I flashback to hugging him at the last pool party for making the winning point in water volleyball, and I was able to comfortably rest my chin on his head. He reached the divot in my collarbones, maybe.
It was weird how well he fit against me, given our nearly sixteen-inch size difference.
“I’m just saying. You’re small, and it’s ridiculous you think you can, I dunno, roam the countryside exacting revenge.”
“You know I’ve killed people twice my size, right? Once to save your stupid life.”
“Yes,” I admit, rubbing my chest. I hate to concede the point, but I’ve seen the video. He absolutely saved my life.
“So I don’t need your motherly condescension, your head pats, or your hyperbolic concern. I have already been killing people on my own. A fact you only know because I told you.”
Fucking hyperbolic.Ant’s studying the things he missed in school with my Uncle Georg, and Georg says he’s smarter and faster than even my twin cousins, who are literal geniuses. Not that I’m surprised. He created a whole persona to shield himself from those fucking rapists. Not to mention he passed his GED test two weeks ago with a perfect score, and now he’s considering online college classes. For fun.
The truth of the matter is, I worry that his intelligence makes things more dangerous for him, not less.
“I seem to recall you needed help cleaning up your mess.”
“Yes. I did. I made a lot of mistakes,” he admits. I raise my brows at his massive understatement, but he ignores me and continues, “But I’ve learned since then. You know this because you’re one of the ones who helped me refine my technique. Everybody here has helped me become better at this. I am now very, very good at it. A fully grown adult who can kill people without remorse and without leaving a trace. In fact, I killed somebody this weekend, and you will never know who it is.”
I’m so thrown by how calmly he’s saying this that the last sentence takes a second to register.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. When did you have time to kill someone? You were helping with the fencing thing at the rodeo. After that, you drove over to help Sparrow with his horses because Luke hurt his wrist or something.”
“That was during daylight hours.”
“I know. You were here in the evening.”
“Was I?”
“I didn’t hear the truck take off.”
“Because I pushed it onto the highway,” he admits, looking way too proud of himself.
That’s it. I’m fucking getting extra security cameras forinsidethe house. I don’t care what Charlie says about privacy.
“How the hell can you push it? You weigh, what, ninety pounds?”
“I do not weigh ninety pounds, you fucking tree. It doesn’t matter how much I weigh because I am incredibly strong. You need to get it through your thick fucking skull that I am an adult. And a killer. A pretty damn good one at that.”
Charlie and Javier follow us like a tennis match, barely concealing their grins. You’d think those two would be more interested in his safety.
“Charlie and I literally dragged you from the clutches of evil, Ant. There is no reason for you to have to go out and randomly kill people. I thought you agreed not to do that.”
He swipes the air with an open hand as if to erase my words. “I am not having this argument with you again. Also, I didn’t do it randomly, and I didn’t do it without permission. I just wasn’t working with this team when I did it.”
“Wait. What? You’re working with Wimberley now?”
“Not officially. Anders has been giving me the broke assholes for practice. Which, now that I understand how Wimberley does things, makes sense.”
“Aww. Anders is running a murder internship,” Charlie says, fucking grinning as he shakes his head. Like it’s cute or something.
“I am going to rip my cousin’s head from his shoulders, I swear to God,” I growl, getting up to pace the floor. “I can’t tell what’s worse. You randomly going on solo missions in the area with fuckingAndersas your mentor or the completely preposterous notion that we’re gonna let you wander the country on a mission to kill every last one of your rapists like some fucked-upKill Billscenario.”
“I have already asked you to Stop. Calling. Them. That!” Ant yells, gripping the ends of the arms of his chair. “For fuck’s sake.”
“That’s what they are, Ant,” I snap, tired of tiptoeing around things. “They raped you. They victimized you over and over. If you can’t handle naming it, then maybe you aren’t ready to go out and kill them.”
Charlie and Javier jump up from the couch.
