Page 164 of All The Happily Ever Afters

“She’ll run the first chance she gets,” answers the first one. I recognize the voice as belonging to Matthew. After a long drag of his cigarette he adds, “Had that look in her eyes. She’s ready to bolt.”

“Not if she cares for her child,” my brother points out. I swallow thickly at the reminder of the little boy. Those emotions I thought long dead shove themselves to the surface and I clench my fist in response.

“You think he’ll really keep her?” asks the second, Nathaniel. He lights a new cigarette and it casts orange light across his face. “Like he really wants to keep her as his … what? Sex slave?”

“It’s sick,” Matthew practically spits out. “More than a little.”

“Is that the first hint you ever got that my brother’s sick?” my brother asks in a light, joking manner, but there’s a razor blade at the heart of his tone. I don’t have to see him to know there’s a smirk on his face. Right now he’s seemingly charming and at ease, but it conceals a lethal side of him.

“You think I’m sick?” I say as I stride out into the backyard. They’ve been in the business too long to look truly surprised, but the first one frowns. He didn’t want me to overhear him call me sick. It’s a lapse. The third man has been silent and he remains still, his arms crossed as he leans against the brick of the house.

The other two exchange self-conscious glances, like they’ve been caught with their dicks out.

“She’s in a cell, isn’t she?” The question is followed by another drag from the first man’s cigarette. “After all that screaming.”

I’d rather stay cold, but emotions run hot. “She’s doing what I told her to do.”

He smirks. “How? Doesn’t seem like she’ll be very cooperative.”

“That depends on who handles her. So it’s a good thing you assholes won’t be touching her.”

He huffs a humorless laugh with his hands up. “I’m not the one who wants to. You spent too long in there. People are going to think you want her, and she’s not like that.”

“Not like what?”

The first man darts a glance at his buddy. This is risky territory, and he knows it. The mood is lightening but my face isn’t.

“Worth it,” he says. “What happens if she gets to you? What happens if she makes you even sicker than you already are?”

“I’ll let you know if I feel ill when I’m done with her.” I let a smile spread over my face. That’s what he’s watching. He doesn’t see the quick reach for the gun at my belt. He’s too busy laughing.

The safety’s been off since we took her. I’ve been waiting for this moment. Waiting for one of them to step out of line.

Damn it, I wasn’t supposed to care. None of the comments were going to get to me. I wasn’t going to feel anything for her. Not at the house. Not in the cell. Nowhere.

Not until it was time.

The situation is already getting out of control, but my gun isn’t.

I pull the trigger, sending a bullet through his head. Anger surges through my veins. There are things no one can ever know about Madelyn. There are things I’ll have to keep buried deep until this is over.

A spatter of blood lands on my cheek as his body drops with a dull thud. I’ve been at this long enough to recognize the sound of a dead man hitting the ground.

I wait a beat.

Watch him.

No sign of movement comes from the body, except for the blood seeping out of the wound.

I swipe at the blood on my cheek with the back of my hand.

The other men are silent. Cigarettes burn at the tips of their fingers. Not a soul makes a move. The second guy was standing close enough that he has to be bloodied. Impossible to tell for sure with our dark clothes and the dark night. His face is frozen.

“Mind cleaning this up for me, brother?”

Fletcher doesn’t appear disturbed in the least by the death of one of the members of our team. His mouth quirks. Not quite asmile. Not quite a frown. More like acceptance. Like he expected this. All of them should have expected this from me. I’ve been this person for six years now. I’m not going to change because Madelyn is in a cell.

“Not at all, boss.”

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