From Bullets To Billions novel Chapter 420

Chapter 420: The Price of a Rescue

Jett had Stephen’s head cupped in a single hand, the fingers tight and unyielding. Max had Anton by the hair, hauling him forward like a ragdoll. For a heartbeat the two of them just stared at each other, the container-yard crowd holding its breath around the edges. The metallic hush of the night felt thicker than it had a second ago, everyone waiting for what either man would do next.

Finally, Jett let go. He released his fingers from Stephen’s skull and Stephen’s body dropped to the concrete with a dull thud. The air stirred with the small sound of someone sucking in a breath; someone else swore softly; others shifted, preparing for whatever would follow.

"So you actually managed to do it?" Jett asked, voice low and edged with a curious mix of irritation and respect. "You managed to get the slimy person that was behind all of this?"

His gaze flicked from Max to Anton and back again. The crowd watched, hanging on his every sentence like it was an auctioneer calling price.

"I assume you know, right? He was the one that kidnapped that damned girl, and the one that asked for you to receive a beating. I’m sure that man squealed quicker than you ever imagined."

Jett’s face twisted into a little smile that wasn’t friendly. It was the expression of someone who had been annoyed for a long time and had finally been given a reason to be vindicated.

"So it looks like you managed to save the girl," he continued. "But do you really think that changes the position you’re in right now?"

Jett sounded almost amused. The idea that rescuing Sheri might solve everything, might excuse what had happened to the rest of them, was a thought he considered laughable. For him this was business; for most of the others it was personal. Either way, Jett didn’t care which it was as long as he got what he wanted.

He was surprised, actually. This young kid, the one who had turned up with reinforcements, had done more than Jett had expected. For a while he’d assumed the Bloodline group’s attack on their bases was coordinated and part of a broader assault, and he had thought that the people he was facing were just another gang. This kid was beyond what Jett had expected: either a very talented private-security rookie or someone with hidden teeth.

"You must have gotten really cocky, though," Jett said, mocking. "Which proves that you’re still just a kid. So you save the girl, and you grab the man behind all of this, but does it matter?"

"This isn’t some game. This isn’t how the world works. You see, I got involved, and I still haven’t been paid."

He pointed with a callused finger, slower than his voice, toward Anton and then across the ring of beaten men.

"The whole point of kidnapping that girl was so I would be paid by the Billion Bloodline group. Because that man right there doesn’t have enough money to pay me. I knew that from the beginning, that’s why he even came up with this idea."

Wolf watched all of this with a slow, sinking feeling. I hate to think about it...but Jett is right, he thought. I know Max is strong, and he’s been able to flip situations before and beat people who should have been out of his league. He bested those that were higher rank than him. But all of us were beaten here, even Na who is A-rank. Max defeated Dud at the same level, so at best Max can face A+ ranks. Fighting Jett? That seems impossible, even for him. The only person who could possibly help in this situation would be Aron, and even then I’m not sure it would be enough.

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