Page 42 of Beautiful Vengeance
“It’s not safe.”She did a fair job of mocking his deep voice.Sloan spun on him, her eyes as wild as he’d ever seen them.“And whose fault is that, Jude?What else did you lie about?”Her voice caught, but she charged on.“I wassafehere before you looked into me, leading us directly intoDmitri Romanov’sweb.Do you know what he does to his enemies?”
“Probably better than you do.”The man was ruthless to a clinical degree, but he seemed to keep his word.It was more than Jude could say for others in the underground world.
“Of course you do—because you’re a stone-cold killer.”She moved closer, pushing him with both hands.He let himself fall back a step because otherwise she might shoveherselfback and land on her ass.Sloan closed the distance between them, fury written over her face.“Are you going to kill me, Jude?It would hurt the Sheridans, and that’s all you care about, isn’t it?Your goddamn revenge.”
“Wrong.”He caught her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.“So fucking wrong.”
She didn’t so much as flinch.“Really?Because we both know the only reason you got close to me in the first place was to get your vengeance.It wasn’t about me.Itstillisn’t about me.”
“Do you think for a goddamn second that this isconvenientfor me?You were a potential source of information, true, but I’ve told myself half a dozen times to walk the fuck away.Damn it, I just can’t leave you alone.”
***
A fury unlike any Sloan had ever known rose from beneath her skin.She wanted to attack Jude, to hit him, to shove him, to claw out his eyes.Howdarehe stand there and look tormented while her entire world was crashing down around heragain?“Stop it,” she hissed.“You have all the power and I havenone.”
“You don’t think so?”Jude shook his head.“You’ve met me every single step of the way.You’re not stupid.You knew the second you met me that I wasn’t like the rest of them.”He slashed his hand through the air, indicating the entirety of Callaway Rock.“You loved that I was dangerous—your rabid little pet who let you lead him around by his cock.”
She took a step back.“That’s not true.”Except hadn’t she liked that he pushed her, that she rode the line of fear like a wave about to crest, hoping like hell she wouldn’t wipe out and feeling more alive because of that fear?But some things she couldn’t get past, no matter how good he made her body feel.“I meant what I said before—some things are unforgivable.If you hurt Callie and my niece or nephew, that makes you a monster.A real one.”It struck her that he wasn’t in Callaway Rock for Callie.“And what about Sorcha?She’s just an old woman.”
“Sorcha isn’tjustanything.”A muscle ticked in his jaw and, for a moment, she thought he’d leave it at that.“She and Ronan were planning a coup—a coup that might have very well left your precious Callista a casualty.”
“No.I’ve heard Callie talk about her brother.He never would have hurt her.”…Would he?She tried to think past the emotions roaring through her, but it was nearly impossible.She didn’t know a single thing about Ronan except that he’d been an heir and died—which was why Callie and Teague ended up engaged in the first place.Just because Callie wasn’t a horrible person didn’t mean that truth extended to her brother.
Sloan shook her head.“Even if that’s true, it changes nothing.”That was the life she left behind—for a good damn reason.It shouldn’t have anything to do with her and Jude.
“I know.”
She waited, holding her breath even though she told herself she was a fool for doing so.What they had might be earth-shattering to her, but that didn’t mean he felt it on the same level.To turn his back on a vendetta that he’d obviously spent his life preparing for…It was too much to ask.
Jude scrubbed a hand over his face, looking tired for the first time since she’d met him.“I didn’t know she was pregnant.”
“Why would that change anything?Even if Ronan was planning a coup, you said yourself that Callie wasn’t involved.You’d be killing a woman who’s innocent.”
He looked out toward the ocean.“Do you know I’ve never killed an innocent?Not once in a decade.”
Part of her tried to soften, but she wouldn’t let it.“I’m less concerned with what you’ve done in your past than with what you intend for your future.”Not Callie.She couldn’t let him do it.Or Sorcha, for that matter.Sloan might not particularly like the woman—and she might like her even less if what he claimed was true—but that didn’t mean she was okay with her being cold bloodedly murdered.
He cursed, low and defeated.“Killing Callista would be like going back in time and killing my mother.”
Hope rose, but it faltered when he said, “I make no promises for Colm, though.That man has been living on borrowed time for thirty-five years.”
Sloan tried to hold on to her anger, but it slipped through her grasp.She didn’t know if she was supposed to be happy that he apparently wasn’t planning on murdering her friend, or if she should try to convince him to walk away completely…She was just so incredibly tired.“I don’t want to see you again.”
“Bullshit.”
She narrowed her eyes.“Youwillrespect my wishes.”
“I won’t do anything of the damn sort, even if you’re throwing a tantrum like a spoiled princess who didn’t get her way.”He moved forward, closing the distance between them until he towered over her.“There’s more at stake than some wounded pride, and you’re smart enough to know that if you’d stop reacting andthink.”
“I can’tthinkwith you so close.”She grabbed the back of his neck and kissed him.It was more a sign of aggression than intimacy, a clash of tongue and teeth, with him meeting her every step of the way.Sloan pushed him, all too aware that he let her, and then rode him down to the sand.
More, more, I need more.Anything to keep from thinking a little while longer.She yanked his shirt off, dragging her nails across his chest as she went for the front of his jeans.
Jude’s hands were rough on her, shoving up her dress and ripping her panties off, his mouth never leaving hers.As if he needed this as much as she did.He pushed a finger into her, testing her, and then there was nothing there but his hard length, ready and waiting.
He stopped her from descending, his grip hard on her hips.“Wait.”
Sloan met his gaze, knowing in her heart of hearts that it didn’t matter, that it was too late, and one more choice had been taken away from her.Even if it was too early for a test to pick it up, she would have had a period by now if the Plan B pill had worked.
