“I know this is what you said you want.” I swallow, pressing my forehead against hers so that I can hide the terror making my stomach churn. “But tell me one more time. If you’re even a little hesitant, we can call it off. I’ll make popcorn; we can find a horror movie to stream…”
“You’re scared.” She laughs, her eyes searching mine.
Even in the darkness, she can see it.
“I won’t let anything happen to you.” I promise her. “You’re fuckingmine. My wife.”
It’s the most incredible thing I never knew I needed.
Her lips twitch at that. It was a financial decision, as far as she’s concerned. She wanted to help secure me the funding I need, and I want the money, too. But being married to her? Having the privilege of calling this beautiful, terrifying, incredible woman mywife?
She asked that we not do anything ostentatious, given that she has no family to celebrate with, and once the idea had been proposed, I was desperate to commit as soon as possible… before she could come to her senses and back out. We expedited everything we needed to replace the documents that had been lost when she was kidnapped, given that the man I had to go check on her apartment assured me that everything had been turned out and a small family was living there.
It’s amazing, though, how quickly you can get everything into line when you’re willing to pay a premium.
We married in the park, with lots of confused onlookers strolling by in their workout attire with their picnic baskets. Katrina was her bridesmaid, Dex was my best man, and it was perfect. She looked like heaven, an absolute fucking angel.
Until now, we haven’t left the house in days and the bed in hours. We wouldn’t have either. I want to take her to Bora Bora, where it can be just the two of us in a hut on the water. We could live there, if she likes it enough.
But Thursday rolled around, and Amber didn’t want to deviate from the plan. She wants justice for herself, for Katrina—who she’s become surprisingly cordial with given what a unique dynamic they have—and for every person who’s been affected by Garrett and his shitty friends.
“I’m not afraid, Cal.” She says calmly. “You are.”
Damn right, I’m scared.
I’m fucking terrified, actually. Terrified that things will go wrong, that she’ll get hurt, that I’ll lose her.
When she suggested this, it had sounded like a win-win. I get to sate the beast with bloodshed and violence, take out my competitor who is a genuine piece of shit, and she gets to see revenge served upon men who’d hurt her, given the chance.
I had my regrets when I let Garrett come to the basement of the theater, which is why I stopped him before he could fuck her. But I can’t come up with any sort of excuse to prevent it from happening tonight, which means I have tolet him think he’s getting away with it. Then, I have to dispose of him quickly and quietly so that the others don’t figure it out.
It feels like a suicide mission.
It’s fucking insane.
I will be outnumbered. The only advantage I have is the element of surprise.
And my beast has been clawing at the very idea of it, too possessed with the need to slay them all. There’s no going back; I can sense that. Even if we didn’t do this in this way, people would die tonight.
I need to kill.
“I’m scared you’ll get hurt.” I admit. “And that you’ll hate me for letting you do this.”
Feeling things like this is new to me. It’s like walking around with my chest open so that anyone can reach out and pull my insides from me. I don’t think I like feeling fear. My little doll, on the other hand, seems to enjoy it.
“I’m an adult.” She says calmly. “And a mostly free woman. I can decide what risks I’m willing to take. You promised me you’d help me get justice where there is none. Are you trying to back out of that promise now?”
I shake my head against hers, breathing her in. She smells clean and sweet. She’s too fucking precious to be here, let alone to be left here by herself with the raccoons and spiders that have made this place their home.
“I’ve been hurt before.” She reminds me. I don’t need that reminder. It’s obvious in the way she so readily and dauntlessly offers her body as a sacrifice. “Really badly. And I’m still here.”
My temple, a place for other men to desecrate.
I don’t fucking think so.
No self-respecting man would let the woman he loves take a risk like this, but on my life, another man will never touch her without her consent again. If she wants to put herself on the line, I’ll let her lure men to their own graves. But they will never fucking experience her.
My little doll doesn’t help me control my beast.
