He only hoped Hardy didn’t know that.
Gage found a chair and moved it closer to the bed, positioning it so that he could look Hardy in the eye while pointing the man’s own gun at him. Damn, a Desert Eagle Mark XIX, in titanium gold no less. He really hated it when scumbags carried such nice weapons.
“You tried to kill me and my team yesterday.”
Hardy eyed the gun as he shook his head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I was at a meeting with the mayor all day yesterday. As a matter of fact, we spent some of that time talking about your out-of-control SWAT team. And about how you killed my son.”
Gage leveled the gun at the space right between the man’s eyes. “Do you think I care that you had one of your people set that bomb, or make the call to lure us there? You made it happen, which is all that matters.”
Hardy’s gaze nervously darted to the gun again.
“And as for your son, you know as well as I do that he signed his own execution order the moment he decided to kill innocent people.”
Hardy didn’t respond to Gage’s statement, but he didn’t deny it, either.
“You won’t shoot me,” he finally said.
Gage could tell by the man’s erratic heartbeat Hardy didn’t really believe that.
“I just walked into your house all by myself, put down four guards like they weren’t even there, then took this thing away from you like you were a two-year-old.” Gage gestured with the Desert Eagle. “Tell me again why I won’t do exactly anything I want?”
Clearly, Hardy had been under the assumption that if he held out long enough and kept the conversation going just a little longer, his men would come running to the rescue. The man had spent most of his adult life scaring the hell out of people, but Gage wasn’t scared, and Hardy knew it.
“What do you want?” Hardy demanded. “If you wanted me dead, you would have done it already. So, what is it? Money?”
Typical. The bastard thought all he had to do was wave a wad of cash in someone’s face and all his problems would go away. Gage bit back a snarl. “I don’t want your money.”
“What then?”
Gage stood up and moved closer to the bed, keeping the pistol trained on the bull’s-eye he’d mentally painted on Hardy’s forehead. He didn’t want to kill Hardy. Even after what the man had tried to do to his pack, Gage couldn’t just execute him in cold blood. That would make him no better than Hardy. But he had to make Hardy believe he would kill him, so the man would be scared so shitless he’d back off.
“It’s simple really,” he said. “If you ever make a move against me or anyone close to me again, I’ll track you down, kill every one of your guards, then rip out your fucking heart.”
To make sure Hardy knew he meant every word, Gage jammed the bolt carrier back so hard he ripped it off the rails.
He tossed both pieces of the weapon on the bed beside Hardy. “Is that easy enough for you to understand?”
Hardy didn’t answer. He was too busy staring at the Desert Eagle Gage had just destroyed as easily as if it had been made of plastic.
Gage let out the same low-throated growl he used when he wanted to force a member of his pack to pay attention or behave. It had the same effect on Hardy.
“Do I make myself clear?” he asked.
Hardy swallowed hard. “Yes.”
“Then we’re done here.”
With that, Gage turned and walked out.
***
Gage walked back into Mackenzie’s apartment just before six a.m. Including the stop at the store for donuts and condoms—a purchase that had earned him one hell of a strange look from the cashier—he’d been gone for an hour and thirty-five minutes.
He didn’t hear any movement coming from the bedroom, so he left the donuts on the kitchen counter and silently made his way in that direction. The sun was peeking in the window at Mackenzie, who was huddled under the blanket fast asleep. She looked so beautiful it made his chest hurt.
Gage stripped off his clothes and set the economy-sized box of condoms on the nightstand, then climbed into bed. He pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her silky hair, breathing in her scent. God, she was like heaven.
Mackenzie mumbled something unintelligible and pressed herself back against him. He tightened his arm around her, holding her close. He hadn’t intended to do anything more than fall asleep with her, but she wiggled her bottom against his crotch, making his cock harden.
He stifled a groan and tried to put a little space between his hard-on and her very warm, very soft ass, but it was impossible. Even though she seemed to be completely zonked out, she scooted back even more and rotated her hips in a very sexy dance that made his cock poke her in certain places completely on its own.