Her eyes are so wide, they look about to come out of their sockets. I can see her mouthing, “Please,” but I’m too far gone to register her pleas—or even care.
My hands move effortlessly, of their own accord, wrapping around her thin neck. I grab the base of her skull. My fingers dig into her flesh, and with one hard twist, I feel her bone crack as I snap her neck.
I peer down at her face. Her eyes go vacant in an instant, frozen in time, never to blink again. Her body goes limp in my hands. Adrenaline courses through my veins. My heart races furiously.
As soon as I realize she’s dead and I have eliminated the threat, the fog of fury lifts, allowing me to think for the first time in minutes.
Shit. I just killed her in my house…with the front door wide open. Fuck.
My house is fairly secluded—covered by trees and bushes. But there’s still a chance someone could’ve seen us, and even if they didn’t, they certainly could’ve heard the gunshot.
I drag her farther inside and shut the door.
Only then do I let go of her, and the lifeless body falls onto the hardwood floor with a thump. I gaze up at Kiera. She’s still standing in the same spot—her entire body has turned to stone.
“Keira, it’s going to be fine.” Even I’m surprised at how low and calm my voice sounds. Holding my hands up, I walk toward her slowly, like I’m trying to sneak up on a wild animal. Her eyes are fixated on Hayley’s body until I step into her line of vision, blocking her view.
God, I wish she wouldn’t have seen me do that. And yet I don’t feel a smidge of guilt. Only guilt that my sweet Keira had to witness it.
I gently place my hands on her shoulders—the same hands that killed someone a few minutes ago. I’ve killed for her now. And given the chance, I’d do it again if it meant she’d remain safe.
I expect Keira to pull away and run, but she makes no moves. Her eyes move from my chest to my face. I see fear leave her gaze when our eyes meet, relief flooding her features.
In an instant, she leans into my body, her tiny arms wrapping around my middle.
A sob rips from her throat, and she cracks straight down the middle.
“Everything is going to be okay, baby. No one is going to hurt you. I need to make a phone call, and then we are going to go somewhere.”
“You could’ve died.” It sounds like her heart is breaking, and then I realize what she said. I. Could’ve. Died.
Those three little words nearly send to my knees After all she witnessed, watching me kill a woman right before her eyes, and she’s worried about me dying. She’s worried about me fucking dying. My heart soars from my fucking chest, and I reach down and pick her up, placing my hands under her ass.
I hike her up my torso, and she wraps her legs around my middle with little effort. I carry her into the kitchen and settle her onto the counter, inserting my body between her legs. Her face is still buried in my neck, each little breath she takes fanning my skin.
As badly as I want to calm her down, nothing I say is going to help until I get Hayley’s body out of the house. I pull out my cell and glide my fingers across the screen, pulling up Toni’s info. I hit the green call button and bring the phone to my ear.
Keira pulls away slightly, her brown eyes peering up at me.
“Boss,” he answers casually.
“I’ve got a body I need dumped. It’s at my house.”
“Sure thing. I’ll be over with the men in just a few.”
I hit the end key and pocket my phone. I can’t imagine being in Keira’s shoes. These things are normal to me. I’ve seen more people die than be born, so death is nothing to me. Calling Toni to remove a body? Normal.
It’s normal to Toni too—just another day of work. But to Keira, my fragile beauty, it’s not, and I don’t want her to ever look at me differently for the things I did tonight.
“Are you okay?” I lean down, inhaling her sweet scent. I’m so far gone, so fucking in love with this woman, I’d burn down the fucking world. I’d kill anyone or anything that tried to take her from me.
“Yes, I’m just…” Her lips tremble as she tries to speak. “I was afraid I might lose you back there. Afraid she was going to take you from me.”
Her fear is understandable, but she doesn’t have the slightest clue how badly it could’ve ended.
“She didn’t come here to shoot me, baby. She came to shoot you.” I trail my thumb over her bottom lip. “And I was going to be fucking damned if I let her succeed. You are my all—my start, my middle, and my ending. She tried to take you from me, so I ended her life. Nobody fucks with what is mine. Nobody.”