Chapter 223: Delay Leads to Changes

Caleb remained perfectly composed. “Xavier Zimmers, Matthew Lexington, Ryan Hughes, Dwayne Jewell. Just how much did Rob pay you to make you sell your souls for him?”

The men froze, momentarily thrown off by his words. How did this guy know all their names? Had he been investigating them?

Matthew pressed his lips together nervously. “Xavier, this guy’s shady as hell. Should we still go through with this?”

Xavier gritted his teeth. “What’s there to be scared of? Our names aren’t state secrets. So what if he knows? What’s he gonna do about it?”

Matthew smacked his own forehead, suddenly enlightened. “Oh, right! It’s not like he can take all eight of us alone anyway. Knowing our names doesn’t change a thing.”

Ryan urged impatiently, “Enough talk! Let’s just get this over with! The longer we drag this out, the higher the chance the Yardley family finds out. That’d be bad news.”

The others agreed and immediately raised their weapons, charging at Caleb. Caleb leaned back, narrowly avoiding a baseball bat swung straight at his face, then lashed out with a sharp kick to the left, landing perfectly between the legs of one attacker.

“Ah! Ah! My future kids!”

Dwayne doubled over, clutching his groin as he hopped around in agony.

“Goddmmit, shut the hll up! We just started, and you’re already wailing like a baby? Useless piece of trash!”

Xavier shoved his whimpering comrade aside and lunged at Caleb with a vicious grin. By then, Caleb had already wrestled the bat away. When he saw Xavier coming, he reacted on instinct and swung it hard.

Bang!

The heavy impact landed squarely on Xavier’s skull. The dull sound alone was enough to make anyone’s head throb in sympathy.

“Xavier! You okay?” Matthew panicked, rushing to check on his leader. However, as he turned to look, he unwittingly exposed the back of his head to Caleb, providing him with a perfect opportunity.

Bang!

Another brutal swing sent Matthew collapsing flat on his back, unconscious, or worse.

Xavier’s vision swam, black spots flickering in and out. When his sight finally cleared, he saw Ryan inching backward, almost out of the alley.

“What the hell are you doing? You still want your cut or not?”

Xavier’s glare was murderous. Ryan’s legs trembled violently. “Xavier, I—I can’t beat him! Just let me go, please!”

Xavier roared, “Useless!” After uttering those harsh words, he couldn’t help but collapse himself.

Ryan gasped. “Xavier!”

The remaining men forgot all about Caleb and scrambled to help their leader. After a quick huddle, they decided to retreat with their wounded first and regroup later.

Watching all eight of them slink out of the alley, Caleb couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. Seriously? Were these guys even here to fight him? What a joke.

From a distance, a lone observer took in the entire scene. He dialed a number.

“Hey…Yeah, I’ve seen him. He’s okay. Not the pampered rich boy I expected. In a narrow alley, he took down eight guys alone. Got it.”

Hanging up, he strode purposefully toward Caleb. Sensing someone approaching, Caleb turned and locked eyes with the stranger.