16
KREED
Kaylor dragged a hand down her face, pressing her palm to her forehead, exasperation rolling off her in waves. “What the fuck, Kreed? You promised.”
The corner of my mouth tilted upward, a gesture I knew would infuriate her. “I kept my promise, little raven. No blood was shed.”
Her mouth fell open in disbelief. “You know that’s not what I meant when I said it.”
“If you didn’t want me to hit him at all, you should’ve been more explicit in your wording.” I shrugged. “Details matter in negotiations.”
She groaned. “You might be the single most frustrating human being I’ve ever had the misfortune of meeting.”
“Thank God for my irresistible looks and natural charm, then.” I flashed her a completely unapologetic grin. “You should be grateful I held out as long as I didandthat he only got one solid hit to the gut instead of the beating he actually deserved.”
“Right,” she muttered, taking a side glance at Carson. “That went about as well as I expected.”
The hit hadn’t satisfied my desire to hurt him, not fully. “Could’ve gone significantly worse. I could’ve broken his nose or his jaw. Or several other things. He’ll live.”
From the porch behind us, Carson groaned, a pitiful, winded sound. I glanced back to see him propped against the door with one hand pressed against his stomach. He looked up at Kaylor with glassy, watering eyes that begged for sympathy or forgiveness or both.
She gave him one last look, more tired than angry now, resignation settling over her features before turning sharply on her heel. “Come on.” Her fingers closed around mine and tugged. “Before you decide to demonstrate exactly how much worse it could’ve been.”
I followed without argument as we walked back to the SUV and opened the passenger door, waiting for Kaylor to slide inside. I took my time circling to the driver’s side, using those extra seconds to let my adrenaline settle back to manageable levels.
The engine rumbled to life when I hit the start button, but I didn’t shift out of park. I adjusted the heat to warm her up. “I’m waiting, little raven,” I said, my eyes cutting sideways to study her profile. “Start talking.”
She huffed, staring straight ahead through the windshield. “Maybe you should drive. I don’t want to give you the opportunity to storm Carson’s house the second I tell you everything.”
“I’ve already got a pretty good idea of what happened between you two.” My hands stayed locked on the wheel as I flexed my grip. “But I want to hear it from you. Your words, your version of events.”
“Fine.” She sighed. “We’ve put this conversation off long enough anyway. Put your seat belt on first.”
“What? Why?”
“Just do it.”
I obliged, eager to hear the truth. If she thought a seat belt would keep me in the car, she underestimated my ability to move, but if it gave her a semblance of peace, why not indulge her?
Her body angled toward me as she toyed with a stack of gold rings on her finger. “When I left that night, Carson picked me up. I asked him to take me to the old train yard so I could make theexchange for Kenny. Carson tried to stop me from going, and he confessed that he had gone to Rusty for help.” She frowned. “He wanted to get me away from you and your brothers. Rusty promised him he could do that.”
A growl built in my chest before I could stop it. “That stupid son of a b?—”
“It doesn’t matter now,” she interrupted, her hand touching my shoulder. “What’s done is done. It’s over. He obviously knows what a colossal fuck up it was trusting Rusty. He should’ve talked to me directly, but he didn’t. Now he has to live with that.”
“Don’t make excuses for him.” My veins flared with a reckless impulse demanding action. The anger needed somewhere to go, and Carson seemed like the obvious choice. “I’m going to kill him.” I reached to unclick my seat belt, annoyed at the strap across my chest.
Her hand shot out and latched on to my arm, small but steady. I could have yanked her off, but I refused to hurt her ever again. “The only person we’re killing is Rusty,” she said, voice quiet but carrying absolute conviction. “Carson’s an idiot, but he’s not a monster. There’s a fundamental difference.”
I stared at her, wanting desperately to argue, to list every single reason Carson deserved to feel physical pain for what he’d done, but her eyes were haunted and unyielding, and the words died somewhere in my throat. “Don’t say something you don’t actually mean,” I said instead. “Killing someone isn’t like returning a library book. There’s no going back.”
“As if you’re not already planning Rusty’s death in excruciating detail,” she shot back, one eyebrow arching in challenge. “And I’m certain my cousin’s helping you with the logistics.”
That earned the faintest twitch of my mouth. I sank back against my seat. “You’re not wrong about that.”
Our gazes held, locked together, the air between us crackling with electricity and everything we kept leaving unspoken. “What about you?” I asked, needing to know where her head actually was. “What do you want, little raven? Really, truly want?”
Her chin lifted. “I can’t go back to my normal life until I know everyone I love is safe. That includes stopping Rusty permanently.” She didn’t elaborate, but her eyes told me everything about the darkness she was willing to embrace.
