The silence only lasts a moment, though, as the PA system once again crackles to life, this time with a masculine voice I’m very familiar with as I watch Nathan’s mouth move.
“You heard her, Des. We have a duty to keep our family safe.” Hearing him call me family makes my stomach tie itselfinto a million tiny knots. It doesn’t help that Desmond’s once murderous features have somehow rearranged themselves in the thirty seconds he’s been looking my way, and he now looks like an adorable lovesick puppy.
How can he be so polar opposite and cute?
“What our woman wants, she’s gonna get.” Des blows me a kiss before moving to the back table. He grabs something before making his way back to stand face-to-face with Carter. In one swift motion, he presses the barrel of a gun to Carter’s head, his finger resting on the trigger, but he doesn’t pull it.
For the first time tonight, maybe ever, I see fear in Carter’s eyes as they bounce between the one-way glass and the gun pressed to his head.
Good. He should be afraid, because I’ve got no doubt Des will pull the trigger.
Seeming to finally grasp the severity of what’s happening as death looms over him, he pleads, “Kitty cat, please remember all the good times we had together, the years of our lives together in love and so happy.”
I try, really I do, but it’s useless; there is no happiness. No fond memories to hold on to, only years wasted hoping he would change, of lying to myself because he loved me.
Looking at everything now, I’m not even sure Carter ever truly knew what love was.
It’s almost sad.
“Look away, Katherine.” The fact that Des says my whole name is enough to make me listen even without the ring of command.
Vince uses his grip on my hand to swing me around to face him. He wraps an arm around my head, pressing one ear to his chest and covering the other with his hand. The sound of his heart hammering in my ear is all I can hear for a moment before a loud bang makes me jump.
Abullet to the brain was a goddamn mercy.
Carter deserved so much worse, and I would have happily given it to him daily for the rest of his life if that’s what Kat wanted, but I knew it wasn’t.
Even with everything he did to her, she would never ask for that; hell, I’m not sure she would have even agreed with us killing him had he not put Addy in danger.
She’s too soft; she doesn’t see her own worth despite the fact that she means everything to us.
Pulling the trigger had been satisfying in a way I wasn’t looking for, though. I’d wanted to end him from the moment I saw the sadness in her eyes, and now I had.
Never again would anyone hurt her the way he had.
“Go get cleaned up and see that she’s okay,” Alex says as he walks up beside me, nodding toward the door at the back of the room and not the one that Kat just bolted out of. No, Alex is right; I do need a shower before I think of going anywhere near our girl.
I make it quick, but I’m sure to be thorough. I don’t need to go up and have her see me sporting a splatter of blood on my neck or some other silly thing.
In the end, Kat agreed to let us handle him because she felt there wasn’t another choice, not because she actually wanted him dead.
I exit the bathroom, still rubbing my hair with a towel, and find my father and Alex have already disposed of Carter.
Good, one less thing for me to worry about.
“Vince is up with her, but you should make sure she’s okay with you. Trauma is a funny thing sometimes,” Alex tells me as he mops up the blood off the floor with a cigarette hanging from between his lips.
This is one of the few rooms in the house he’s allowed to smoke in, and he sure takes full advantage of it.
Looking at him, it’s easy to forget he’s speaking from experience.
I’ve never heard the whole story, but I know it wasn’t pretty; it’s got something to do with how he got that scar. That’s about the only thing I’m certain of.
“I’ll check in on her and let you know how she’s doing and if we need anything.”
It’s weird; as I make my way up the stairs to Kat, I feel both excited and nervous.
I’m always happy to see her; she makes everything better, but what if she doesn’t want to see me right now?
