Page 73 of Entangled

Heather drags her bemused look from Bentley back to Alastair.

Her face darkens.

“Tommy had made it inside, and Alastair had him pinned. He radioed Sam, and Sam told him to kill him. And he just... did. We heard the shot, and I saw the body afterwards.” A muscle in her tight jaw flickers, and she stares at Alastair. “He didn’t ask a single goddamned question.”

Alastair’s jaw clenches as he stares back at her.

“Did you kill him?” I ask, needing to be sure. What he says matters here.

The man meets Heather’s eyes, like she’s the only one in the cave. “Yes.”

“Fine,” I say, feeling heavy. I unstrap my gun. “I’m not making the same mistake we made with Sam. You attacked us, killed one of us, you need to die. We’ll keep the other for questioning.”

Alastair keeps his eyes on Heather, and I glance between them. She’s burning with hatred, staring back at him, but I can’t make out a single emotion on his face.

I swipe off my safety, trying to shift the sudden queasiness in my gut.

I think it’s that he’s on his knees. It doesn’t sit right to shoot an unarmed man.

“No!” Mateo shouts as he tries to get to his feet, but Jayk shoves him down. “Mierda!Get your hands off me. You touch him and I’ll kill you.”

“Wait.” Eden’s voice makes me pause for just a second, and I half-glance back at her.

“Go, little librarian. You don’t need to see this.”

“Give it to me,” Heather insists, and when I look up at her, she’s still glaring at Alastair with deep, burning hatred. But her voice isn’t furious now—it’s almost gentle. “I want to do it.”

The uneasy feeling increases. I glance at Jasper to find him watching me intently. His head turns just slightly, and I read the question in it.

Are you sure?

This is what I have to do, right? To protect the civilians?

To protect Eden?

“No, don’t you dare. I’ll kill you. He doesn’t deserve it. He’s a good man, you asshole, don’t do it,” Mateo howls. His fear is infectious, almost pungent in the enclosed space.

His wide eyes snag on Alastair, and they look at each other.

For some reason, it reminds me of Beau.

It’s suddenly suffocating in here. I take a step forward, lifting the gun, and the adrenaline starts pumping. It doesn’t bring its usual excited flush, though. None of the sense of purpose.

It feels wrong.

“Sir, please,don’t.”

Sir.

Heat licks up my spine, and I pause as that one word takes me out at the knees.Sir, she says, in that sweet little voice.Sir, is what she said as she counted out every time I clapped my hand against that soft, round ass of hers. My palm tingles like it wants the contact again. I want to make it jiggle. I want to hear her gasps. I want to leave every red imprint of my hand on that perfect ass like a brand.

Sir, she says.

I lower the gun, packing away the sense of relief I feel when I do, and look at her properly.

“Is this you speaking up?” I ask.

Last time, I didn’t listen to the civilians, and they lost their trust in me. I need to do better. If Eden speaks... I’m going to listen.

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