Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 109695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
I closed my eyes. Why was it so hard to say the words? My mom and I used to say them to each other all the time, but it had been so long. I wasn’t sure I knew how to say them anymore. Opening my eyes, I met her gaze, finding tenderness in the blue depths of her soul. Her smile broke my heart wide open. “I love you.”
“I love you, too. I was so scared I’d never get to tell you.”
My lips twisted into a lop-sided grin, and I kissed her again and again. Our world narrowed down to just the two of us, and I couldn’t get enough of her.
“Uh… you guys? Sorry to interrupt, but the police are on their way.”
The sound of sirens pulled me back to reality, and I reluctantly ended the kiss, but kept her firmly in my arms. Slater stood in front of his car, with Ricky and Brandon already inside.
“There’s room for you both in the back next to Brandon.”
I did not want to be anywhere near the guy, but what choice did I have? “Fine. Let’s get out of here.”
I slid in first, and Serenity slid in beside me. Slater wasted no time and peeled out of there. He drove to the end of the lot, turning in the opposite direction of the sirens. I didn’t know what kind of trouble we’d all be in, but we’d figure it out later.
Slater glanced at me in the rear-view mirror. “Where do you want to go?”
“Serenity’s wound needs to be looked at, so head the to the urgent care.”
“Good call,” Ricky said. “I’ll call the Doc to meet us there.” Ricky pulled out his phone and put the call through.
“What about him?” Slater motioned to Brandon.
“He’s coming with us. Once Serenity’s patched up, we’ll take him back to her house.” I glanced at Brandon. “We have some unfinished business.”
His face drained of color, and he hunched over in his seat. His hands were still bound behind him, and it gave me a perverse pleasure to see him so miserable.
Lucky for us, Dix was already there, so it didn’t take long to get Serenity stitched up. Still, it was starting to get dark by the time we headed back to Serenity’s house, and I could hardly wait to get rid of Brandon.
I didn’t think she’d let me kill him, but she might be persuaded into something else. With so many possibilities, I could hardly wait to see which one I could get away with.
Chapter 29
Serenity
We arrived home in the dark, which was a good thing, since we had to drag Brandon into the house through the front door. He didn’t put up much of a fuss, but I had no idea what we were going to do with him.
Half his face was swollen, and the anger coming off Nate promised even more damage. Still, I just didn’t have it in me to see Nate beat him up, even if he deserved it.
There had to be something else we could do.
Nate led him into the kitchen and pushed him into a chair. Brandon glanced at Nate and quickly turned his gaze to me. “Look. I don’t know what you’re involved in, or what’s going on here, but I don’t want anything to do with it. Just let me go, and I’ll forget any of this ever happened.”
Nate folded his arms and raised a brow. “Sorry, Dude, but it doesn’t work that way. First you have to tell me why you wanted Serenity dead.”
While Brandon sputtered out a denial, I pulled out a chair and sat down. “He took out a life insurance policy on me… I need to be dead for him to collect.”
Brandon flinched and lowered his head. “It was a mistake. I don’t want you dead… not anymore. Just let me go, and you’ll never see me again.”
“I wish I could believe that.” Nate pulled out another chair, moving it in front of Brandon’s, and sat down. He leaned forward into Brandon’s space. “But this is what I’m going to do. I’m going to leave it up to Serenity. What happens to you is up to her.”
He glanced at me, and sat back in his chair. “But I strongly recommend ending his miserable life. He shouldn’t get away with attempted murder. How can you trust that he won’t try again? I know how to make him disappear, and you won’t have to worry about him ever again.”
Brandon’s gaze jerked to mine. “Serenity! No. You can’t go along with him. That’s murder. Can you live with that? I’ll do whatever you want. Just let me go.”
I met Nate’s gaze, trying to decide if he was serious or just toying with Brandon. His hard edge never wavered, but would he really do whatever I wanted? Even if it meant killing Brandon? “You’d really kill him for me?”