‘Gather the rest of the men. I want all guns trained on those motherfuckers.’ Raul nodded, turning on his heel and heading off towards the side entrance of the mill. ‘And tell Edinson to get his ass back here.’

‘It’s over, Vasquez,’ Sinclair said coldly. Vasquez struck Sinclair with a brutal clip with the back of his hand, the thick gold rings splitting the man’s lip open.

‘I am never over,’ Vasquez spat. ‘This is on you, you pathetic piece of a shit. You said you had Sykes primed, that this would be simple. Well, look at that motherfucker, running at the first sign of trouble.’

‘We didn’t account for…’

‘For what?’ Vasquez slapped Sinclair across the face. ‘You said it was bulletproof.’

‘For Sam,’ Sinclair said through his gritted teeth. ‘We didn’t know that Sam Pope would show up looking for Alex.’

‘Who was it that brought her into this plan, eh?’ Vasquez pushed his finger into Sinclair’s forehead. ‘You were the one who said everything was in place. But now, we’ll do things my way. Unlike you, Sinclair, I do not leave things to chance.’

Vasquez stomped across to the forecourt, and Sinclair watched in horror as he pulled open the door to the outhouse and stepped inside. Moments later, he emerged, dragging Alex by her hair as she struggled against her restraints. Sinclair watched helplessly as Vasquez dumped her on the ground beside him.

‘Alex, are you okay?’ Sinclair asked, his voice pained with regret for her situation.

With her mouth taped, she looked at Sinclair with hatred. Vasquez circled them like a shark before pulling the gold-plated Glock from the holster within his blazer. Casually, he let it swing in his hand as he eyed them up.

The distant roar of the motorcycles had no effect on him. The noise had sent Sykes scurrying into the mill. But Vasquez had remained in place, refusing to back down from an impending fight. He’d built his entire empire of confronting violence with an unspeakable level of his own.

Now, as he held the gun in his hand, he was about to set his example.

‘Her death is on you,’ Vasquez said coldly, before staring into the terrified eyes of Alex Stone, his finger on the trigger.

Alex closed her eyes.

The gunshot was deafening.

With blood seeping down her face, Alex hit the ground. The roar of horror from Sinclair was drowned out by the ringing in her ears.