Dirty Ties

I passed over the Glock on the floor, grabbed the blade, and turned back.

Trent inched backward with his back to me, his hands in the air. A few feet in front of him, Kaci pointed the gun at his chest, walking with him.

Collin jumped from the chair and strode toward me, his gait fueled with urgency, his arms restrained behind his back, his expression furious. I met him halfway and sliced the knife through the zip-ties, freeing his hands.

“You don’t want to do this, Kaci.” Trent’s voice cracked. “I came here to get you, to take you back with me.”

That, I believed. He would’ve taken her by force. After he killed me and Collin.

I slipped behind him, gripped his perfectly-gelled hair, and yanked his head back. With the blade pressed against his throat, I met her eyes.

Christ, she was stunning, standing there in her bra and panties, her dark blue eyes glowing with fierce intent. With her arms straight out, the gun didn’t so much as tremble in her hands. There wasn’t a hint of hesitation in her expression. If I didn’t kill him, she would.

Collin leaned over Jed’s body, grabbed his gun, and pressed his fingers against the man’s throat. He wouldn’t find a pulse. Half of Collin’s face was covered in Jed’s brains.

“Listen.” Trent’s back heaved against my chest. But his heavy breaths didn’t affect the steadiness in his voice. “We can make a lot of money tonight. We’ll split it between the four of us. I’ll hand off full control of Trenchant. You can have all of it.”

I put my mouth beside his ear, holding him still with the blade at his throat. “You killed my family, Trent. You can’t replace them with money and power.”

He closed his eyes. “Logan, I swear I didn’t know I had a son.” He turned his head, tried to meet my eyes, but the angle of the knife didn’t allow it. “Ella kept you hidden from me. I wouldn’t have left you without a family.”

No, he would’ve killed me. I suspected Ella had given me to her sister when I was an infant to protect my identity. To protect me from Trent. But why didn’t the diary explain Ella’s relationship to Trent or the details of her death? Thanks to Trent, I would never fucking know.

“Kaci, please.” Trent swallowed against the blade. “In just a few hours, I’ll have billions at my disposal. You can have all of it. Just let me go.”

So much for splitting it four ways.

She lowered the gun and walked slowly toward him. “No, Trent. In a couple hours, I’ll be in that race, losing your millions.”

His body stiffened in my hold. “You’re…you’re the underdog?”

She held his eyes and nodded. A sad smile tightened the corner of her mouth. Not the kind of smile that delivered revenge. She accepted his fate with strong determination, but she wasn’t going to celebrate it.

Shifting her gaze to mine, she stepped back and lifted her chin with a silent End this.

Trent squirmed against me, begging for his life in a high-pitched voice. I tuned him out.

I’d imagined this moment for nineteen years as I drowned in the memory of my mother’s blood and followed the leads she’d left behind. I thought if I gutted him while I stared into his eyes, it would kill all the cold inside me. If his life spilled over my fingers, it would chase away my anger.

But Kaci had already done those things. She warmed me with a simple look. Calmed me with a gentle touch. She replaced my revenge with a profound breath of life.

Holding her eyes, I tightened my grip on Trent’s hair. It wasn’t revenge that had me dragging the blade over his neck. It was my vicious need to protect her that guided my hand and opened his throat from ear to ear.

She didn’t look away from my gaze as he gurgled and writhed. She stared directly into my eyes when I let him go and he crumbled to the floor. I sensed Collin beside us, bending to check Trent’s pulse, but my focus was on her.

I dropped the blade beside the lifeless body, my heartbeat roaring in my head as I searched her face. She didn’t seem stunned. Definitely not flipping out. Her lips parted, her shoulders relaxed, and she still hadn’t looked away.

She’d killed a man. She watched me kill her father-in-law. I murdered him while she stood feet away. That kind of trauma forced itself inside a person. The blood. The darkness. The finality of a beating heart. I knew the haunting impact of that all too well.

I stepped forward and cupped her face with my clean hand. “You okay?”

She nodded once. “Relieved.”

“Yeah.” I moved my hand from her face and hooked it behind her, dragging her against my chest.