“I’ll never trust you,” I quickly said.
Travis’s car pulled up at the end of the alley, and a few honks bounced off the narrow walls.
Glancing back, Scott climbed to his feet, his clothes heavy and soaked. “I thought you should know, I’m breaking Tommy out,” he announced, and I turned my entire body back in his direction. “I know the promise you made to Zeke before he died, that you’d do whatever you could to free Tommy. Well, I’m breaking the bloke out. For Livy. For Zeke. For redemption …” he continued. I swiped my palm down my wet face and dropped my hands over my hip bones, unsure of what he was asking of me or where this was going. “And I don’t want your help. Just take care of her, Masters. Mia deserves so much more than the horrors of this world, and you’re the only person who can give her that. I’ll take care of the promise you made to Zeke and free Tommy.”
“It still doesn’t change anything.”
Scott laughed, pressing his hand against his bruised face. “I wasn’t expecting it would.”
Besides, it had.
As I walked back to the car, with Ethan Scott behind me, a burden I hadn’t known was there, lifted. No longer did I want to kill him, knowing he’d take care of the last thing weighing me down since Zeke had died, and I dragged in a long breath as the rain slammed against my cheeks.
The air wasthick with a nightly rainfall on the horizon. The taunting threat of a storm simmered an eerie scent of destruction. An intuition, if you will? Or maybe the universe was revealing a fortune no one should endure, especially Mia.
Both of my helpless eyes peered through the window of their home. Mia played over the piano, a familiar tune floating through space between us. Brown hair twisted lazily over her head, wearing only a white tee and plaid pajama shorts. Ollie walked through the living space sipping from a mug in one hand, holding a book in the other. The fool’s eyes glued to Mia before he dropped over their large couch and flipped open a book.
I should have left days ago, but had to make sure she was okay. It wasn’t like I was obsessed with the girl, but Masters was too delicate to satisfy and entertain her fierce mind from spiraling to the pits of boredom. I knew because Mia and I were the same. We weren’t designed for contentment or a life consisting of marriage, babies, work, and routine. And even though I was the only one who could free her wild mind and feed the desires burning inside her, she chose Masters.
Ollie spoke, but I couldn’t hear from here, and Mia turned to face him, a smile dazzling her features. She stood, walked over to Masters, and took his hand. The two disappeared from my view. I hadn’t realized how much time had passed with me watching like a creep until the lights went out, and a chill ran down my spine.
I bet he couldn’t fuck her like I could, and a laugh fell from my lips and onto the empty street, their mailbox my audience. Laughing, because all I could picture was Masters struggling to maneuver her parts during a lousy game of foreplay. Laughing, because he was inside with her this very moment, having the chance, and I was still standing out here in the cold.
My laughter died, and I made the half-mile journey back to my car. Mia was okay, and it was all I needed to make sure of. It took every bit of strength not to burst through their front door and tell her I was sorry for leaving her the way I did, but I’d already made my decision, and she made hers.
When I got into my car, my reflection in the rearview mirror greeted me.
Masters took me by surprise back at Foyles. I had been under the impression Foyles was a safe territory with his fans surrounding him. The last thing I’d expected was for him to launch at me in public and on display. Perhaps I underestimated the pussy all along, but that was the second, and last time I’d let him paint my face with his impressive fists. If he had taken what was mine, I’d probably attempt to kill him too, not even bothering with a fucking needle or hanging. I’d chop him up into pieces and spread them over New Forest National Park, where the wild animals could eat away the rest of him.
But Mia chose him, and I had to respect that.
She was never mine.
So, Masters was safe.
Dean, my best mate with connections, called on my way to the motel. Over the last few weeks, the two of us had been making arrangements for Tommy’s escape. There was no way I could move on without freeing him. I’d tried that already. As soon as I’d dropped Mia off at Bruce’s and made it halfway across the states, a calling nagged from above. I’d never forgotten the way Zeke used to look at me back at Dolor, and I’ve been feeling that tormenting gaze deep within my dark soul ever since. He never had to ask or say the words, but he and Tommy both had known I was their only chance. And because Tommy was the man my sister fell in love with, freeing him was the last thing I needed to do before the monster inside dissolved to nothing.
I’d be free too.
“You should see this town, man. I’m positive this is where they snatched up the cast for the movieTheHills Have Eyes,” Dean said into the phone.
“Haven’t seen it,” I clipped out. I never watched the telly. It bored me.
“In any case, of all places, this is where Luke brings us. My brother has lost his fucking mind.”
Dean was still vague about who they were and what they did, but I had always rolled with the conversations and the little bits of information he fed me. He needed to vent, and I needed the distraction. “Sorry, man. How are we looking on time?” Dean needed to be here for Tommy’s escape, and I was going stir crazy being in the same town as Mia and Masters, itching to change my mind and take her back against her will. Seeing her only made me miss the chaos and challenge. My puppet. The warm side of my bed.
A heavy sigh came through the other end of the phone. “Depends on Luke.” Family came first. Dean’s one and only rule. If he weren’t doing me favors to make this mission a whole lot smoother, I’d do it myself. I needed Dean, and the lifespan of my monster were in the hands of his brother.Cheers. “Give me six months. I know it seems long, but trust me, man. Six months, and I’ll be on the red-eye coming your way. Keep yourself busy ‘til then.”
Suppressing a groan, I nodded as if he could see. “Six months. I’m counting on you, mate. If you’re not here in six months, you’ll be freeing two chaps from prison.”
“Six months. I’ll call you after the holidays to check in. Stay out of trouble.”
The phone disconnected, and it dropped over my lap as I turned into the flat I was renting under the fictitious name and identification Dean mailed me.Ben O. Verbich.
The bloke had a sense of humor, and I finally had a timeline to plan around.
But tonight, I wasn’t going to let Masters be the only one to smash. For over a year, Mia fucked with my head to the point I haven’t buried myself inside a fanny since laying eyes on her. The night, and every night after this, called for straight rum and a local slag, the only two things able to warm me through this long, cold winter and turn Mia into a stranger.
