Page 35 of Beautifully Shattered
“So you can be the one to kill her. If that’s what you want.”
I blink, and my heart stumbles.
“But I thought you insisted on being my weapon?” I frown, my head tilting as I study his face.
“I did. But I didn’t want to take that away from you if it’s something youneededto do.” He sighs, blowing out a breath, his fingers grazing up my back until his hand cups my nape. “But Angel, I don’t want you to do it. Killing someone… It’s something you can never undo. You’ll live with it for the rest of your life. Shit… just knowing I couldn’t stop you from killing that Rebel at the hospital…” He trails off like he can’t fathom what will happen to my soul now.
His grip on my nape tightens, and a low growl rumbles in his chest.
“I need to be the one to carry that burden for you, Abs. That’s what I’m built for. Please let me kill Wendy. You can watch. You can tell me exactly how you want it done. I’ll make her suffer for what she did. But I just don’t want you to have to carry something like that.”
It’s too late for me. I already killed that man at the hospital, and honestly, I’m not even sorry.
Maybe that makes me a bad person, but I used to be good. I used to be fair and kind, but those parts of me died with my daughter.
Nodding, I lean in closer, nestling into his chest, soaking in his warmth as his arms come around me.
“Okay,” I whisper.
It’s a lie.
I love Ringo for trying to save my soul, but the truth is, it died last week with Bobbi.
Wendywilldie tomorrow, and itwillbe by my hands.
8
“The Rebel isn’t talking, but one of the pigs has started squealing.” Griffin smirks, his stance wide and arms crossed over his chest as he stands next to me.
Four black SUVs sit in the driveway, and Marx Security hang back on the sidelines while I chat with Griffin. His crew has been working in the background, interrogating a Rebel and two dirty cops who won’t see the light of day again once they’re done.
They were grabbed by Griffin’s security team at that cult chapel we raided to get to Abbey, and after everything that went down with Abs… well, I was fucking grateful Griffin’s team offered to take over. It gave me the space to focus on my Angel and her grief.
“What did he say?” I mutter, flicking a glance over my shoulder at the lake house, waiting for Jols and Abbey to emerge.
“He coughed up the location of a safe house Allen has been using. I’ve got a team monitoring it now, but so far, there’s no movement.” Griffin’s gaze shifts past me, his brows hitching. “Fuck. That your girl?”
I glance back over my shoulder as Jols steps down from the porch with Abbey trailing behind, and for a fucking moment, I swear, everything stops.
“My wife,” I correct absentmindedly, and Griffin mutters a quiet, “Yeah.”
I’ve got tunnel vision. That’s the only way I can fucking explain how everything else around me fades until all that’s left is my blonde Angel.
Although the sweet girl I call Angel looks more like a sinner right now, dressed head to toe in black. Leather pants slick and tight like they are painted on, hugging every curve. She’s got more meat on her now, the little pregnancy weight she carried only making her more woman than I’ve ever seen.
How the fuck didn’t I notice that before?
Sure, she’s been in sweatpants and drowning in my oversized t-shirts since we left the hospital, but fuck, I never pictured this.
“Close your mouth. You’re drooling,” Jols snickers as she passes me, snapping me out of my fucking trance.
“Pretty sure every man here is,” Griffin chuckles, and my fucking scowl cuts straight to his security team, who are, in-fucking-fact, practically drooling.
“Eyes off!” I bark, and they all stiffen, snapping their heads away as boots crunch over gravel, getting closer to me.
“Why are you yelling at them?” Abbey asks, and my eyes find her sharp glare.
Fuck. Even her glare is hot.
