Page 62 of Worth

“You only had to show kindness. You couldn’t even do that,” I say, crouching in front of her, studying her knees closer while she sobs. “Instead, you punished me for being raped by your father and then tried to let Jack destroy me, too.”

“I was wrong,” she gasps, hysterical. “I’m sorry. I’msosorry.”

A cold laugh huffs out of me. “You think sorry is enough?”

“No!” she answers quickly. “It’s not. I swear—”

I cut her off, not wanting to hear her promises. “No, it’s not,” I agree. Lauren whimpers, snot sliding down her lips. I curl my lip at her. “Disgusting. You’re more disgusting than anything your father could have ever done. Because you just sat there and watched and then blamed me for Damien’s behavior. Damien might be an evil shit, but those who witness evil and watch you drown in it are twice as bad.”

I rise and step back. Despite the way the light in Lauren’s eyes has gone out at my words, there’s clear relief that I’ve moved away. Abject terror replaces that relief as I lift the gun again. The metal feels like it’s heating against my palm as I aim for her chest. She starts begging, pleading for her life. The trigger burns against my index finger as the muscles in my hand tighten.

The gunshot reverberates through me and I stand still, gun still aimed at her. Lauren tries to scream, but it comes out a gurgle instead, the bullet I just put through her right lung having done its damage.

“I told you the day I killed Jack—I’ve dreamed of all the ways I could watch you die, Lauren. I fantasized about it; dreamed about how to make things take as long as possible to make you suffer as badly as I had.” I step forward and grip her face in one hand, making her lips puff out, and put the barrel against her temple. “But you know what I discovered when I stepped in here?”

Unable to answer, she cries harder, the guttural noise from her attempted gasps replacing her sobs.

“You’re not even worth the time,” I say softly. I drop my hold on her, lowering the gun to my side. “Goodbye, Lauren.”

I turn on my heel, striding for the door, as Lauren’s gurgling gets louder. I pause in the opening and look back at her as her eyes wildly search for anything that can help her.

“And, by the way,” I add. “My name is Blake.”

The last gunshot echoes, but Lauren is quiet now, her head bleeding from the bullet wound just above her left eye. I stare at her chest, eyes nearly squinting to see if I can catch breathing still happening. It’s not until I feel someone cup my elbow that I realize I’m just staring at her body, the gun still pointed at her.

“You did good, Kitten,” Aiden murmurs, sliding one hand along my arm until he’s gripping the pistol. “You processing everything, okay?”

“I killed her,” I breathe. “I killed Lauren.”

Aiden pulls the gun out of my hand, wrapping his other arm around my waist. “Not as slowly as I was thinking you would,” he adds, sounding almost disappointed.

I laugh bursts out of me, and I spin in his hold. Without giving him a chance to respond, my lips clash against his and I hungrily kiss him, my hands clawing at his shirt.

“Whoa, easy,” Aiden mumbles into my mouth. “Blake, I’m not sure—”

“Quit talking,” I demand, yanking at his t-shirt. Aiden wisely shuts up, helping me shuck the shirt. I run my hands down the front of his body, letting my fingertips drag over the firm planes of his toned torso, his skin silky to the touch. As I explore his upper body, touching everywhere that isn’t covered by clothing, Aiden disarms and unloads the gun, tossing the pieces onto the floor.

As soon as his hands are free, they come around me, cupping my ass and lifting me up as his mouth descends on mine again. I wrap my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck, feeling every muscle in my body shake with anticipation.

I’m still pissed, but Aiden was already on the fast track to redemption.

Now, I’ll let him prove how sorry he really is.

I stumble forward as Kitten’s tongue sweeps into my mouth, meeting mine. She whimpers her approval—or I assume its approval—as I push her on top of the desk, laying her out. She pants as I look down at her, a primal need blazing through me.

“Are you sure?” I demand, expecting her to come to her senses. We went from extremely pissed to fucking in less time than it took for her to kill the Ainsbury girl.

“Positive,” she answers. And to prove it, she peels her shirt off.

I don’t waste any more breath arguing, unclipping her bra in seconds as I trail a path of hot kisses down the side of her neck. Kitten can’t seem to stop touching me, her hands stroking and touching any part of me she can reach. I cup one of her gorgeous breasts, fingers rolling her nipple so that she’s groaning in ecstasy, while the other hand finds the button of her pants.

I jerk away from her to yank her pants down her legs, taking her panties with them and leaving her completely bared. She reaches for me as I finish chucking her shoes over my shoulder and ripping her clothes the rest of the way off.

“Fuck,” I whisper hoarsely, raking my eyes over her.

She’s so goddamn perfect.

“Aiden,” she whines breathlessly, and my trance is broken. I fit between her legs, my mouth dominating hers. She yanks at my belt and I’m suddenly just as desperate to feel all of her against me. Between the two of us, we get my pants unbuckled and unbuttoned so that we can easily push them down over my ass. Thank fuck for no underwear.

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