Page 93 of Triumphant Kings

“You have to be fucking kidding me!?” Collin shouts. “I thought that bitch was overseas?”

“Guess she made a surprise visit,” Preston says.

“And where the fuck is she?” Collin demands. “I swear to god, Preston, if you let that bitch go–”

“She’s dead,” I say, pulling away from Grayson’s chest to look at the guys. “She’s dead, right?” I look at Preston, eyes filled with hope.

I’ve never been one to wish harm on others. I believe in karma, and I don’t want something to come back to me.

But I’ve never wanted someone to be dead more in my life than I do right now. I’m over it. I’m over her and all the bullshit she’s put me through. Clearly, it was never going to be enough; she was never going to stop until she brought me down.

All of this for what? A boy? Power? Money? I really fucking hate this world the guys are a part of, and if I didn’t love them so much, I’d be buying a plane ticket out of here and never looking back.

Preston takes a few steps over to the window and looks down. “Yup. Dead.”

Collin rushes over, then the other guys. “Fuck.” Grayson whistles. “She looks like Wile E. Coyote when he gets crushed.”

I can’t help it, I burst into laughter. Everything about this night is surreal. I should be shocked and surprised, I mean, there’s a dead body down there. Someone I know is dead. Yet, I feel not one ounce of sadness that she’s gone. If anything, I feel pure relief.

Maybe that makes me a bad person, but there's only so much a person can take before they’ve reached their breaking point, and she was mine.

Tina only caused me pain and suffering. While I might not have known her outside of her torment, I highly doubt she treated her friends much differently.

The guys are all staring at me as I wipe the tears from my eyes, my laughter dying down. Walking over to the window, I let them step aside so I can get a good look at her.

How fucked up is it to admit that Grayson is kind of right? The way her arms and legs are, it’s something out of a horror film.

“So, what do we do now?” Declan asks. “Dead bodies bring a lot more problems than any of us need right now.”

Collin sighs. “So, how do you all feel about letting me make this all disappear and we pretend like this never happened?”Collin looks at me. “Is that something you're okay with doing? If not, I can call the cops, and we can do this the legal way. We’d never ask you to keep something like this a secret if you don’t want to.”

“I do,” I say quickly. “If you know a way to make her body disappear and none of this comes back to us, then do it. I’m so fucking tired of that woman ruining my life. She’s already taken enough of my time and energy, causing me hurt and pain. I just want her gone.”

“Okay.” Collin pulls me into his arms. “We’ll take care of this. She can’t hurt you anymore, Sunshine. You're safe.”

Safe. I don’t think I know what that word means anymore.

“Is it bad that I wish she suffered more?” Grayson asks, looking back out the window. “Like, it would have been fun to recreate scenes from theSawmovies and watch her try to escape."

“You really are a sick, morbid fucker,” Preston mutters.

“Please.” He snorts. “Don’t tell me you wouldn’t enjoy watching that.”

“Good point.” Preston shrugs.

“This isn’t the movies and we’re not some bad ass mafia family.” Collin sighs heavily.

“Still vote that it’s a possibility.” Grayson pouts.

“How is this our life?” Declan mutters, running a hand through his hair. I reach for him, pulling him into my arms.

“I’m so glad you're safe,” he murmurs, burying his face into my neck.

“Me too.” I sigh. “Me too.”

A FEW HOURS LATER,I’m in Collin’s house, wrapped in a blanket on the couch, the guys sitting next to me while we wait for answers from Collin.

When he steps back into the room after hours of phone calls and a visit from someone I don’t know, we’re all on our feet.

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