Page 121 of Cruel Honor

“You. Soyoucan be happy. But I never was. Yes, I loved my job at the library, but every time I came home to you, I always felt a little less happy. And I’m tired of feeling that way. So, goodbye, Juno.”

I head for the front door.

What I’m not expecting to feel is the sharp pain in my arm. I gasp and look down at the cut the scissors left behind. The scissors that are now on the floor by my feet because Juno threw them at me.

I turn around. She’s standing up from her chair and giving me a glare that’s so full of anger, I can only feel a coldness start to seep through my body.

“You’re not leaving me, Evelyn,” she hisses. Then she runs right at me.

It’s such a shock, I don’t react. And by the time I do, she has me pushed against the door.

“Juno! What are you doing?”

“Teaching you a lesson I should have a long time ago.” She lets me go and grabs the scissors off the floor. “You were always too pretty. I kind of hated you for it.” She grabs a chunk of my hair and tries cutting it, but I pull away. My momentum drives me farther into the house and away from the front door.

Juno chases me. Instinct makes me run to my old bedroom. The moment I step inside, Juno slams my door shut.

And locks it from the outside.

I try the doorknob, but it doesn’t budge. Juno said she didn’t want me to leave.

She got her wish.

DIMITRI

I smile at the sight of Nik’s ugly-ass face after he opens his front door. “Nik! So, I need your help.”

“Uh-huh.” He motions me toward his office. I smile at Ava as I walk by, and she just rolls her eyes and goes back to reading on the couch. The sight of her reading makes me think of Evie, which just makes me miss her more. Stupid fucking Juno. I never realized the hold Juno had over Evie, but then again, there’s still a lot I don’t know about her.

Once all this shit is over, I’ll make sure to get every ounce of whoEvie is out of her. I’m addicted in a way I’ve never been for any other woman before.

“What do you need?” Nik asks, closing his office door behind us.

“Abram. Killed. Ideally.”

“Maxim wasn’t able to help you?”

“Maxim is, uh …. Not really my business partner anymore.”

Nik sighs. “Why am I not surprised? Dimitri, we need him on our side. If he’s chosen not to work with you, then that will affect me, and I don’t like that.”

I flop into the chair across from his desk. “You know, Nik, not everything is about you.”

“When you’re in my house, it is.” He pauses, eyeing me over. “Why does Maxim not want to work with you anymore?”

“Does the reason matter?”

“Yes,” he says flatly. “The reason absolutely matters.”

“So, he got shot.”

“And?”

“Abram shot him.”

“And?” Nik motions for me to continue.

“And I sort of left Maxim to fight off Abram by himself. But?—”

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