Page 134 of If You Give an Artist a Killer Muse

“Alright, let's hurry this up. Where’s Oscar?” Nat asks.

“Your husband?” The man says as he walks behind the car and opens the trunk.

Grunts and groans are heard before he slams the trunk closed, revealing Oscar. He looks tired, bruised, and well-banged up. But his eyes spark back to life when he sees Nat and me.

“Oscar,” Nat whisper with relief.

“You’ll get him back if you do as I say.” The man says, pulling Oscar with him.

“Or,” I aim my gun at him. “I could just shoot you.”

“Do it, and I’ll press this button, and the car will explode, killing all of us.” He grins so smugly, holding up a device in his hand.

“What do you want?” Nat sighs, crossing her arms. She looks bored out of her mind, but I don’t miss the subtle shakiness of her hands.

I don't blame her. If this was reversed and Rurik was put in a dangerous situation, the world wouldn't even exist because of my wrath.

“An eye for an eye.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“It means your father, Drake Rogers, killed my brother. You might remember him. Josh De Luca?”

“You mean the one who kidnapped my mom when I was a kid?” Nat asks. “And killed my uncle?”

As Nat continues to distract him, I glance at Oscar, scanning him from head to toe to ensure he's truly okay. He must have felt my gaze because he looks over at me. His eyes dart over to the guy holding him and then back to me, his brows rising quickly and then back down. I frown, unsure of what he's trying to convey.

Yes, Oscar. Yes, I know the bad guy is with you. That’s why we’re here.

But he quickly shakes his head once. His eyes dart downward, back to the man and then back to me, with his brows quirking up again.

I stare at Oscar briefly while Nat is still egging the man on.

Oscar’s eyes slide to my gun, then taps the man’s hand that’s holding him by his collar. My eyes widen for a second before nodding with understanding.

I guess I’m not the only crazy one in this group.

He nods back before suddenly jabbing the man’s throat, forcing him to let go of Oscar. As the man recoils, I inhale deeply to steady my breathing, then swiftly aim and shoot at his hand. The man screams, dropping the device. Without hesitation, Oscar seizes the opportunity, snatching the device from the ground and wresting the gun from the man’s grip, pointing it back at him.

Everything becomes a blur when I signal Mr. Rogers and his team to come. The man keeps yelling and cursing at all of us. Turns out, Mr. Rogers did kill his brother, but that's because the man threatened the love of his life and killed one of his closest friends. Whatever is in store for the man is up to Mr. Rogers now.

I tune out the man’s screams because I can’t tear my eyes away from Nat and Oscar.

Oscar embraces Nat tightly, her face tucked against his chest. He whispers something in her ear, brushing her hair with his fingers. I can tell Nat is crying because of the way her shoulders shake.

They pull away just to look at each other. None of them talk; they just stare at each other as if memorizing each other’s features.

They look like they care about each other.

They look like they’re in love.

Then it hits me.

I’ll never have the possibility of having whatever they have with Rurik.

I’ll never see Rurik look at me like Oscar does at Nat in public. As if he knows how fucking lucky he is to have a woman like her. As if he can’t live without her. As if they can’t live without each other.

Fuck.

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