Page 269 of If You Give an Artist a Killer Muse

I choke him again, and his panic restarts. “I lied. You hurt my Briar. Anything that causes my woman pain is a personal offense to me.”

I toss the knife on the floor and clamp my hand over his mouth and nose while my elbow digs into his throat even more.

Marcus tries to shake his head from side to side, his face turning a sickly shade of purple, his eyes filled with fear as he stares at me.

“I told you my face would be the last thing you see, didn’t I?” I grin, watching as his struggles start to weaken. “At least killing you will make Briar realize I am 100% all in with her now.”

I peer down at him, watching as his struggles finally cease, and his eyes are open but unseeing. I dig my elbow deeper into his windpipe some more for good measure and finally let go when not even a whisper of breath came out of him.

I stand up, only to feel my whole body feeling drained and about to collapse.

Holy fuck. How did Briar do this? My back hurts. This shit is fucking exhausting.

I pull out my phone and call Drake.

“Hey,” Drake answers immediately.

“Hey there,” I grimace, feeling awkward as fuck.

We’re not even close yet. How the fuck do I ask him to clean up this mess for me like he does for Briar and his daughter?

I clear my throat. “So. Listen. I was wondering—”

“I’ll send my cleaning crew to deal with it.”

“Oh. Cool. Uh… Okay. Thank you?”

Nice. Good to know my people skills have improved all these months.

I could hear Drake chuckling on the other end of the line. “Briar's my family. And now, I guess you are, too.”

Oh, fuck. “Thanks, Mr. Rogers. Sir.”

“Call me Mr. Rogers again, and I will send Oscar there to take Briar away from you.”

“Cool, cool. Got it. Thanks, Drake.” I hang up with a grimace before stuffing my phone back in my pocket.

I look down at Marcus’s lifeless body, unable to stop the smile from tugging my lips.

One source of pain for Briar is erased.

Epilogue 1

Rurik — 5 years later

So, whoever said that love is patient, kind, and is never jealous is a fucking liar. Because though I often feel patient and kind toward the love of my life, I sure as fuck feel this simmering rage of something as I’m watching Briar giggle at something her cousin said.

Yeah, that cousin.

Kevin.

So what if we’re at his wedding, and she went over to congratulate him?

He’s the same cousin I thought was into her once at a bar. It turns out they’re not even actually cousins! They are just super close friends who call each other family.

I’m kind of annoyed that meant he technically had a chance with her.

Not that I’m not confident in me and Briar’s relationship now…

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