Page 121 of His Greatest Muse

I slipthe cold brass over the knuckles on my left hand. It’s not the first time that I’ve felt this type of heaviness on my hand, but it’s never been on my nondominant hand.

My fingers tingle like they know what’s about to happen and can’t hold back their excitement. I roll my shoulders back and close my left hand into a perfect fist.

“I warned you what would happen if you so much as talked to Sierra again, but I never would have given you the chance to walk away so easily if I had known what happened while I was gone. Now you’ll pay for what you did to her.”

Cole’s scream vibrates through the night when the brass knuckles make contact with the back of his hand, crunching the bones, leaving his hand utterly useless.

“Get the fuck out of Toronto, Cole. I never want to see you again.”

44

NOAH

PRESENT

Cole Travis.

I burn the name into my memory and let the beast inside of me howl impatiently as he waits to feast on him. A cold, lethal rage rattles my chest, growing stronger with each piece of information I learn about Tinsley’s stalker.

Alec is nothing more than a stranger to me. A man pretending to be what I sought in order to get information. Yet, he’s provided vital information that I’ve been waiting on for weeks. Given an answer to my most important question. I don’t care much for his life’s story, nor for the events that led him to us. Eliminating Cole is more important, and Alec will help me accomplish that, even if I have to risk working with someone I don’t trust. Someone who appears to be too similar to me. A predator trapped beneath his own skin. I’m not unnerved easily, but there’s something about him that has me on guard constantly.

I tugged Tinsley between my legs a few minutes ago. With her back to my chest and my legs bracketing hers, I feel in control. She’s protected fully in my arms. Safe.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Cole needs to face greater retribution for what he’s done than spending a few years in a prison cell. I want to destroy him. Make him cry out my name as I tear him limb from limb. Murder has never intrigued me. I’m not a psychopath. But just because it’s never intrigued me doesn’t mean that I’m against it. I’ve never feared the consequences of taking someone’s life. Truthfully, I blame that on my lack of a conscience for most actions.

When it comes to those who have managed to breach the walls of my stone heart, I would commit any act to keep them safe. Murder included. A threat against Tinsley is a threat against me. And I won’t hesitate to eliminate it if given the chance.

“How do you know about Cole’s supposed relationship with Braden?” I ask Alec.

Tinsley’s father now sits on a chair at the end of the bed, most likely because he’s too weak in the knees to stand. He spaced out for several moments after Alec revealed Cole’s name to us all, and I was waiting for him to collapse once he came to. His guilt-stricken expression is pitiful and worrisome but not revealing of whatever inner monologue is rolling through his mind.

I don’t care for this look of his. It won’t fill in the several blanks that still remain.

Alec crosses his ankles and leans back in his chair. Eyes bright in colour yet so incredibly dull and lifeless watch me. “It isn’t a supposed relationship. I’m sure you’d love to explain, Braden.”

“What does this have to do with Mom?” Tinsley asks weakly. There’s a weight to the words that I wish I could pick up and carry for her.

Braden inhales slowly and begins to explain their past with Cole. Each bit of information he shares fuels my beast’s demand for violence and revenge. Everything leading up to now begins to fit into place with minimal effort once he admits to his actions in that alleyway before Tinsley was even born. The blanks begin to fill with answers I wasn’t expecting.

I’ll gather the rest of the information from the man himself. When he’s the one bleeding out in front of me, unable to fight back.

“So, he didn’t leave Toronto,” Tinsley mutters.

I unfold her hands from her lap and move them to my knees, needing her to touch me as much as I ache to touch her.

“No. I don’t think he did. I’m unsure what he did leading up to these last few months, considering I’m not fucking old enough to have witnessed what happened between him and your father, but it wasn’t hard to dig into his history,” Alex says before focusing on Braden. “Did you know he went to the police that night and attempted to have you arrested?”

Braden grits his teeth and gives a single shake of his head. “No.”

“Well, lucky for us, he did. The record of his statement was easy enough to find, while buried under two decades’ worth of tossed reports.”

“If he reported Dad, why wasn’t he ever arrested? Or at least questioned by the police?” Tinsley asks.

Alec’s smirk is so similar to mine it’s disconcerting. “Most likely because of the nice big bruise he left on the cheek of a night shift nurse in the emergency room not even an hour after leaving the station. Her following statement was a thick red X over his. He received a slap on the wrist for the marked-up face he gifted her and then went on his way.”

I tighten my hold on Tinsley, completely wrapping myself around her frame. “What did he do to make you dig into his past this deeply? Forget to walk your dog?”

“He stole and ruined something of ours. Something worth a lot more money than his pathetic life. And we intend to cash in. Consider it a win-win. You help me find him, and I’ll let you have a few minutes alone with him before I finish with him.”

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