Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 147801 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 739(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147801 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 739(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
“Killian, I swear to fuck I’m going to cut you—"
“My point is.” He grips my shoulder. “If you want him, keep him. And if something stands in the way, simply eliminate it.”
He walks ahead of me to the car and I stare for two beats. My phone vibrates and I pull it out.
Simone
Declan is taken care of. You’re safe, Gareth.
What does this mean? That they’ll stop being here?
All of them?
I press Call and put the phone to my ear, then speak as soon as she picks up. “You could’ve at least said goodbye.”
“I apologize. I left in a rush.”
My fingers twitch. Her voice sounds off.
My teeth graze my lips. “What’s wrong, Simone?”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t lie to me.” I breathe harshly. “Something is wrong. Tell me. Now.”
“It’s that… Screw this. When we captured Declan and tortured him, he managed to have one of his men send a video to a Senior member of the organization. And although Kayden killed Declan, he couldn’t stop the footage from spreading.”
“What footage?”
“From your dashcam. It captured the two of you…kissing. Among other things.”
My fingers tighten around the phone. “Is he… Did they…”
“He’s fine. We managed to send him into hiding, but we’re not sure how long we can be on the run. I’m looking into options to get him off US soil for now.” She pauses. “Fortunately, your face wasn’t visible, so you’re safe, Gareth. Kayden forbade me from telling you anything. He wants you to go back to school and live your life normally.”
My chest expands in painful breaths.
Fuck what he wants.
Fuck him.
As Simone keeps talking, her words blur together. All I can hear is the truth staring me in the face.
I’ll never have a normal life again.
Not after Kayden Davenport tore my delusions of normalcy to shreds.
36
KAYDEN
Ishould’ve tortured Declan more.
Scalded him alive.
Cut his skin slower.
Melted him in acid, piece by piece.
I did spend fucking hours torturing him, making him pay for every single cut he inflicted on Gareth’s body, but it still wasn’t enough. I could still smell his rotten flesh and see the smirk on his goddamn mouth when Jethro came into the basement and told me we had to go.
“My little parting gift for you, motherfucker.” That’s what he said.
He put Gareth in danger again. Because of me.
It’s always because of me.
The stitches, the wounds, the internal and external hell he’s been going through are all because of me.
Declan laughed out loud as blood dripped all over his body, his face unrecognizable. One of his eyes was shut, but he still glared at me with the other one.
“You’re right, Davenport, I did torture that little psycho, but he was unresponsive, no matter how much we kicked and punched and threw him around. He had this unperturbed look and it pissed me the fuck off, but he got so angry when I said ye fucked him just because he has similar eyes to Caysie. Ah, you should’ve seen the rage and bloodlust in his eyes. Damn cunt would’ve killed me with his bare hands if he could. Since he seemed so jealous of her, I made him watch you happy together, playing with his mind, making him crazy because ye betrayed her with him. Ye tarnished her memory by being with her rapist’s grandson. Since ye couldn’t respect her in death, you should join her. See if ye can look her in the fucking eye!”
That’s when I put a bullet in his fucking head.
Silenced him for life.
I sit on a rock overlooking the ocean’s violent waves. The late afternoon sun casts a golden reflection on the water.
Cassandra never liked water since she couldn’t swim. It’s ironic that she was thrown into a lake, almost like a last fuck you of sorts.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, imagining her sitting beside me.
She’s stopped appearing in my nightmares now, replaced by Gareth being all bloodied and refusing to talk to me.
“Declan was right,” I murmur, my voice barely audible over the crashing waves. “I did grow fond of your rapist’s grandson. A boy I intended to kill, only to find myself captivated by him in ways I never thought possible.”
I exhale slowly, the sea breeze carrying a bitter chill that seeps into my bones. “You’d understand, wouldn’t you, Sandra? You were my friend, after all. You always understood me. Ma Jina says he’s changed me, and she’s right. He has. In ways I didn’t consent to, in ways I didn’t even realize until it was too late. I wanted…”
A small smile tugs at my lips, bitter and fleeting. “At some point, I wished I could be someone ordinary. A simple professor, free from the weight of the Davenport name, free from the chains of legacy and expectation. Just a man who could be with him without all of this hanging over us.”
The wind lashes against my face, and I close my eyes. “Sandra…what happened to you made me angry and vengeful. I wanted to give you justice, to give you closure. I made it my purpose. But maybe it wasn’t just for you. Maybe it was for me—a distraction from my own life, my obligations, from Grant’s ceaseless demands.