But then the barrel of the silencer dug into my side, forcing a gasp out of me. “It’s not that I don’t trust you,Jules, but if you try anything, I’ll kill you and then come back to finish him off. In fact… wait. We can’t leave him like this. You know better than that. What’s that you always said about leaving loose ends.”
“Not murder,” I argued. “This is different. I never killed anyone.”
“But you want to see what a badass I can be.” He leveled the pistol at Stocks once again.
His finger started squeezing the trigger, and I had to do something. No time to think, I shoved his arm away. There was another loud THWACK, but the shot went wide, hitting one of my bookshelves. Before Wesley could recover, I grabbed for the gun and kneed him in the balls.
“Fuck!” he shouted.
I pulled my leg up to do it again.
With his attention torn between protecting his junk and wrestling with me for his weapon, his grip was weak. I dug my fingernails into his wrists and he cried out and backhanded me with his other hand. My face stung, my vision blurred, and stars danced before my eyes. My grip loosened, and he almost got the gun away from me.
But now I was really pissed. I gave him another hard knee to the crotch.
“Stupid bitch!” he shouted, trying to block my attacks.
My nails dug into his wrist again.
“Shit! Fuck! Stop that!”
I dug in harder. His grip on the gun loosened, and I tugged it free. Taking one big step back, placing myself between Wesley and Stocks, I leveled the gun at my ex. Eyeing me with a mixture of hate and lust, he raised his hands in the air.
“Easy, Julia. You know I wouldn’t have hurt you.”
“I don’t know shit about you anymore. You were sex-trafficking teenage girls, you bastard. You lied to me about that note in your briefcase. The one you said was about strippers for some out of town clients.”
His expression hardened. “You should have kept your nose out of my shit. All of this could have been prevented.”
“But then I’d still be married to a fucking monster. No thanks.” Unwilling to take my eyes off Wesley I took a step to the side, so I could better see Stocks in my peripheral. “How you holding up, Stocks? Is there something I can do to stop the blood flow?”
“I need an ambulance.”
And I could hear sirens closing in on our building. “They’re on the way,” I replied, hoping I sounded surer than I felt. “Morse put up cameras in here and he’s monitoring the place. I’m sure those sirens are coming for you. Just hold on, okay?”
“They won’t be in time,” Wesley said. “He’ll be dead, and you and I will be long gone before they arrive.”
The insinuation that he would somehow regain control of the situation made my skin crawl and my finger itch to pull the trigger. His death would be so convenient, solving all my problems. I’d have access to my trust account again. My building wouldn’t be purchased. I could even go back to the house we’d shared and collect all the possessions I’d abandoned in my haste to get away from the sleaze ball.
And as for letting him live… there were no real benefits to that.
I released a breath and took aim, steadying my arm. This time, I wouldn’t miss.
Havoc’s voice flooded my mind, reminding me that I was no longer this person. That I was better. He believed in me. He trusted me. I wanted to be the woman he thought I could be.
But if I let Wesley live, he’d never give up. He’d take everything from me. What if next time, he shot Havoc?
Stocks’s legs gave out, and he slid down the counter to the floor, his eyes closing.
“Stocks!” I shouted.
He mumbled something incoherent.
“Clock’s tickin’ on that one,” Wesley said with an unconcerned shrug. “Better get him help before he bleeds out.”
That’s what Wesley wanted. He wanted to divert my attention so he could get the gun. I was sure of it, because that’s exactly what I would do if our roles were reversed.
The sirens were getting closer.
