Page 98 of Diamond in the Rough

He didn’t want to die in the villa. He wanted to die on the beach in the exact spot he’d given his heart over to Maddox. Jake forced himself up and staggered out, back down the steps, but instead of heading towards the jetty and death, he went the other way.

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They were on the island. He knew they were. They shouted his name and demanded he come out, but he ignored them and knocked from tree to tree as he got closer to the sea. He needed to get to the part of the island he’d sat with Maddox and felt wanted, like he mattered.

Palm tree prongs didn’t litter the sand. The sea was calm, and the sky was blue. The only marks in the gold were naturally made by the sea, small dips and folds in the perfectly sieved grains. There was no groove from him and Maddox, no permanent marks in the sand that others would one day see. Their time was over, and Jake’s love of danger and his love of Maddox had led him to that moment, but he didn’t regret it, not for a second. It only felt it had come too soon.

Jake didn’t step out and destroy the view. He leaned back on a tree and watched the gentle lap of water running along the sand. He was stood behind the first line of trees and bushes, and in his whirling mind, he pictured the past before him. He imagined Maddox lying on the sand with Jake on top of him. He imagined watching them kiss passionately like the ending to a romantic film.

Maddox hadn’t asked him to stop. Maddox hadn’t held him back or made an excuse. He’d let Jake do exactly as he’d pleased until his heart had felt like it was breaking free from his chest. He was certain he’d cried, and Maddox’s face had been wet from his tears, but Maddox hadn’t commented or mocked. He’d kissed back just as hard.

Jake swayed, catching his T-shirt and his elbow on the tree. He knew he’d grazed his skin, but he couldn’t feel it.

“Come on out!”

He recognised the voice, not Billy’s but Liam’s. The tall police officer that had escorted Carl from Stationery Corner. Carl had flashed Jake a reassuring look, and he’d nodded in response.

Jake crouched down and held his breath. He’d wanted to bask in the fantasy for longer, but it wasn’t meant to be. Liam was somewhere behind him, but he didn’t stretch out his neck to look.

“Your buddy put up a good fight, ya know…”

Jake frowned and pressed his back to the trunk.

He was talking about Carl.

Jake didn’t want to think about him.

It filled him with emotions he didn’t know what to do with. Guilt, anger, regret, he didn’t want those feelings at the end. They made his chest tight, his gut squirm, and his limbs restless. Liam was getting closer—death was closer—and Jake thought he’d come to peace with it, accepted the inevitable, but a tingling rushing through his body said otherwise.

“He didn’t want to be trapped in that storeroom. Fought like an animal, but we overpowered him…weakened him. Barricaded the door.”

A branch snapped to Jake’s left, but he didn’t turn his head in case he’d rustle a branch. He stayed still, listening to Liam recall Carl’s last moments. Carl who had died to keep Jake alive. Carl who had made the ultimate sacrifice and never betrayed him or Maddox.

“He knew what we’d done. He must’ve been able to smell the smoke straight away, and it caught so fast.”

The tingling sensation flooded Jake’s heart, and it beat faster. He could smell the sea, feel his feet in the sand, see the colours around him, no longer muted but bright and contrasting. Greens, yellows, blues. The wind ghosted over his skin, and he shivered at the chill. He owed it to Carl not to lie down and accept death. Carl would be yelling at him to get up. Carl would stand between him and Liam and shield him from the end.

“He banged his fists on the door, shouted…then his shouting turned frantic, and then he released this tortuous howl that morphed into an unhuman moaning…”

Jake could see movement in his peripheral vision but kept statue still. Liam stepped out from the trees, head turned in the opposite direction to Jake.

He was a meter in front of Jake, then two, and Jake knew he was about to turn his way and had to act fast. He had to choose between life and death, and he acted, driven by a tidal wave of pent-up emotion. Jake chose life, for as long as he could have it.

He shot to his feet and rammed Liam in the back. Liam dropped to the ground, and Jake didn’t give him a chance to turn over. He straddled him and rained his fists down onto the back of Liam’s head, releasing a torrent of abuse.

Liam managed to roll and struck Jake in the ribs. He gasped and clutched his side, and Liam lashed out again. They wrestled and rolled until sand nearly blinded Jake and the pain in his ribs brought up bile into his throat.

Through his burning eyes, he saw the glint of Liam’s gun in the sand and dived for it. Liam wiped at his face and called out for Billy, then he fell silent when he saw what Jake was holding.

Jake panted and slowly got to his feet. His ribs ached, his shoulder throbbed, he felt hot anger swell in his gut, but more important than that, he registered the heaviness of the gun, his palm warming it as Liam raised his hands in surrender.

“You don’t have it in you,” Liam said.

Jake snorted. He’d been wrong when he’d told Carl he could only kill for Maddox, only if Maddox was in danger and needed him.

He aimed the gun at Liam’s head, steadied his shaking hand, and puffed out his chest. It didn’t feel wrong. Revenge felt good in his veins and fed his pounding heart. He wasn’t going to die like some helpless dog. He was going to bite back for as long as he could, just like Maddox would want him to.

“For Maddox, for Carl…and for me.”

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