Page 115 of The Finding Series: Vol. 1

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It took every ounce of Luke’s training not to react at the sight of Gray. Between the blood streaming out of Gray’s nose and mouth, his blackened left eye that was swollen completely shut and the gun pressed to his temple, Luke was nearly overcome with his need to stride up to Shaw and beat him within an inch of his life just before he snapped his neck and relished the cracking sound.

“Lift your shirt and turn around,” Shaw brusquely ordered and Luke reined in his temper and did as he was told. He ignored Gray’s look of fear as he also slowly lifted the hem of each of his pant legs to show he wasn’t hiding a weapon there. While Shaw visibly relaxed when he confirmed Luke wasn’t carrying a gun, he kept his aimed at Gray’s head and Luke knew even the slightest twitch of Shaw’s finger could cause the gun to go off.

“What, no pleas to let him go now that you’re here?” Shaw sniped.

“Did begging do that mother any good before you slaughtered her kids?” Luke asked coldly. “Did Barnes beg you not to blow his brains out?”

Shaw laughed and the sound grated against Luke’s ears.

“Bastard didn’t even see it coming. Not a sharp one, that guy,” Shaw said.

“You trusted him enough to do your dirty work,” Luke responded.

Shaw laughed again. “If that were true, you’d be six feet under in a pine box, not him. Fucker was supposed to take care of you in the hospital – his penance for not being able to pull the trigger in that shithole.”

The news surprised Luke since he’d just assumed it was Barnes who had shot him.

“You should have seen how relieved he was when he told me you didn’t remember anything and probably never would – little fucker and his hero worship.” Shaw’s bitter tone drifted off as he suddenly began massaging the barrel of the gun back and forth against Gray’s temple, almost as if it were a caress.

“Now that I know you have a penchant for cock instead of pussy, makes me wonder if there wasn’t something else going on between the two of you.”

When Shaw pressed his gun into the open wound on Gray’s cheek, Luke saw Gray try to hold back his cry of pain but Shaw seemed unsatisfied with the lack of reaction and jammed his gun hard against the bloody injury. Gray moaned and closed his good eye.

“I was gone, Shaw. You won! Why the fuck did you come after me?” Luke yelled. His outburst got Shaw’s attention back on him enough so that the gun was no longer digging into Gray’s wound.

“You disrespectful son of a bitch – always thinking you were smarter than me. Always so high and mighty knowing the men looked to you for approval after I gave the order. You really think I’m stupid enough to think you wouldn’t try to screw me out of my future? The future I earned?”

Luke stared at the narcissistic son of a bitch in disbelief. “Is that what you call killing three little kids and an innocent woman? You’re a fucking murderer, Shaw. You didn’t earn anything! And what about Eddie?”

Shaw waved his gun briefly. “A casualty of war, just like that woman and her brats. You think this country will fault me for what happened? They ought to give me a fucking medal! How many lives did I save by eliminating three future terrorists? And that woman – what was to stop her from strapping on a suicide vest and walking up to our men pretending to be a friendly, huh?”

The man was fucking insane and that fact had Luke’s fear ratcheting up a notch. The mental count he had going on in his head was nearing its end so he focused his gaze on Gray. But the man’s one good eye was still closed and Luke wanted to shout in frustration because he had only seconds left. Luke heard the tell-tale pop he’d been waiting for and a second later Gray finally opened his eye. They locked gazes and then Luke quickly glanced at the ground before looking back up at Gray. He did the gesture again for good measure just as there was a commotion behind the cabin. A man’s hoarse shout was cut short and the second Shaw glanced behind him to see what had caused the sound, Gray threw all his weight to his left and he and the chair crashed to the floor. Luke launched himself at Shaw and grunted as he felt a sharp pain in his arm. Shaw was already pulling the trigger again when Luke’s weight hit him and the next bullet flew past Luke’s ear. He managed to get Shaw on his stomach and wrapped an arm around his neck as yet another gunshot rang out but then an image of Gray’s terrified, battered face flashed through his mind and he did exactly what he’d been wanting to do and snapped Shaw’s neck like it was a dry, rotted piece of wood.

* * *

“Luke, there’s a guy out here who says he’s Gray’s brother,” Rhys said from the doorway of Gray’s hospital room.

“Let him in,” Luke said as he glanced at Gray to see if Rhys’ voice had woken him up. Satisfied that Gray was still asleep, Luke settled back in his chair next to the bed. Roman was slow to enter the room and Luke guessed it was because he was struggling to take in his brother’s appearance.

After Luke had killed Shaw, he’d scrambled to Gray’s side only to find that Gray had struck his head on the floor hard enough to knock himself out. He’d woken up in the ambulance but he’d been confused and in a lot of pain so the ER doctor had given him a heavy dose of painkillers as well as a sedative. He’d been out ever since and Luke had been left to stare at his lover’s broken body as the guilt of knowing he was the cause of everything that had happened to the man he loved gnawed at him. And he’d ended up hurting Gray for nothing because Shaw had still gotten to him.

Roman’s dark blue gaze met his across the bed as he moved closer to his brother and Luke wasn’t surprised to see the fury in them. He just wasn’t sure if it was directed at him or not.

“Is he…”

“He’s sleeping,” Luke said softly. “The doctor gave him a sedative so he’ll be out for a little while but he’s going to be okay.”

Roman’s eyes stayed on Gray as he spoke. “I went by the cabin and they told me what happened.”

“He said you were going to try to stop by on your way back to L.A.”

Roman nodded. “I saw the picture of you and him on the Internet. I didn’t want him to think I told anyone…”

“We know it wasn’t you who told the press where he was, Roman. I’ll make sure he knows that.”

“The man who did this…”

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