The Wife Breaker (Dark Vows Duet 1)

“Relax,” he mutters. “What did he say? Who’s the leader?”

I glare at him.

“Aren’t you horrified by what just happened? What we just did?”

“You did it,” Liberato mutters. “Not me.”

“You stood by, didn’t you?”

“We’ve killed people before.”

“Not like this,” I shake my head. “We both know I’m right. This was fucked up and neither of us stopped it.”

“Did you get the name or not?”

I raise my eyes to Liberato’s and scoff.

“What?” he demands defensively. “We need to know. And what do we do with the others?”

“Kill them all. Except the two youngest,” I mutter. “Let them carry the news back and lead their people to this massacre.”

Liberato swallows thickly before nodding and heading back to the murder scene.

The moment he’s gone, I fall to my knees in the dirt and gravel of the alleyway.

My conscience is a burning reminder of what I’ve just done. I killed a man, an innocent man. I have his blood on me right now, and I’m the man who ordered him shot after torturing him.

No information he could have given me is worth this.

I pick myself up and dust off my chinos before heading back to the warehouse.

Our men have cleaned up already, and the two survivors of the massacre are tied up and blindfolded so we can let them go somewhere along the way.

We file into our cars, with Liberato and me alone in the back of one. The moment we get in, L closes the partition separating us from the driver.

We need to talk; I know we do. And yet neither of us says a thing.

We just sit there in uncomfortable silence. I’m thinking about our friendship and everything we’ve been through. I once thought beating the men who did this to me would give me the redemption I craved. But now I know I’ve become just like them. There’s probably somebody out there who hates me as much as I hate Xavier.

Adelina, Inez.

That man’s daughters.

I took their father away from them. Perhaps one day they’ll try to make me pay. I will deserve it, too. Today was just wrong.

I grit my teeth so hard my jaw hurts.

“I don’t know about you, but I could use a cigarette.”

I look at L, who has pulled a box of cigarettes. One of them is now dangling from his lips and he rolls down his window before lighting up.

After a few inhales, he hands me the cigarette and I smoke, too.

It reminds me of all the moments we spent in our jail cell, smoking cigarettes the guards gave us to bribe us to do shit. There wasn’t much else that brought us peace those days. The drugs sure as fuck didn’t. But they do now.

I’m itching for another dose, but I know I can’t let Liberato know.

He’s already catching on to how addicted I am. If he knew how bad it really is, he’d be even more determined to help.

“So how’s it going with Rain?”

I snap my eyes to my brother’s.

“It’s going. Why?”

“Some guys were wondering, me included,” he says, his eyes glittering darkly. “When are you going to let the rest of us fuck her?”

“Never.”

My answer comes out in a snarl, surprising us both. Fuck. When did I get so possessive about Rain? She’s not even mine. Xavier stole that too, just like he did everything else.

“That’s not how we do this shit, Heath. You know the toys are supposed to-“

“She’s not like the others.”

“I know,” he says calmly. “But she is still a project, isn’t she? Start training her properly so she can return to her husband soon.”

“She’s not going back.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m keeping this one.”

“What about her husband?”

“Fuck Xavier,” I snarl. “I was always going to have my revenge on the prick. Guess I’ll just have to steal his wife instead of beating him at his own game.”

“You can’t be fucking serious, Heath.”

Liberato groans and rubs his eyes.

“You want to make an enemy out of the leader of the biggest cartel out here?”

“I don’t,” I hiss. “But I’m not letting him have her back. If that means we start a war, we start a war. What’s the big deal? We were always going to do it anyway, L.”

“Not like this. Not for a woman.”

“She’s not any woman,” I growl. “She’s the only woman. Now are you going to go back on our friendship just because you’re a stickler for planning out every little detail of our attack, or are you going to go out on a limb for once?”

“I’ll do what you decide,” L nods, smirking. “I just really wanted to fuck her.”

“Shut it,” I glare at him. “And tell the others if I catch them looking, I’ll chop off their dicks.”

“Relax. She’s all yours. We’re spoiled for choice, anyway. Aren’t you going to miss other women? Rain will be pissed if you fuck someone else.”