Page 126 of Fracture

He smiles and nods, taking my hand. “You helped me a lot back then.”

“Yeah well, on this night, you fell asleep, with your head in my lap.” My eyes sting at the memory, and I clench them shut for a second to try and get a handle on my emotions. “I remember sitting there, and you were… I mean, you were just lying there, trusting me, letting me take care of you. I think… I think that was the moment I knew…” I look up at him, his dark eyes boring into mine. “There’s never been anyone else for me. It was you andStella, always. All those girls at school, I was just talking myself into something.”

He huffs out a small laugh. “Sure did a whole lot of talking to yourself there.”

“Yeah, what can I say?” I shrug lightly, and raise my hand to cradle his jaw. “I’m an idiot.”

“Yeah you are.” Dylan lowers his head and brushes a kiss against my lips. “I love you anyway, though.”

“I love you, too.”

“You scared?”

I shake my head. “No.”Not in the way you think. “I’m angry. I want it done. I want them to pay.”

“Me too.” He presses another hard kiss against my lips, pulling back to speak, but I smother his words as I grab him and pull him down to me. I kiss him furiously, nipping and biting at his lips. He yanks me against him, his hands on my ass, and grinds against me in a way that has me groaning into his mouth.

But we finally do have to pull back, and get ready to go. And that feeling of dread sinks back into my stomach.

I hate this.

There’s a cool breeze springing up as we get on our bikes. The sun sinks behind the horizon, giving way to a slowly darkening sky. I pull on my helmet and look over at Dylan, the picture of calm as he zips up his leather jacket.

Don’t take him from me. Please.

I don’t believe in God. I don’t believe in anything, but Dylan and Stella. But just in case some mystical old man with a beard is looking down, I beg anyway.

Don’t take him from me. Let us finish this.

I push down the dread and the fear, and instead conjure up the image of Stella crying in her bathroom. My sweet Stella, covered in bite marks and scratches. Unable to sitdown. Clawing into me and sobbing. Refusing to tell me what happened.

My dread is replaced by rage, blinding and souring rage, sending acid through my veins. The bike roars under me as I tail Dylan to my mother’s house, headlights of passing cars streaking by us until the night becomes quiet, and we navigate the empty streets of uptown.

The perimeter wall of my mother’s house is lit up, and the gate guard waves us in as we approach. Idiot, doing a great fucking job. The fucking irony that he could have waved in anyone dangerous, but waved in Gloria’s son, who’s going to kill her tonight. It’s almost enough to make me laugh.

My grandfather’s car is parked outside the house, his driver sitting in the front seat with headphones in, engrossed in some show on his phone. As long as he stays there, he’ll be fine.

Dylan and I pull up, the engines of our bikes falling silent. Dylan pulls off his helmet, and looks over at me with a grin.

“You ready?”

I nod, reaching under my seat to pull out the gun and tuck it into my waistband. Dylan is already armed with a knife, and I know this isn’t going to be a good death for any of the fuckers in this house. It’s all going to look like a tragic accident, everything that happens here tonight will be covered by ash and flames.

I can’t wait to watch it burn.

Dylan follows me down the side of the house to the kitchen door, and soft music plays in the distance. The kitchen is quiet, the food already served and the staff dismissed for now. Dylan pulls out his phone, swiping through a few screens.

“Zee’s still with Stella,” he tells me, swiping again. “And this Michael Gray isn’t in the house, he’s downtown.”

“Good.” The hired muscle has no reason to be here tonight, they don’t suspect a thing. The thought has me grinning.

They don’t see this coming at all.

My mother’s laughter meets us as we enter the hall, and I head to the dining room, following the sound. High heels clack on the floor, and I turn to see Valerie heading for us. Perfect.

“Hi, Levi!” She says brightly, her smile instantly dropping as Dylan grabs her, covering her mouth and holding the knife to her throat.

“The ledger, where is it?” He hisses into her ear.

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