The roaring in his ears started the moment Rex opened his front door and saw the man standing on his porch. Hiding his surprise, he took a deep breath and swallowed his fury. Self-righteous and arrogant, the man stood casually leaning against the door frame, an evil grin spread across his ugly face.
Rex felt his hackles rise. ‘What can I do for you?’
Keep it pleasant.
The man didn’t respond. Instead he licked his lips, dropped the grin, and fixed Rex with a stare.
Was he trying to intimidate him? Rex tried to tame the primal urge to leap forward and rip his throat out with his teeth. ‘What do you want?’
The man sighed loudly. ‘I just wanted to come by and offer you my commiserations; heard you got raided the other day. That was most unfortunate. Must have really pissed you off.’
Rex didn’t bother asking how the slime ball had heard the news of their raid. He knew how it worked.
‘The sad thing is, Rex, it could have been avoided.’ The man shrugged as he continued, ‘But that’s what happens when you mess with the wrong people.’ He studied his nails in a show of condescending nonchalance. ‘I guess it’s called payback.’
Rex felt his heart take off at a gallop. Anger vibrated so deep inside it felt like his temper was being repressed only by his skin.
Guess there was no doubt who planted the drugs now!
He could kill this pompous bastard with a punch if he wanted to. The thought gave him a childish thrill and kept his fury under control.
‘I don’t respond to intimidation or meaningless threats,’ Rex shot back.
‘Meaningless threats?’ The man narrowed his eyes and suddenly all superficial pleasantries were dropped. His entire aspect became menacing.
‘No. You’ve got it all wrong. I’m just telling you how it is. You fucked with the wrong person and I’d say you’ve gotten off pretty lightly, considering what you did.’
It was the remarkably calm way the words left his mouth, like a malevolent whisper, so cold, calculated and controlled that convinced Rex this man was capable of anything. He felt an involuntary chill run down his spine.
‘What? What the fuck are you talking about? I’ve done nothing except stand up to a dirty grub like you.’
What was wrong with him? Why was he letting this piece of shit get to him? He was the sergeant-at-arms of the Devil’s Guardians. He was a force to be reckoned with and he’d be damned if he was going to continue to be threatened or bullied by this little weasel.
Stay cool. The last thing he wanted or needed was trouble. The media were giving bikie gangs a lashing of late and they certainly didn’t need any more negative publicity. But what was he supposed to do? Stand here and cop it up the arse like a big pussy?
‘I think you should leave while you still can,’ Rex stated in a guttural voice, folding his arms across his wide chest.
‘You’re in no position to threaten anyone.’ The man moved forward. ‘Why don’t we go inside and discuss your options?’
Rex blocked the doorway with his massive frame. ‘I’ve made it clear that our . . . association is over. You need to leave.’
‘Why? What are you going to do? Call the police? I think not.’
Rex went to shut the door but the man stopped it with his hand. Rex could have slammed it shut, breaking his wrist, snapping it in half. Overpowering him would be simple, but he had to be careful. There was no need to make matters worse. He swallowed his anger and loathing, determined to keep the situation under his control. He was only too aware of what this parasite was capable of.
‘I’ll leave when I’m good and ready,’ the man continued.
Rex fought the urge to grab the shitbag by the nose and smear his face across the cement porch. Who the fuck did he think he was?
The man’s eyes narrowed to slits. Imitating Rex’s stance, he folded his arms tightly across his chest and fixed Rex with an impenetrable stare.
‘How’s your little girlfriend going? She’s a beauty.’
He let out a sinister chuckle.
‘I just love pregnant women, don’t you?’ He licked his lips and grinned. ‘They’re so ripe, so fuckable.’
Before he could stop himself, Rex’s hands shot out and clamped around the man’s windpipe, taking him off guard and trapping the scream in his throat.
‘You come near me or my family and I will kill you. Do you understand that, you piece of shit?’ Rex raged.
The man’s eyes bulged like ping pong balls, his face becoming distorted and filled with blood. He struggled, clutching at the thick fingers that circled his throat, desperately trying to dislodge them. But he was no match for Rex, who was easily double his body weight. Rex gripped harder, lifting the man’s body off the ground. His legs dangled and kicked helplessly and it was only when Rex registered the choking sounds and the veins protruding from his temples that logic returned and stopped him from squeezing the life out of the bastard.
As suddenly as he’d attacked, Rex released him, removing his hands from around his throat and flinging him off like a discarded piece of garbage. The man stumbled backwards, clutched his neck, coughing and gasping air.
When he could finally talk, he wheezed, ‘You’ll be very sorry for what you just did.’
‘That is the last time you ever threaten me, arsehole,’ Rex spat back, fighting to control his rage. ‘Just remember what you can do to me, I can do to you.’
The man stared up at Rex. His arm shot out and his fingers formed the shape of a gun aimed straight at Rex’s chest. With a wicked smile he simulated racking the slide and pulling the trigger.
‘Booom.’
He fixed Rex with a malevolent glare. ‘This is not the end of it, Donaldson. In fact, it’s just the beginning.’
The hardest thing Rex ever had to do was slam the door on him leaving all of his reptilian features intact.