It didn’t matter that I always knew this would be our end. That she never belonged in my world, that she was too good for the darkness that lived inside me. But I was a selfish son of a bitch, and intended to keep her at any cost.
My gaze fell on Kai, and the guilt of what I’d planned caused my stomach to lurch.
“I don’t deserve your loyalty.” My voice broke. Shit.
“Bullshit, D. We’re fucking brothers. Before Eva, it was just you and me. And now, I’d do anything for her too, because you love her.”
I loved her.
I fucking loved her.
And I needed her back.
“Kai,” I said, swallowing the knot in my throat. “I told him I wanted out. Told him I was done with Ares.”
“I figured that much. Explains why he pulled this.” He clapped the side of my face, his eyes alight with compassion. “We have to go about this differently.”
“No,” I said, shoving him back. “You don’t get it. He forced my hand. Said I had to kill you to buy my freedom.” Kai’s eyes narrowed as he waited for me to continue, knowing full well where this was going. “I’m so fucking sorry, brother.”
I slid down the side of the truck, falling to a pathetic heap on the ground. Kai crouched in front of me, a hand on my shoulder as he exhaled.
“Derek, I get it. I would have come back and haunted your ass, but I get it. Eva must mean a lot to you. Look at you. You look like shit.”
I let out an unamused laugh, relieved he didn’t want to put a bullet between my eyes.
“I wasn’t going to go through with it. I was thinking maybe you could hide out for a while. Go back with Amalia’s clan until I dealt with Ronan.”
“Fuck, D, I’m glad you got my life figured out for me,” he joked halfheartedly. “But I’m not leaving. We’re going to take care of this asshole together. Then work on getting Eva. Plus, I heard that chick Amalia is certifiable. Not exactly my first choice to go on the lam.”
Kai was the only other person who knew and understood me on a level no one could ever comprehend. One I’d wanted to reach with Eva.
Despite the fallout between us, I was grateful that he also knew me enough not to ask why I was still recruitingLas Mercinarias. No matter what awaited us in the future, I’d always be there for her. And if her happiness was in the arms of another man… well, fuck that. I’d kill every motherfucker who would dare to breathe within five feet of her.
* * *
Kai kicked the door open and shot the two men on Ronan’s right while I took out the two on his left—one of them being that bastard Kiernan.
“What the—”
He tried to reach for the gun he kept in the top drawer, but he wasn’t fast enough.
“I suggest you freeze.”
Ronan’s jaw twitched before it slid into a grin as he stared down the barrel of two guns. “So this is how you two repay me for the life I’ve given you?”
“Shut up,” I snarled, coming around and slamming his head against the wooden desk. “I should kill you right here. Cut you open and let you die the slow, painful death you deserve.”
“But you won’t.”
“Don’t fucking tempt me. I’m out of my head right now, and the only reason you’re still alive is Kai. I won’t implicate him in my fucked-up business, but you know me well. Sometimes the blood just calls to me, and yours is fucking singing right now.”
I pushed the hot titanium of my silencer into his temple, searing his skin.
“So what’s your plan, Derek?” he asked in that frustratingly calm voice of his.
“You’re going to leave Philly, leave the country—I don’t give a fuck where you go, but I suggest hiding in the deepest, darkest hole you can find.”
He laughed outright. “What makes you think you have the power to make me do a damn thing? That little cunt of yours sure gave you some balls, didn’t she? Shame she—Aahh!” I couldn’t suppress the urge to stab my blade through his hand and into the mahogany desk. His cries were just as pathetic as he was.
