Page 141 of Cruel Lies

"You’re not dying on my watch, fuckwad," I grumbled, trying everything I could to keep him in the present. Beside me, Angel tore the edges of his shirt where the knife had ripped it, and Harper fell backward on her ass, her eyes welling with tears.

I didn’t have time right now to coddle her.

"If you can’t help, get the fuck out of the way," I shouted at her, a part of me dying as she stared up at me and visibly flinched. "Or get up and dial 911."

I saw her fingers fumble at her jacket, probably searching for a phone, but thankfully, Angel thrust his at her, his fingers bloody and slipping around on the screen. "Use mine," he said calmly, like the whole fucking world wasn’t falling apart around him. "Hurry."

She nodded and her fingers set to work, all of us forgetting for a moment that we were on the floor of my Father’s office, where he was well-armed and apparently aware that he was a target now.

If he got away, we’d have to hunt him down.

I glanced over in the direction of his desk to find the fucker with a hand over his throat, stemming the flow of his own blood with what looked like an old kerchief. His eyes met mine, and they burned with a white-hot hatred I’d long ago forgotten to fear.

Now, he was just an old man with a life-threatening wound of his own, bleeding out as his eldest son died on the floor of his study.

He didn’t spare Nash a second glance.

I almost glanced away, but just as my attention turned back to my eldest brother, I caught the flash of a muzzle out of the corner of my eye.

I couldn’t move fast enough from my position on the floor as he aimed the gun at Harper’s head, preparing to shoot her while her back was turned, a final act of retribution for embarrassing him, it appeared.

My hand shot out and attempted to shove her out of the way, but I wasn’t close enough.

Angel, though, was.

And he’d seen the move just like I had.

Something in my mind shut down. I knew what was about to happen, but I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t do a thing; I was helpless, frozen, weak.

No plan I could have put together accounted for any of us being shot.

And never in my wildest dreams had I thought I could lose so much in one place, at one time.

Angel sprang into action, his eyes wide as he grabbed Harper by the shoulders and slid his body around her to shield her. The end of Father’s gun muzzle flashed, thebangechoing like a death knoll around the room as it fired the kill shot.

Everything happened in a blur, but it was all so slow, it felt like a lifetime.

His body curled protectively around hers from behind, andbefore she could process what had happened, the bullet found a new target, driving itself into Angel’s back. He flinched against the intrusion, a grunt of pain the only sound he made before his whole body slumped sideways to the floor.

Blood blossomed like a bright red carnation on the front of his white shirt, and his eyes went glassy as fear like I’d never known before immobilized me.

For the second time tonight, all I could hear now was the shrill scream of Harper’s agonized wail, bouncing off the interior of my skull like a tattoo on my memory.

I didn’t think. Didn’t speak. I brought Nash’s hands up to hold pressure on his own wound, stood with intent, and moved across the room with a quickness.

Nothing held me back this time. Nothing slowed my steps. I was on a mission of vengeance.

I stalked my father like a predator stalks injured prey, towering over him like an avenging specter of hell. My foot lashed out as he fell from his chair and scrambled to flee on his ass, kicking the fucking gun from his hand in a move that was fit for the silver screen.

"Y-you can’t kill me, Rowan," he pleaded, masking it as an order. "Think about your brothers," he tried, the feral and desperate gleams in his eyes at war with each other.

I had no doubt he’d have shot me in the back, too, if he had the chance.

The blinders were off. This man, no matter what he was to me, was too dangerous to let continue living.

I slammed my knife into his thigh, knowing damn well he’d bleed out when I pulled it back.

I didn’t get a chance.

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