Page 149 of Slaughter

“What?” My heart begins to race. What the hell happened while I was taking a nap?

“What is going on out here?” I hear Alex ask from behind us.

I ignore her. “Avery, please …”

“Take her back! Now!” he yells at Kayn.

I catch Tristan crossing his arms over his chest. He glares at me satisfied with Avery’s decision. What the hell? “I’m not going anywhere,” I argue.

“You’ll go wherever I send you!” he shouts.

I reach up and slap him across the face. And just like before, he slaps me back. Hard. It knocks me off my feet and onto my ass.

“Presleigh!” Alex shrieks and falls to her knees beside me. “Jesus. Are you okay?” she asks in a rush, cupping my cheek.

But I ignore her and the stinging of my face. Instead, I stare up at the man who has put me through hell and also saved me from it. I’m confused and heartbroken. “What did I do?” My voice breaks at the question because I’m not sure I want the answer.

Instead of answering, he does something worse. He turns his back on me and walks away. I jump to my feet. “What did I do?” I shout this time. He doesn’t stop leaving the room. I go to run after him, but Alex grabs my arm, yanking me to a stop. “Remember what happened last time you sent me away?” My body shakes at my words. The memory of waking up cold and alone thinking he was punishing me. Only to find out it was my biggest fear come to life. All because of him.

He comes to a stop and spins around to face me.

“You owe me an explanation,” I shout, yanking my arm free from Alex. “You owe me everything!” My voice bounces off the walls with anger. Betrayal. At this point, I can’t tell the difference between them anymore.

He places his hands behind his back and squares his shoulders. “I owe you nothing, Presleigh.” My stomach drops at the use of my name and flatness of his voice. Then he looks at Kayn. “Take her back.” He turns once again, and this time, he doesn’t stop or yell. He just walks away as if I never meant a fucking thing to him.

This time, I willingly fall to the floor, my knees unable to hold me up any longer.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

AVERY

I LOOK DOWN AT MY phone when it vibrates.

Kayn: Same.

He’s responding to the message I sent him earlier asking how Bunny is doing. I don’t respond. No need to. She’s not eating. Not talking to anyone. She’s also not sleeping much. At least Alex is with her. When Kayn told me that she wanted to follow, I didn’t deny her.

The truth is, I didn’t want her to go, but I had no choice. I knew who the culprit was, and I knew what I needed to do. She needed to be as far away from me as possible because I’m willing to die to make sure she is safe. There’s always the chance I’ll die, and Kayn promised he’d protect her with his life if that is the case.

Tristan and our boss were right. She was clouding my head. My judgment. I needed her gone. But the roles have reversed. She was no longer my slave, I had to get back to that. Make her leave. I had to make her think she was nothing. And I fucking hated the look in her eyes when she realized that.

“Ready?” Tristan asks, sitting beside me in the car.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Chloe answers him from the back seat.

My eyes meet hers in the rearview mirror. “You know you don’t have to do this.”

Instead of giving me some bullshit line, she places the magazine in her gun and tucks it into the back of her pants. Then she gets out of the car without a word.

My brother and I sit quietly, watching her cross the street, her black blazer covering up the bulge from her gun. When she disappears into the club, he turns to look at me. “This better work.”

“It was your idea.”

He gets out and slams the door shut. We haven’t spoken much in the last week since the shit went down in his study and I sent Bunny away. I’m not sure things will ever be the same again. And I’ve had plenty of alone time with a bottle to come to terms with that.

Fuck the money. Fuck my job and fuck my life. I will take out one more person if it kills me. And tonight might just be that night.

I grab my gun out of the glovebox and check the magazine as well before placing it in the pocket of my suit jacket and then getting out of the driver seat. When I enter the club, I head straight to the bar with my head down, avoiding eye contact with anyone.

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