A Debt Repaid (The Debt Duet 2)

“Easton, stop! Just let me fucking go, dammit,” she swears as we approach the study.

I take my key from my pocket and shove it into the lock. When the door opens, I pull her in and push her in front of me. Now’s the moment of truth. This is where she’ll learn who I really am.

Chapter 25

Charlotte

My lips part, but no sound leaves my tongue. My voice is gone, along with my sense of reality. My feet are frozen to the ground as I stare at the two people in the study who I presumed were dead.

Deion. Ashanti.

How can they be here right in front of me?

I saw them get shot with my own eyes. The blood was pouring out of them.

It wasn’t a nightmare. I was wide-awake, and I still am.

But here they are in the flesh standing right in front of me in different clothing as if they went to heaven and came back again.

My legs are wobbly, and I can barely stand, but I still force myself to move. Are these two really Deion and Ashanti, or is my brain playing tricks on me?

I approach them with hesitation, my fingers trembling as I reach for Deion’s outstretched hand.

“It’s okay, Charlotte. I’m alive,” he says with that calm, familiar voice of his.

He wraps me in his arms, and I succumb to his warmth. Ashanti grabs me too, and we stand there, embracing each other for what feels like hours. I inhale Deion’s scent over and over again, telling myself this is real. They still exist and aren’t burned or buried deep in the ground.

When my heart has calmed, I lean away and look into his eyes. I shake my head as more tears form in my eyes. “I don’t understand,” I mutter. “I saw you … I was there … and the gun.”

I throw one glance at Easton leaning against the doorway with his arms folded. He knew all along what it would do to me. How I would break into a million pieces.

I place a hand on Ashanti’s shoulder and wipe away the tears off my face. “Are you okay, sweets?”

She nods, and I look at both of them and give them another hug to make sure. “How?” I murmur, glancing back and forth between Deion and Easton.

Deion sucks in a breath and attempts to start a sentence but quickly stops and sighs. “I think Easton would be better at explaining this than me.”

Frowning, I turn around to face the one man I thought would be my undoing. The devil who sealed his own fate when he decided to sacrifice my friends to my father … who made me believe his lies.

“You …” I can’t even form the words in my mouth except for one thing. “Why?”

He pushes himself off the doorframe and stands there like a statue. “I had to. It was the only way your father would stop.” He makes a face. “But it was my fault.”

“What was? You’re not making any sense,” I say, approaching him gently.

“My hatred for him was so deep, I wanted him to be punished. You know that,” he says, his eyes darkening as he points them at the floor. “The debt would only be repaid if you would always be mine. Always.”

“And … Deion and Ashanti were a threat,” I murmur.

“Exactly,” he says. “When your father texted me his cryptic plans, I knew they were in trouble, so I had to act quickly.”

“So that’s where you went,” I say. “But then …” Bile rises into my throat as the thought crosses my mind. “Those two with the burlap over their heads…”

“Those were your father’s henchmen tasked with bringing Deion and Ashanti.” Easton licks his lips and eyes Deion for a second. He’s choosing his words carefully so as not to scare Ashanti. “We were lucky they were the same height so they could wear their clothes.”

“But one of them looked like a kid,” I say, frowning. I don’t understand how I didn’t see it.

“She’s tall for her age.” Deion pets Ashanti’s hair.

I spin on my heels. “So you knew Easton was going to do this?”

“His help, Nick, told me about Easton’s plan,” Deion says.

I put my hands against my hips and narrow my eyes at Easton. “Yet Nick refused to tell me anything.”

“Your father would’ve never believed it to be true unless he saw your real reaction,” Easton explains.

“You made me suffer on purpose so my father would believe you?”

“So he would leave them alone,” Easton says. “And for that, I apologize.” He goes to his knees and lowers his head. “As I said, I won’t ask you to forgive me.”

“I thought they were gone because of you …” I can’t believe everything I’m hearing. It’s too much to take, and my eyes grow watery. “I thought I lost everything.”