Page 255 of Intense
Her eyes widen. I can see the war inside her. The part of her that still wants to heal people and the part that wants to burn every monster to ash. But her hand doesn’t hesitate. She takes it.
James lets out a rasp of a laugh, blood slicking his teeth. He doesn’t have long left anyway, that bullet hole is killing him.
“She won’t do it. She doesn’t have it in her to kill me.”
I step behind her again, my palms bracketing her hips, my mouth brushing her ear.
“Prove him wrong, temptress. Show him what I already know—that you’re stronger than both of us put together.”
Her shoulders tense, then square. She raises the gun, two hands around the grip. She doesn’t flinch when James spits at her feet, doesn’t shake when his one good eye burns into hers with hate.
I’ve never been prouder in my life.
“Breathe in,” I whisper. “Breathe out. Let every memory of what he did to you, of how he touched what’s mine, flow into that trigger finger.”
Her finger curls. A single squeeze.
The blast is deafening in the enclosed room.
James’s head jerks back, and then he’s nothing but dead weight slumped in the chair, blood painting his ruined face. Silence follows, broken only by her ragged gasp as the gun clatters from her hand to the floor.
I catch her before she can collapse, wrapping her in my arms and pulling her tight against my chest. She’s shaking, but she’s here. Breathing. Alive.
And forever mine.
“You did it,” I murmur, kissing the crown of her head. My throat burns, but my voice stays low. “My clever girl. My fearless temptress.”
Her fists curl into my shirt, wetness soaking the fabric where her face hides against me. “I’m scared, Finn.”
I tip her chin up until her tear-soaked eyes meet mine. I want her to see the truth.
“Why?”
“Because I have no remorse. I just shot a man dead and felt nothing but happiness. That isn’t normal, is it?”
I let out a small chuckle.
“No, love. He hurt you so he deserved to die. Don’t ever feel guilty about that. That man causes nothing but pain, you should be happy, you probably saved a lot of lives by killing him.”
She sobs once, and I kiss her mouth like I can pull every broken shard of her into me. Her hands tremble on my jaw, but there’s fire in her eyes.
The kind of fire that tells me she’s mine forever.
I’ve never been so proud.
“Shall we get out of here?” I whisper against her lips.
She nods slowly and I hear the door creak open.
Conan and Declan are the first two in, with Frankie and Zara behind them.
“Theo is holding Arthur, we wanted to wait for you to be done here,” Declan tells me, looking at Jame’s corpse.
I nod.
I look down at my girl and tug her tighter against my side.
“My wife did the honors,” I say proudly.
