Cope rushed forward, catching me as I stumbled backward. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“I-I’m okay. Luca?” Panic zipped through me.
Cope held me tighter, breathing me in. “He’s fine. We’re all fine.”
“Are you sure about that,Reap?”
Everything in me stilled at the voice. It was familiar but different. There was so much hatred dripping from it now.
“I guess if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.”
I stared at the man I’d watched all week. One I’d known had a chip on his shoulder, but nothing that suggested a darkness like this. “Marcus?” I croaked.
“Sorry about this, Sutton. It’s nothing personal.” And then he leveled his gun and squeezed the trigger.
55
COPE
The pop wasn’t nearly asloud as I’d thought a bullet would be, but it still did damage. Roman’s body jerked as if it had been electrocuted. But instead, there was a single bullet hole in the center of his forehead.
Sutton let out a strangled sound, pressing her face against my back at the horror of it. It wouldn’t matter to her that the man whose life was bleeding out on the barn floor had wished her harm, even death. She never would have wished the same on him.
Marcus strode forward, annoyance twisting his pretty-boy face. He kicked Roman’s foot before bending to pick up his weapon. “You know, Sutton, you really have shit taste in men. First an addict, then one who’s going to get you killed.”
My blood turned to ice. “You’re not going to hurt her.”
The annoyance in Marcus’s expression morphed into amusement. “I’m not? Because it looks to me like I’m the one who’s going to be the hero for once. I’m the one who’s going to get the glory. Not fucking you.”
“You planned this,” Sutton whispered.
Marcus chuckled, but there was no warmth in it. “Yes, I planned this. After I realized who you were, I had to fly to Baltimore and hunt down your disgusting ex, who was living in filth, by the way. I had to stoke his rage and tell him how my teammate, who has everyone believing what anincredibleguy he is, was fucking his wife.”
“I’m not his wife,” Sutton bit out as I reached behind me to squeeze her side.
Marcus grinned. “He still thought of you as his. And hehatedyou for leaving him. I just had to fan those flames. Tell him how much money Cope had. Money that could be his. Thatshouldbe his. And all he had to do was take it.”
Blood roared in my ears. “You set him up.”
“Poor Roman was never going to make it out alive. But every story needs a bad guy. A villain and a hero. What’s everyone going to think when I find him killing you both in the barn? I was just seconds too late to save you, but I managed to shoot your murderer. Think about how the press will eat that shit up.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” Trace’s voice cut through the air like the cold steel of the sharpest blade. “Marcus Warner, this is the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department. Lower your weapon.”
It all happened so fast. One second, Marcus’s eyes were rounding in shock, and the next, he was yanking me in front of him like a shield. Like Roman had done with Sutton, two monsters pulling from the same playbook.
But at least I knew he didn’t have her. Sutton would make it out. Trace wouldn’t let it play out any other way.
Marcus pressed the gun against my temple. “You take another step, and I’ll make sure my finger slips.”
Trace stilled, but I saw the cold rage swirling in his dark-green eyes. But I couldn’t let it register. Not now. I only had time to make sure of one thing.
My gaze collided with Sutton’s, horror overtaking her expression. “Go,” I rasped.
She instantly began shaking her head.
“Sutton, go!” I put as much force as I could into the single word.
Tears streamed down her face. “I can’t leave you.”
