Page 81 of Judgment Day

I’d killed men with my bare hands. I’d ruined empires. Destroyed kingdoms. But right now, this one man had the power to crush me with a single word.

“I may have taken a bullet, but you’ve killed for her. You give up pieces of your soul every time you take a life to save hers. I can’t let you walk out that door without you knowing I respect the fuck out of you, too.”

My fucking heart twisted. My stomach knotted. My hands trembled as I looked down at them and saw the blood as if it was still there—Sadie’s blood. I had killed for Lyric before. I’d given up pieces of my soul for less. Butthat—fuck. It was the hardest thing I’d ever done. And I’d do it a hundred times over to get tothismoment right fucking here.

I thought what drew me to Sadie all these years was love. But there was a fine line between love and obsession.Lovebrought me back to Lyric. I was obsessed withsavingSadie.

And I couldn’t.

I didn’t.

I’d made a vow to protect her, and I’d killed her instead.

The memory of it—the metal clamp in my hand, her body giving way to the force, her blood coating my skin, and her face. Her fucking face. Jesus. It ripped through me, playing over and over on a loop, gnawing at me, eating me up from the inside.

My eyes stung. I blinked back tears and cleared my throat, swallowing them down.I didn’t fucking save her.

I pinched my temples. “Jesus Christ. I think I need a drink.”

“Hey, man. It’s okay,” Lincoln said. “You had to watch someone you love turn into someone you hate. That shit hits hard. And now this. Me. Us.” He leaned forward as much as he could and looked me in the eyes. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, if I have to share her heart with someone, I’m glad it’s you.”

The wire snapped. My heart stopped bleeding.

I smiled at Lincoln. Fuck, we smiled at each other.

Then I said, “Don’t you know? There are no heroes. Here, we’re all fucking villains.”

FORTY EIGHT

I stoodat the altar in the hospital chapel, wondering how many desperate prayers had been whispered over this table full of candles. How many tears were shed?

I brought the taper to a small glass votive and held the flame to the unlit wick, watching as the fire kissed the wax, bringing it to life.

“It’s okay to grieve for her, you know.”

I turned as Lyric closed the chapel doors behind her and walked down the aisle.

“You loved her once,” she said as she approached the altar.

“That wasn’t for the woman I said goodbye to at the church.” That woman was beyond saving. “It was for the girl who died in the woods twelve years ago.” The Sadie I knew was gone that day. I brought the taper to another votive. “And for all the girls who have suffered because of it.” I lit a third votive. “And for Liam.”

Lyric took the tapered candle from my hand and placed it back in its holder. “You didn’t do any of this, Grey. Sadie made her own choices. She didn’t deserve your love, and she doesn’t deserve your guilt.” My sweet girl, always so fucking strong.

I wanted to be the man she saw. And sometimes, when I looked at her, like right now, I thought that maybe she was one thing I’d done right. Maybe I hadn’t fucked this up, fucked her up.

“You make it easy to forget you’re human, too. You feel things, too. You’re just better at hiding it.” Then, as if she’d been doing it her whole life, she lowered herself to her knees in front of me, clawing at my control, testing my strength. “You don’t get to hide from me, Grey. Not anymore.”

I stroked my hand over her hair. “You found some clothes.”

It had been a couple of days since I’d seen her. She needed time with Lincoln, so I gave her that. The hospital gown and paper panties were gone, replaced by a pink cotton dress that floated over her body like a breeze.

She leaned into my touch. “Tatum brought them.”

Christ. My control was wearing thin. “Lincoln?”

“He’s doing well. They said he should be able to leave within a week.”

I already knew that. I’d asked the nurses this morning when I’d arrived back at the hospital. But I needed Lyric to know I cared. I cared because of her. And I cared because of him. Lincoln did some impulsive shit. He was reckless and careless, but it all came from a place of love. I respected that.

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