M.C. Cerny Page A

“I decided to take some time off and wrap up a few things in town. I got a letter for the final settlement amount from the Academy’s lawyers.”
    “Oh.” Now I felt awkward. I’d never asked for anything, but the court has been more than generous thanks to my uncle’s team of lawyers practically parading me around like a puppy. As long as the school paid the settlement and secured the science lab, paying the environmental fines for the chemicals that leeched during the explosion, it was supposed to be over. I needed for this to be over.
    “I’ll have it deposited into your account by the first of the month my dear.” He patted my hand reassuringly as he drove the car into town. It wasn’t that I wasn’t grateful to him for doing all of this but he had a tenacity that almost scared me with how he went after them.
    “Thank you.” Simply put that’s all I wanted to say on this matter.
    “I hope you like the Tumbleweed Café. It’s a beautiful day and I thought we could enjoy sitting outside.” He pulled the car to a stop.
    “That sounds lovely,” and I let him help me out of the car which was more for his benefit then mine this time.
    “Here you are sweetheart, wear these to protect your eyes.” He handed me a pair of large sunglasses. I was virtually blind in the bright Texas sun and with eyes as damaged as mine it seemed pointless, but I took them and placed them over my face to make him happy. “Now we’re ready.” He guided me to the restaurant and a waiter sat us down serving us with mimosas. It felt strange to be out in the open like this, we usually dined somewhere private but the sun felt good on my shoulders caressing me. I missed Lorand and I hoped he’d come back soon from doing whatever he did for work.        

Twelve
     
    LORAND
     
    If I’d known last night what I knew today, I wouldn’t have let him leave the club after touching Jude. He disgusted me in every way possible. A part of me wanted to eviscerate him limb from limb while the other part wants to Prince Humperdinck his ass and leave just his ears so the people who pass by him can stare and scream at his ugliness inside out.
    I continued to watch him eat and lick his greasy fingertips, my stomach churned in disdain for his very existence. My phone beeped and vibrated with a text message, but I ignore it. I’m in the moment working and can’t afford a distraction right now. I let him finish eating because this will be his last meal as far as I’m concerned. I’m an assassin and this is what I do. I make the choice of when things end and how. I took my gun from the glove compartment and slide the silencer into place. The total sum of all parts clicked together and washes over me in my ritual of preparing for the end. It’s a large gun that feels comfortable in my hands like an extension of my body, lethal and dangerous. I become the weapon, the complete package.
    My Range Rover is parked across the street from him with a clear view to take the kill shot. I looked around eyes narrowed. A park with children sitting on swings is nearby. Their mothers pushing them without a care in the world and decided this won’t do at all. I can’t kill him in broad daylight like this with witnesses, but more importantly with children around who could be forever changed by my careless actions. I’m a bad man through and through, but I’m not a fucking idiot when it comes to killing my marks. I take out the people who deserve it. The scum of the earth, I am the judge and jury casting final judgement on the depraved. Nobody needs to clean up a careless kill.
    Junior gets up to walk down the street and I elected to follow him and wait for my opportunity. Slipping the gun inside my holster under my jacket I felt complete in the moment. The years of Sorenson’s training and guidance soothes me through the task as I get out of the vehicle.
    Standing from my vantage overlooking the Tumbleweed Café I saw a dark luxury vehicle pull up into