Page 84 of Beautiful Vengeance

Kiyomi turned her liquid dark gaze on him. She looked almost ethereal in the firelight, the flames dancing across her face, in her eyes. There was anger there, and pain. More than from her injury. A soul-deep wound that he prayed time would heal. “I want her to suffer.”

He inclined his head. “She’ll get the death penalty for what she did.”

Her gaze hardened. “That’s not suffering. It’s the easy way out.”

Marcus rubbed his thumb over the backs of her knuckles. “Aye. But if you want her brought to justice, then she needs to be brought to trial, where all the sordid details will come out. For someone like that, humiliation is a form of suffering.”

“I want to stab her in the neck like I did Rahman. I want her to be rendered helpless and know what’s coming before she dies.”

It probably said a lot about the state of his blackened soul, but that made him smile. “Then I’m glad you’re not in operational condition right now.”

One side of her mouth pulled up, her eyes warming a little. “But the others are, except for Trin.”

“Theothersare busy doing other things, and some of them are downstairs acting as our private security force right now.” Megan and Chloe. God help him, Itch and Twitch on the loose in his house while Ty and Heath did a patrol of the grounds.

Her gaze turned thoughtful. “Maybe Chloe could blow her up. But not enough to kill her. Only a small blast, so she’s dismembered. Then Heath could stabilize her and stop her from bleeding out. While she’s lying there in agony Eden could drug her to slow her heart rate and give her truth serum, and then Amber could get all her passwords and everything else she needs to uncover every dirty secret she has.”

The woman he loved was diabolical, and he couldn’t have loved her more. “Then what?” he asked in amusement.

She frowned, considering it. “Megan could steal something important to her, taunt her with it. Trinity would help me decide on the weapon and stand watch while I get to kill the bitch.”

“Thoughtful of you to include everyone.”

Her lips twitched, then she turned serious. “I want to see her.”

He tensed, hating even the thought of it. “You’re just out of the hospital. Are you sure you—”

“I’m sure.” The look in her eyes told him it wasn’t up for discussion or debate. “When are they transferring her?”

“I haven’t heard yet.” Not officially, anyway.

Moving carefully, he shifted her so that she could lay her head on his chest. They lay there watching the fire for a few minutes before he spoke again. There were so many things he needed to say. He’d been trying to wait until she had a few days to recover, but he couldn’t hold them in any longer. “Are you happy here?”

She looked up at him. “You know I am. I love it here. This is more of a home than I’ve ever had.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Because this is almost over. Once Jane is put away, and all her funds seized—”

“Stolen by Amber,” she corrected.

He smiled again. “Appropriated by Amber,” he allowed, “and her entire operation dismantled, you and the others will be as safe as you’re ever likely to get. You’ll be free.”

Her lips curved, a dreamy, faraway look in her eyes. “Free,” she murmured, staring again into the flames. “I don’t even know what I would do with myself.”

“Stay here and make a life with me.” It was out before he could stop himself, and he was glad. He was done holding this inside.

Her eyes lifted to his, and a beautiful, soft smile transformed her face. “What kind of a life do you imagine we’d have?”

“A happy, peaceful one, for starters,” he said.

She laughed softly. “I don’t even know what that would look like.”

He opened his mouth to say more, but his mobile rang. Picking it up from the bedside table, he frowned. “It’s Megan,” he said, then answered. “Ey up.”

“Hey. How’s Kiyomi?”

“She’s a trooper.”

“Yes, she is. So… I have news.”

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