Page 99 of Beautiful Scars: Unshakeable

Sunny nods against his chest, but her eyes... her eyes are anything but submissive. There's a cold calculation there that I recognize. One I’ve seen in my own reflection.

"Z," Ty's voice comes through my comm, barely a whisper. "Her hand..."

"Always mine," Garrett continues, lost in his own fantasy. "From the very beginning. And now—"

I watch as Sunny's fingers continue their careful exploration of his waist, and I realize with sudden clarity what she's looking for. What she knows is there, because she's probably seen it before.

I keep my weapon trained on Garrett's chest, but my focus is entirely on Sunny now. On the spark of fire in her eyes that tells me she's done being a victim.

"You've always been there," she murmurs, pressing closer to Garrett. "Even when I thought I was alone."

Levi trembles beside me, and I tighten my grip on his arm. I watch, every muscle coiled tight as Sunny's voice takes on the flat, expressionless quality I've heard too many times in people pushed past their breaking point. But something's different. Her focus doesn't match the emptiness of her words.

Wait, I will him silently.

"You only hurt me to make me better," Sunny continues, her fingers trailing along Garrett's side with deliberate purpose. "To make me stronger."

Garrett's smile is triumphant as he strokes her hair. "That's right, Princess. Everything I do is for you."

Every instinct screams to put a bullet in him, but I force myself to stay still.

Her hand finds what she's been searching for.

When she moves, it's so subtle, so practiced, that if I hadn't spent months watching her train, I might have missed it.

"Tell them who you belong to." Garrett demands, drunk on his perceived victory. "They need to hear you say it."

Sunny's eyes meet mine for a fraction of a second. In them, there's no trace of the broken girl Garrett thinks he's created. AllI see is the fighter who's somehow survived it all and hasn't given up.

"I belong..." she starts, and then everything happens at once.

In one fluid motion—the same one she's practiced countless times with Chase and Ty—Sunny draws the knife free and slashes upward. The blade opens Garrett's arm in a spray of red, the detonator falling from his suddenly nerveless fingers.

Before he can react, she hooks her leg behind his and uses his own weight against him to throw him off balance. Just like she was taught.

The execution is perfect—Garrett stumbles backward, eyes wide with shock as his control of the situation disappears.

I'm already moving.

My sweet girl has given us the opening we needed, and I'll be damned if I waste it.

Chapter Forty-Four

Zane

Imovefast,butSunny's already standing over Garrett as he sprawls on the floor. Blood pools from the slash across his arm, his face twisted in shock as he stares up at her.

"I will never belong…" Sunny's voice rings clear and strong through the basement. "To you."

Pride surges through me as I watch her—chin high, shoulders straight, the knife still steady in her hand. She's magnificent in her defiance, every inch the warrior I knew she always was.

Ty surges forward, zip ties ready. Garrett struggles, but between the knife wound and all of us, he doesn't stand a chance. Within minutes, he's secured—arms and legs bound tight enough to bite into flesh.

"Clear the house," I order, nodding at Ty and speaking into the comm. "Full sweep."

The team moves efficiently, years of training evident in their coordinated exit. Soon it's just the four of us—Sunny, standingtall beside me, Levi vibrating with barely contained rage beside me, and Garrett bound at our feet.

"Ungrateful bitch," Garrett spits, straining against the zip ties. "After everything I've done for you—"

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