Breaking Meredith

I just want to drown and sink and choke on this emotion.

I want to die. To let the old Meredith go.

And be reborn again.

“I love you,” I say and press my body up against his body.

He welcomes me despite the pain he must be experiencing. He can never resist me. He’d probably hold me and kiss me even if he was in the cold arms of death.

“I fucking love you,” I repeat and smash my lips against his lips.

And I do. I love this crazy man. I’ve killed for him and he’s killed for me. Now that we’ve come this far, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him.

“After what I’ve learned today, Simon, I do hope you’re planning on making an honest woman out of my sister,” Matthew says as I finally pull back.

Simon grins at him. “I already have.”

I gasp at his lie, especially because it’s such an obvious one. “You have not.”

His eyes gleam at me. “What do you think all those papers you signed were, princess?”

Matthew laughs. “Taking a page out of my book, Simon? Well done.”

The realization of what Simon did sinks in. He tricked me into marrying him? Seriously?

I take back everything I said earlier.

I’m going to kill him.

Epilogue

Simon

It’s been two weeks since the firefight at Landow Airstrip and my ribs still ache every fucking time I move.

Everything is painful.

Driving down these shitty roads, my two fucking cracked ribs make my life a living hell.

Every single bump in the road hurts. Stop lights offer no relief.

If I wasn’t such a stubborn ass of a man, I would have had Andrew or Johnathan come and do this job for me. In truth, I should have made Lucifer come wait outside of a supermax prison in the cold.

Should have made him stand here, on the side of the road, like some reprobate as he waits for his hellhound to get out of its cage.

No, I’m the stubborn jackass who left the woman of his life behind at Lucifer’s compound. It’s the only place I feel that she will be safe, besides at my side. But even I know better than to bring her here with me for this job.

This job. It’s a job, isn’t it? It’s a choice we’re all making to bring hell back into the world. Opening a gate that, in my opinion, should have been left shut.

Shifting on my feet, I lean against the vehicle. Not that it gives me much comfort. Comfort. I haven’t known comfort for some time now. I’m unable to find a position to stand, sit, or lie down in that isn’t miserable.

The only time I feel any sense of normalcy right now is when I have my cock locked tightly inside of Meredith.

Meredith, let me count the minutes until I am back home with you. You safely nestled away in our house where it is sterile and clean. Not filthy like the sides of my Escalade.

Rolling my left shoulder for the third time in as many minutes, my stomach grumbles for food. I haven’t been eating as well as I should have this past week.

Too much work to be done and not enough time to do it.

The Yakuza haven’t made any more brazen attacks and the message we sent back to the Saudi’s has been received.

Or at least I hope it has been received.

Because if they even dare try to stick their noses back into my personal life again and come near Meredith, there won’t be a rock in the whole damn country they will be able to hide under.

I’ll fucking have the President of the United fucking States nuke the country back to the fucking stone age.

Without fanfare or warning, I watch as the gate to the prison slowly opens itself. A man wearing khaki pants and a khaki button down work shirt appears in front of the entrance, walking next to a prison guard.

The man in tan clothing looks to me then back to the guard. There’s a shake of hands and then the free man is walking towards me down the entrance road to the prison.

He’s my size except he’s put on weight since I last saw him. All muscle, from what I can tell. His hair and beard are in a serious need of grooming. Right now he looks like a copy of Johnathan that has been stretched out with muscles and tattoos.

Disgusting.

I can only guess how many bacterial infections he has crawling around on him. I’m going to have to thoroughly sanitize my SUV after I drop him off at the compound.

Sanitizing might not be enough though… I might just set it on fire.

Turning away from him before he even gets across the road, I open my door and slowly pull myself into the warm leather seats. Making sure the seat warmer for the car is turned all the way up, I lean back and let out a huge breath.