Page 88 of The Merger

I gasped. “How did I not know any of this?”

Jana shrugged. “You’re the nicest person I know. I didn’t want you to see the petty side of me.”

“Maybe I could use the example. Not only has Malcolm been looking down on me for years, making fun of me behind my back, but he tried to sexually assault me, and-”

A chair clattered to the ground and Colt was leaning over the table with his nostrils flaring. “Repeat that,” he said in a deathly calm voice.

“I’m pretty sure he also tried to have us killed, so let’s keep things in perspective,” I said dismissively.

“Do not make light of this,” Colter seethed. He turned on Stryker. “You’re supposed to protect my sister, not let that sleazy asshole try and put his hands on her. She’s your wife, keep an eye on her.”

“I’m not a possession,” I muttered. Not that it did any good. Both men ignored me and continued their staring contest.

“I hit him. I wanted to do more, but I needed to get Sabrina out of there,” Stryker said to my brother.

“If he’s still breathing it’s not enough,” Colter grumbled.

Jana caught my eye and shook her head.

“If she’s right, and he set up the plane crash, then he won’t be breathing for much longer. I don’t care if he is my brother,” Stryker swore.

“Don’t say that,” I chided.

A dark look crossed over Stryker’s face. “Do not defend him again. Not after everything he’s done. This world would be a better place without him, and we all know it.”

“But I won’t be better without you. If you do that, stoop to his level, I could lose you. I just got you back.” My eyes stung with the sudden, shocking urge to cry. I turned away, not used to being emotionally vulnerable around anyone.

Stryker didn’t miss anything though. He rounded the table, pulled me to my feet, and wrapped his arms around me. I tucked my head under his chin and breathed in the warm smell of him. “I’m not going anywhere.”

I grabbed onto his shirt. Squeezing it in my fists, making sure he couldn’t pull away from me. One of his hands cradled the back of my head, and I felt his lips brush my hair. He whispered, “I promise, Sunshine. I’ll never leave you.”

Jana cleared her throat. “No one asked why I called Evie. Don’t you want to know?”

“Sorry, brat, we got distracted,” Colt said.

“Like I was saying, Chad hates me, but he is obsessed with Evie,” she finished.

Colt took a step back from her.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Moving out of the danger zone. When Beck finds out you asked his wife to call that worm, because I’m assuming that’s what you’re up to, he’s going to explode.”

“Is she going to do it?” I asked, pulling my face away from Stryker’s chest.

“Oh, I owe her big, but she’s also feeling a bit left out since we’re here and she isn’t.”

“So what do we do in the meantime?” I asked.

“We go back to Seattle and see who freaks out when you two show up alive,”Colt replied.

ChapterThirty-Three

Stryker

Sneaking back into town and waiting until my brother heard about our safe return wasn’t dramatic enough for me. I wanted to look into his face and see if he was surprised to see us. And if I caught even a flicker of shock on his face I’d kill him right there. I’d feel bad about doing the one thing I promised Sabrina I wouldn’t do, but the satisfaction of wrapping my fingers around his neck and squeezing until he went purple and the blood vessels burst in his eyes appealed to me on a primal level.

Sabrina and I hadn’t spent much time out in public as a couple. Guilt weighed on me when I thought about it. She was light itself, and she deserved to be out where she could shine. There was also the matter of letting my brother know once and for all there was no hope for him to win her over. In his delusional mind, he probably thought he could convince her to forgive him for trying to force himself on her and for fucking her sister in her apartment because she’d always overlooked his whorish ways before.

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