“It’s your fault you put him in that position.” King’s eyes narrowed as he straightened his shoulders. “I take full responsibility for the life I took.”
Ari scoffed again, but it was more like a gurgle at this stage. “That’s just like you lot. Shoot first, deal with the consequences later, right, Shep? We wouldn’t want America to discover their golden boy isn’t so golden now, would we? What would they all think?”
“That he’s a fucking hero.” I gave a feral grin, moving up beside Shep. “I watched him blow your merc’s head off. Nothing was hotter, or more heroic. Maybe I’ll have him do the same to you.”
“Just give me the gun,” Shep growled, but King held his hand up.
“We never shoot first and deal later, or this conversation wouldn’t be happening,” King explained. “But I’m trying to understand why. Why play such a long, drawn-out game? Why not just come for me? I’m the one you want.”
“Tosuffer,” Ari gritted out. “I wanted you to feel the guilt of your brothers dying under your watch. Feel the pain of being so fucking wrong in how you judged them. Then it would be your turn.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Well, aren’tyouin for a world of disappointment?”
“You fractured,” Ari said, shifting on his chair. “I saw them all scrambling to find you. Hell, Alessio is one encrypted code from short-circuiting his motherboard. That might be one of my finest legacies. Fucked him just hard enough to prove how useless he is.”
King grabbed a fistful of Ari’s hair and yanked his head back until the chair teetered on its hind legs. “He caughtyou,didn’t he?”
Ari’s lips curved into a sinister smile. “After a kidnapping and a shooting. That cloud has swallowed him whole. Killing me won’t change that.”
“But it sure is gonna feel good.” I moved in front of Ari’s seat and put a foot between his legs, slamming it back on all fours.
“Theo.” Shep moved in beside me, and I could hear the question in his voice:Are you sure about this?But the answer had never been clearer. This motherfucker was mine. He’d not only gone after my reputation and threatened my life, he’d shot Shep and planned to kill every single person I cared about.
There was no way I was letting anyone take this from me.
“Don’t tell me the prince is about to become the executioner,” Ari jeered, but little did he know who he was fucking with. I wasn’t known as the merciless, chaotic King for my cool, calm demeanor, and it was time to show Ari that.
“Unlike you,” I said, removing my cuff links—I slipped one into my pocket but kept the other one, with my initials, in my palm—“I don’t send others to do my dirty work.”
Ari’s smirk told me he didn’t believe me, but he would soon enough.
“Sure. That’s why Lachlan’s standing outside. Don’t forget, I know how you all work. Go get your guard dog, and let’s get this over with.”
I chuckled, the hollow, menacing sound foreign even to my own ears, as I began to roll my sleeves up. This fucker had no idea what was about to happen to him, but I did, and so did the two men beside me.
That was when King looked over at Shep, who gave a clipped nod.
“You got this, Theo?” King said as the two of them took a step back, but my eyes were locked in on the target, now eyeing me with a lot more trepidation than he had seconds ago.
Then I took hold of the small silver toggle of the cuff link and pulled until a long piece of wire stretched between my hands. As I wound the ends nice and tight and the wire pulled taut, I heard the door to the room open and then slam shut behind me, leaving me locked inside with the man who’d tried to kill me.
23
SHEP
WE DIDN’T SLEEP that night. The events of the shooting and the aftermath with Ari had left us too raw, opening up the wounds of the last few weeks and how close we’d come to losing each other.
Theo hadn’t said a word when he finally walked out of the room at Libertine last night, and I hadn’t asked for details. I didn’t need them. I just needed the relief I saw on Theo’s face, along with the weight lifted from his shoulders, to know it was all over. The nightmare we’d been dealing with had finally ended.
It felt more than a little surreal, though, that we wouldn’t be looking over our shoulders constantly. Or having to run away to a safe house in the middle of a jungle. Or hide away in my house…
Though the last didn’t sound like a bad idea at all right then, as I lay back in Theo’s arms on the couch, content to stay there forever.Luciferplayed in the background, but neither of us had really been watching.
His lips were soft as he pressed them against my temple, and I closed my eyes. “How’s your arm?”
“Never better.”
He snorted. “Liar. I heard you moaning in your sleep.”
