Page 70 of Bound to a Killer
Was. Aria was a liability.
My fingers twitch around the trigger, anxiety building, crawling up my spine then spilling from my mouth in a sharp snap. “What the fuck, Tanner? I mean, seriously,what the fuck?”
“This wasn’t how this was supposed to go.” His voice wavers. “I don’t want to hurt you. Please. Don’t make me.”
My eye catches the faint quiver in his fingers, the way concern twists through them like he’s already regretting his next move. He doesn’t want this.
A knot rises in my throat, heat surging through my chest as I wrestle to get myself together.
“You’d hurt me? Hurt her?”
“No.” He swallows thickly. “We won’t let it go that far.”
Frankie tries to lean away, but his hold tightens around her. Nerves spark in my veins at the gesture, hardly recognizing the man in front of me.
“What does he have on you?” I ask, because there’s no way he’s doing this without Antonio twisting his wrist. “Whatever it is, I’ll get you out of it, and if there are others coming?—”
“No,” he says, steeling his voice. “Nobody’s coming. I made sure of it.” His eyes plead with me, a flicker of the friend I once knew surfacing in their depths. My chest tightens. “Do you realize what it took for me to pull this off with Antonio?” he asks. “Come on. This is our only chance to fix this.”
“I could’ve gotten you out. It didn’t have to be like this. You should’ve waited for me.”
The friendly, familiar glimmer vanishes from his eyes as his glare hardens again. Cold. Unrelenting. My arm grows stifffrom holding the aim too long, but I don’t lower it. Neither does he.
Shaking his head, he lets out a choked, bitter laugh. “I can’t leave The Ringer, Ledger.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
“They’re family,” he clips. “We’ve pledged our loyalty to them.”
Frankie whips her head toward him, tears streaking down her cheeks. “No, no, we’re your family, Tanner.”
A dangerous glint flashes behind his eyes, nostrils flaring, as if something in her words struck a nerve in him. He jerks her higher against his chest. “Shut up, Frankie—God, just please stay out of this.” His voice is taut. Strained.
She lets out a sob, and he immediately loosens his grip on her, but it’s too late.
I fire at him, jerking my aim slightly off to his side so I don’t hit Frankie. The bullet grazes just inches from his ribs, and the anticipation alone makes him flinch back.
Frankie’s shoulders hitch.
Shouts erupt, nearly swallowed by the sharp crack of the gun tearing through the air. She slips away from his arms, using the chaos to break into a sprint toward me.
She slams into my chest, her tears soaking through the thick fabric of my shirt. She clutches the hem like it’s a lifeline, gasping, chin quivering into me. “H-He has her.”
I taste ash on my tongue.
My blood boils, the heat rushing straight to my ears, like pressure building in a kettle.
I tear away from her, heart ripping open. Antonio has a gun. He ran after her the moment she made a break for it. I have to get to her. She needs me before it’s too late.
It might already be too late.
A sharp click echoes between us, stopping me cold.
I glance up, bracing for the end of Tanner’s barrel to be aimed at either Frankie or me, but it’s pointed at his own head.
I freeze. My breath catches in my lungs.
“What are you doing?” Frankie cries, her hands flying to cover her mouth.
