“Let me do it,” she whispers, and I can see the worry in her eyes. Worry for me. Worry at the thought of me killing a woman.
I’m not a pussy. I would kill Jessica and then eat my fucking dinner later like it was nothing… but on the inside, I don’t know how I would feel. Killing a woman is on another level. It’s something I have never had to do. And in order to save me, my baby sister is offering me an out.
“Get the key, let me out of these cuffs, and then I’ll kill her,” Zoey says, and I can see how determined she is to do this. “It won’t be my first time,” she adds on, shocking the shit out of me. My eyes widen slightly, and Zoey nods her head. She’s killed someone? What the fuck? When? Who? How? But now is not the time for questions, I can ask those later.
“Where’s the key?” I bark at Jessica, and she quickly scrambles to a desk in the corner, opening a draw and retrieving the key that will release my sister. “Unlock the cuffs,” I order, all the while keeping my gun on her. She quickly does as I ask, and then Zoey is free, the chains with the cuffs clanking to the floor.
“Oh, I’m going to enjoy this,” Zoey says as she punches Jessica in the face. Jessica drops like a sack of shit to the floor, and Zoey walks over to me, taking the gun from my hand and training it on Jessica. “Bye bye, Jessica. Sweet dreams.” And then Zoey pulls the trigger, and Jessica’s whimpering stops.
Silence fills the room, but I don’t have time to waste as I turn to Zoey and ask, “Where’s Kat?”
The sight of Kat on that bed will forever fucking haunt me.
Her clothes ripped from her body. Her limbs cuffed to the bed. And that asshole on top of her with his dick out.
I shake my head, needing to calm myself, because it’s over. They’re all dead. They’re not going to hurt her now. But it doesn’t stop the images flashing through my mind.
I can feel the tension rolling off of me in waves, and when Kat places her hand on my thigh, squeezing gently, I feel some of it ebb away.
She’s here.
She’s mine.
She loves me.
She’s the only woman in the world who can calm me.
And I’m going to make this up to her… I just hope that what happened here doesn’t drive a wedge between us and the life that we are just starting to make together.
Chapter Thirty
Kat
I get into the bathtub and sit down, hoping it will relax my aching body and stop the recurring thoughts of what would have happened had Nate not shown up when he did.
I try to clear my mind, needing the peace that won’t seem to come.
I need to forget. Need to erase it all from my memories.
I know it’s only been an hour since we left The Lodge, and of course it is going to be raw, but I’d rather eradicate the pain right fucking now.
My eyes are sore from crying, my cheeks aching from being hit.
I don’t know if being alone right now is what I need, but I’m saved from myself as the door opens and Nate walks in, coming to the side of the tub and crouching down.
He looks almost broken, and it sends a pang to my heart.
I feel like I have betrayed him and hurt the trust between us.
His eyes focus on the bubbles, and he leans his arms on the side of the tub, resting his chin in the middle.
“I’m sorry I never told you about Lucas. I just… I guess I never expected him to sneak his way back here and take a pop at me, so I never thought it was relevant… and I hate talking about the bastard.”
“It’s okay,” I say softly, because I don’t need to hear an explanation. Lucas killed their parents and then came back to kill Nate. I don’t need to listen to how or why. I just know that he is better off dead with no possibility of coming back. I see Nate’s shoulders sag slightly with relief. Maybe he thought I would be pissed off that I didn’t know? But really, after everything we have been through, it’s not important––especially now that he’s gone for good.
“Zoey told me that she made you go with her. She told me she took your phone and then threatened to go on without you when you wanted to wait for me,” he says, sadness filling his eyes.
“And all I can really say is I’m so fucking sorry, Kat,” he says as he chokes on a sob. “I never should have brought you into this world. I never should have put you in harm’s way...”
