John Wick - Chapter 128: The Reason and Explanation (Patreon)

“What did you say? I didn’t catch that.”

Shane rubbed his ears with a pained expression. His head was still buzzing. Nate’s two shots had gone off far too close to his ears.

“Fine. You explain it, then.” Nate gestured toward Cindy, who was still on the ground.

She glanced at the guns on the pavement, hesitating over whether to pick them up.

Nate noticed. “It’s fine. Pick them up. The two of you aren’t much of a threat to me.”

Cindy quickly retrieved both guns. She holstered her own at her waist, then gave Nate an embarrassed smile before lifting Shane’s jacket and slipping his gun back into its holster as well.

Shane gave her a helpless look.

“Young Master, we’ve actually been following you for a long time,” she said.

“Since when?”

“Starting half a month before you turned eighteen. He and I have been staying in the shadows ever since, watching you and protecting you.”

Nate thought about it. He had never noticed them at all. “Were you around a few days ago too?”

Cindy lowered her head, looking embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Young Master. We lost track of you when your bounty reached eight hundred thousand.

“At the time, we watched you and Henry enter The Continental. We spent almost an entire day lying low in the building across from the hotel because we thought you had stayed inside the whole time. Eventually, the Chairman told us to go back.

“The last information we got about you in New York was that you were on a flight to Rome.”

Nate understood now. After that, he had usually been disguised whenever he left the hotel. Even on the trip to the airport, he had taken one of the hotel’s cars. If the car had not exploded on the way, these two probably would have met them at the airport.

“Okay. Then give me a reasonable explanation.”

“You’re already eighteen. Once the child of a High Table candidate reaches that age, they are no longer considered an ordinary person, which means they are no longer protected by the High Table’s rules.

“The Chairman’s rivals were bound to seize on that weakness and come after you.”

By then, the ringing in Shane’s ears had eased. He stood to the side and nodded gravely.

Nate understood what she meant. “So instead of waiting for his rivals to put a bounty on me, he decided to put one on me himself?”

“Yes, Young Master. As long as you made it into The Continental, those other High Table candidates could no longer openly move against you. And with Henry there, at least your immediate safety would not be a concern,” Cindy explained quickly.

“Fine. Then explain the car. I almost died.” Nate’s expression darkened again.

“I’m sorry, Young Master. That was my fault. We were outside, and I had arranged for those two to come in from a specific angle. From that angle, they were not supposed to hit you.

“But my order went out too late, and you happened to move into that exact line. Then...”

Cindy bowed repeatedly. “I’m sorry, Young Master. The two of us were...”

Nate cut her off.

“One of those assassins almost put a bullet through my head. Explain that.”

Shane answered steadily. “The Chairman paid them a great deal of money and explicitly ordered them not to kill you. According to the plan, the worst they were supposed to do was seriously wound you. Then I would shoot one of them in the shoulder from outside, and the two of them would flee.

“Mr. Caine would hear the commotion and come to save you. We had notified him a week in advance. Once he rescued you, he would naturally take you into The Continental.”

Cindy picked up the explanation. “We just never expected you to kill both of them in an instant with a kitchen knife. I was outside watching, and even I was stunned.”

“But he aimed at my head,” Nate argued.

Shane fell silent for a moment before answering. “Young Master, your marksmanship is excellent. You should understand. That man had not been in the business for long, but his shooting was very good. With the way you moved back then, if he had actually intended to hit you, you would not have been able to dodge.”

“Then what about the bomb?” Nate pressed.

“The remote was with me.” Cindy raised a hand. “There was a warning tone, but the bomb would not explode unless I pressed the detonator. I deliberately waited until you were outside the blast radius before setting it off.”

“Then why not just take me straight to The Continental?”

“Young Master, without Henry protecting you, if you really were just an ordinary person, you would not survive long inside that hotel.”

“So he even dragged Henry and Caine into his scheme?”

Shane hesitated, then nodded. “Yes.”

“...Heh.”

Nate had already prepared himself for something like this, but hearing the entire scheme laid out still made him cover his face with one hand. The corner of his mouth curled upward. He laughed because he was furious.

Shane and Cindy watched him without knowing what to say. Anyone would feel awful after going through something like this. The two of them knew very well what it felt like to be pushed around by someone else’s plans.

Cindy reached out, worried, as though she wanted to comfort Nate, but Shane stopped her. He said nothing. He simply kept scanning the surroundings and focused on doing his job.

Nate lowered his hand and spoke calmly.

“Shane, I hate being set up. I absolutely hate it.”

“I understand.” Shane tried to pat Nate on the shoulder, but Nate slipped away from his hand.

Shane paused before continuing. “But this... is something you have to go through.

“Your talent is extraordinary. Truly extraordinary. You went from a complete novice to this level in an incredibly short time. That’s why I believe you can accomplish things other people would never even dare imagine.”

Shane looked like he wanted to say more, but he did not dare continue.

Nate understood what he meant, but he did not answer. He only said calmly, “You two don’t need to follow me from here.”

“No, Young Master, our...” Cindy only got halfway through the sentence.

Shane stopped her.

“All right. Do whatever you want to do.”

Unlike Cindy, Shane understood that Nate no longer needed their protection. He was already among the strongest people in this world.

“Tell him that when I get back from Rome, he is to come see me.”

Shane and Cindy both froze.

Nate said nothing else. He drew the two Beretta M9s from inside his coat and strode forward.

Beyond the pedestrian street lay one of Rome’s most famous landmarks, Piazza di Spagna. It had the staircase with the most steps in Rome, and at the top stood the Church of Trinità dei Monti.

John had tested this place many years ago. It was a perfect hunting ground.

Nate was angry, and he needed somewhere to vent it. He would take that anger out on prey foolish enough to come after him.

This time, he intended to become the perfect hunter.

Shane and Cindy stood behind him and watched his figure recede into the distance. Shane understood what Nate was going there to do, so he called after him.

“Young Master, I wish you... a pleasant hunt.”