Page 41 of Shiner's Light

A good ten minutes pass before the other car finally pulls off and takes a left turn. Griz gets back on the road while Keys calls out directions from the passenger seat.

Tension builds between my shoulders, and I grit my teeth. We’ve got to move in order to catch up with them. Ten minutes has put them too damn far ahead for my liking.

“Once we get this taken care of, what do you plan on doing?” Blow asks in an attempt to distract me.

“I’m going to tan her ass for leaving, then cart her off to the damn courthouse and marry her. After that, I’m takin’ her home where I can fuck her until she knows better than to leave me like she did today.”

“Milo cool with you marrying her?” Lucky chuckles.

“Kid asked me last night if I was gonna do it. Asked her to be his mommy too,” I tell them. My chest tightens as the memories of the conversation flow to the forefront of my mind. Milo had caught me off guard with his question, but it didn’t completely surprise me. For his age, he’s intuitive. He doesn’t mind asking whatever’s on his mind. I also don’t lie to him. If it’s something I can’t answer, I’ll tell him that. Or I explain in a way he’ll understand, like his asking if I were going to marry Olive. Damn right, I am, but it’s a discussion to be had with my woman, especially the part about her being his mommy.

Which is another thing that pisses me off. I want that for him and she up and left the way she did. Total bullshit. But the more I think about it, the more I remember her expression when he asked about her and what she said. She wants the same thing but refuses to allow herself to have it.

Fucking hell.

When I get my hands on her, she’s going to regret up and leaving the way she did, but ultimately, she’s going to be mine and never leave me again. I won’t allow her to disappear on me again even if that means cuffing her to me every night.

“The signals stopped,” Keys announces, drawing me from my thoughts. “We are roughly five minutes behind them.”

“Pick up the speed, Griz,” I grind out.

“Already doing it,” Griz mutters.

“Get ready for this, brothers, we’re going to hit hard. Just as we planned, but first, we need to make sure all the players are in place. We get there, Lucky and Shiner will do recon. Once we know what we’re working with, we move. Got me?”

“Yeah, Prez,” I mutter while others call out the same.

Recon, then strike. Works for me. That bitch Sasha won’t know what hit her.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

OLIVE

Stepping out of the vehicle I’d been switched to, I do my best to keep my fears from choking me. I can’t let them control me in this moment. If I do, I’ll never accomplish what I’m attempting to do here.

I want my happily ever after. During the entire ride, I couldn’t stop thinking about the life I wanted with Shiner. How I want to be a mom to Milo. It might weird some people out that I’m Milo’s aunt, yet I want to be more. I envisioned what it would be like to have a normal life, being in both father’s and son’s lives. Having the life I always dreamed.

But I keep telling myself it won’t happen until I take care of my demons first. Well, the one that comes in the form of my sister first. Especially after the experience of being in Shiner’s arms the night before. Even now, I can feel him between my legs, and the ache he left me with.

“It’s about time you got here,” Sasha snips from the entrance of the building we stopped at. It’s completely in the middle of nowhere—no one around for miles.

“You do realize you’re the one who had me switched between vehicles,” I state matter-of-factly. “If I’d stayed in the same car, it would have been one less headache.” The driver from the second vehicle comes up behind me and shoves me forward.

“Don’t get lippy with me, Olive, it’ll only prolong the punishment you receive.” The gleam in Sasha’s eyes tells me she’s looking forward to it. Why didn’t I ever say something before about the type of person she really is? Better yet, how was she able to hide it from the rest of the world?

I know better than to speak out against her again. Instead, I step past her into the building. It’s an old country farmhouse that looks seriously outdated. The walls have that flowery wallpaper that should be illegal. Who wants to look at old yellowish backing with flowers weaving up and down, not even randomly placed, but in symmetrical rows? The floors, though, if they were clean, would look like they’d be the pristine original flooring. A quick look at the banister shows it’s missing a few of the pieces, I’m not sure what they’re called. But they could definitely use a fresh coat of paint.

Sasha comes behind me, grips my arm roughly, and yanks me toward the side. Sitting on one of the floral couches, one leg propped up on the other, is one of the men who raped me. I know it from the shape and color of his eyes. But you can see the resemblance between him and Sasha, so I’m sure this is Alexei.

“The others are on the way,” he announces, eyes roaming over my body. “But I’m not sure I want to wait for them to start.” Watching him closely, there’s no missing his erection as he stands.

I swallow, doing my best to keep my fear tamped down. I’m not about to let him touch me again.

“You know I have my way first,” Sasha remarks, tightening her grip on my arm. “She needs to learn her lesson about messing with what’s mine.”

“You’ll have your way, my sweets,” Alexei agrees. “But before you have your fun, I’ll have her. See just how good she is without the pain you inflict on her first.” He turns and grabs a small black pouch. “A friend of mine sent this to me and said it was a gift for the girls you helped me acquire for them. I figured Olive would be a good test subject to see how much I would enjoy this.”

“Is that the newest batch of Heavenly Rose I’ve heard about?” Sasha seems to gleam with excitement. “Is there enough for another person?”

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