Page 101 of Beautiful Scars: Unshakeable

Sunny steps forward, arms stretched in front of her. She presses the barrel of the gun against the center of Garrett's chest. His eyes go wide—his shell of arrogance finally cracking. Because this isn't the girl he thought he owned. This is a woman who's ready for things to end.

The room is silent except for Garrett's muffled breathing. Sunny's hands remain steady, aimed with precision as secondsstretch into minutes. I watch her face as she weighs out the moment.

So many years of terror. So many years of looking over her shoulder. So many years of nightmares and living behind carefully constructed walls. All of it has led to this.

"I love you," I say quietly, finally. I mean it more than I've ever meant anything. "I'm here for you. No matter what."

"No matter what." Levi echoes.

Sunny's finger rests against the trigger as she stares into Garrett's eyes. No trembling. No fear. The girl who once cowered from his voice now holds his life in hands that have finally stopped shaking.

She leans forward until her hair brushes his shoulder, gun pressed hard into his chest. Her whisper cuts through the silence. "I'mnot going to give you this. You don't get to take up any more space in my head. You don't get any more of my fucking pieces." Her voice strengthens. "You're the monster. Not me."

She steps back, the movement fluid and controlled. She transfers the gun back smoothly into Levi's waiting hand.

When she turns to me, her eyes hold none of the darkness I feared this moment would bring for her. She rises up on her tiptoes, pressing a gentle kiss to my cheek. The gesture is out of place, but perfect.

Ty's oversized jacket swallows her small frame as she pulls it tighter around herself.

"End this," she says, voice steady and clear. "Both of you. Together.”

She gestures towards a room sitting just off the kitchen. Through the doorway, the red emergency light illuminates a cold metal table in the center of the room. It’s surrounded by racks of gleaming, polished stainless steel tools.

She shivers before she speaks again.

“Take as long as you need and do whatever it is you need to do to find peace. But it ends here." Her eyes meet mine, and then move to Levi's, carrying the full weight of her next words. "I don't want any of this—any part of him—to leave here with us."

Garrett thrashes against his restraints, muffled sounds of rage leaking past the gag. But his power is gone. The basement that was meant to be Sunny's prison will become his grave, and there's a simple, beautiful poetry I can appreciate in that.

I watch my sweet girl climb the basement stairs, shoulders straight and head high even through the pain written on her face. She doesn't look back. She doesn't need to. She knows we'll do what needs to be done.

Once she disappears through the door and I confirm through the comm that she's safe with Wolf and the medical team, I have one more order to give before we start.

"Wolf, send one medic down here. Need this asshole patched up before we get started." I keep my voice low, clinical. "Can't have him bleeding out, can we?"

The response crackles back immediately. "Copy that. Two minutes."

I turn toward Levi, whose hand tightens on the gun before he slides it back in its holster. We wait in comfortable silence, watching Garrett's face drain of color as he realizes the gravity of what he just heard.

The medic arrives quickly. He's efficient, professional, and works fast to stop the bleeding and suture the wound.

"That should hold, Shouldn't have to worry about any more bleeding," the medic reports, packing up supplies. He pauses and adds, "From his arm anyway."

"Perfect." I nod toward the stairs. "The rest of the team can leave when ready. You stay back with a full kit. Wait upstairs until we need you again."

Once those words are out of my mouth, I see the real terror finally settle into Garrett's eyes.

Because now he understands how fully we intend to make him pay. And that it's going to take a while to make sure we don't miss anything.

And while Sunny may have chosen to keep her humanity intact, Levi and I made no such decision. We've been waiting too long for this.

I step forward, cracking my knuckles as I study the man who dared to hurt what's mine. What'sours.

All the nightmares. All the tears and carefully reconstructed trust. All the pain of watching her fight her way back to herself. Every single one of those things is going to cost him. Dearly.

Levi and I pull Garrett to his feet. His pleas becoming desperate under the gag as we start dragging him towards the kitchen and the open door.

“You know,brother, when you showed Jade this room, you told her that in time Sunny would learn to love it.” Levi’s voice is cold and emotionless as the words leave his mouth.

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