Page 88 of Malicious Wedding

“Nope, but I’m pretty sure you could buy one.”

I snort. “Good point. I keep forgetting about all the money he gave me.”

“And the limitless credit card, don’t forget that.”

“It’s almost like I have nothing to complain about.”

“Now you’re getting it.”

I laugh, pushing her away. We head over toward her apartment building and start up the stairs together, chatting about Keely’s latest boy drama, when there’s a loud bang down the stairwell behind us before we can reach Bernie’s front door.

“Stop where you are.” Carson’s voice comes echoing up as boots stomp on the stairs. “Ash, stay there, don’t move.”

“What the hell is—” I stop mid-sentence as Carson sprints past us. I catch a glimpse of rage in his eyes and a gun clutched in his hands as he reaches Bernie’s door and kicks it in with one impressive slam of his foot. Wood splinters scatter through the air.

“What the fuck is happening?!” Bernie stares at me with panicked eyes.

“Carson!” I shout, but he’s already running into the apartment.

I sprint after him, not thinking. This is beyond insane, but there was something in his face as he hustled past us—rage, determination, and a little bit of fear.

Like he was worried about something.

I burst into the apartment after him. The place is a total wreck—Bernie’s couch is slashed open, the kitchen’s torn to pieces, her TV’s busted and knocked onto the carpet. It looks like a hurricane ripped through, and I’m standing around staring when gunshots go off.

Three of them. Bang, bang, bang, in quick succession. I jump in terror, cringing down, covering my ears, but the shooting stops. Only three, and no more.

For an instant, I’m terrified that Carson’s dead. If he’s been shot, if he’s lying on the ground bleeding to death in Bernie’s apartment, I don’t know what I’ll do. But then he’s there in the hallway, staring in at something else, his gun still gripped in his hand.

Bernie appears at my side, staring around with her mouth gaping open. She tries to speak, but nothing comes out. I try to steer her back into the hall but she resists, pushing me away, looking around at the wreckage of her life with a pale and horrified expression.

I move away from her, down toward the bedroom. Carson’s in there now, doing something. I reach the doorway, heart racing. I don’t want to look inside, but I make myself do it anyway.

Carson’s kneeling over a body. The man’s lying near the bed, bleeding from his head and his chest. Blood’s splattered all over the wall. The dead man’s pale, tall, bald, ugly. Carson looks back over his shoulder, his eyes narrowing. He says something, but I can’t hear him. He says it again, louder this time, standing.

I back away, hands coming up. He moves toward me and I’m about to scream, about to fight, until he stops suddenly, head tilted.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he says, the words finally registering in my fear-scrambled brain.

“Carson,” I finally manage to say. “What’s happening?”

Then he’s on me, wrapping his big arms around my body and hugging me close. I hug him back, more because I don’t understand any of this. He holds me at arm’s length, staring into my face. “The Polish family sent a hitman after you. He was going to make it look like a home invasion.”

“Fuck,” I say, hands and feet going numb.

“We caught a couple of their guys in a car near here waiting to drive him after the kill. If they hadn’t been so keen to keep their fingers, I don’t know what would’ve happened.”

“They were here, waiting for me.”

His eyes flit to where Bernie’s gaping at us. “Her too. Just because.”

I lean back against the wall, legs turning to mush. I begin to slide down, but he catches me, pulls me to my feet.

“What are we going to do?” I whisper as the realization that nowhere is safe settles in my bones. I thought I was free of all this—it’d been over a month. Iain’s getting ready to be discharged from the hospital. My father’s been buried, I walked away from Carson, the world’s moving on, except the Polish bastards are still coming.

They’ll never let me get away.

“You and Bernie are going to walk downstairs. Fitz is waiting for you there. He’ll take you to the Crowley mansion where you’ll be safe.”

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