Page 131 of Live for Me

“The only difference is, we didn’t turn out to be pieces of shit like ours.” Denver’s words set Ricky off and his composure snapped.

Fucking finally.

He lunged for us, and I took the shot, missing him on purpose. The bullet flew past his head, hitting the tree I’d been aiming for.

He skidded to a halt, eyes widen, chest heaving.

“You drove her away from me.” My words were cold as I fired a second time.

The bullet hit him the other shoulder and he cried out in pain.

“You made her break her own heart.” I fired again, taking another step closer.

This one hit him the thigh, and he dropped to his knees before shouting at me. “You were never good enough for her, you bastard!”

Just for that, I fired off another shot, the bullet hitting him in the opposite thigh. He clenched his teeth in pain, groaning as he leaned towards me. My upper lip curled as I stopped in front of him. His uniform was soaked with blood, his eyes red, his skin pale. He tried lifting his arms, but couldn’t.

“You tormented her for years, made her live in fear,” I stated, my voice cold.

His face was filled with pain and hatred as did his best to keep his gaze on mine, slowly bleeding out. “She’s not yours, Johnson.” I fired, hitting him in the abdomen.

Seconds later, blood trickled out from his lips as he coughed, choking on it.

“She was always mine,” I growled, pressing the gun to the middle of his forehead. My head tilted to the side as I murmured, “I’ll see you in hell, buddy.”

My finger squeezed the trigger and I didn’t even wait for his body to go down before I was running into the trees, calling out for Abbie.

“Abbie! Abbie, baby!”

“Over here!”

Mags.

As I rounded a pine tree, I stopped, my heart nearly exploding at the sight of Mags and Abbie sitting on the porch steps. He was holding a bottle of water with a straw to her lips, encouraging her to take a drink.

The sight of her—seeing her alive—was too much.

Her eyes lifted up to mine, and my soul—my fucking soul—sang with joy.

I moved, surging towards her, seeing only her, needing and loving only her. Mags was up and out of the way by the time I dropped to my knees in front of her, my hands cupping her face.

“Beau,” she croaked, her hands finding my wrists.

“Hi, Wildflower,” I whispered, my eyes lingering on her bruised cheek. My thumb lightly brushed over it as I bit down, grinding my teeth. “I’m so sorry, baby.”

Tears welled in her eyes as she shook her head, clinging to me. “Don’t—don’t say that. This was all him.”

“Are you okay? Tell me you’re okay,” I begged, checking out the rest of her, searching for injuries.

“I’m okay. He drugged me with something, and I dosed off for a few minutes. I feel better now after Mags got me some water.”

“Ash and Jake are headed here to do a blood test,” Mags informed us.

I looked back to find him, Denver, and Mason all watching Abbie closely. “Help me get her inside, yeah?”

Then, as my friends— no, my brothers—helped get my woman in the cabin, I pulled off my hat and looked up to the pines. My eyes locked on the hawk perched in her nest, staring down at me. Then, after a few moments of quiet, she spread her wings, soaring up into the blue sky.

That’s when I felt it.

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