“How do you know the feds haven’t bugged Louie’s apartment or something? You don’t know,” she insists. “You’d think someone in your position would be more careful with their phone calls.”
“Louie has scramblers everywhere. There is no bug that would survive them,” I explain.
“Oh… okay then. Con, you’re a cartel boss. Pro, you have a job,” she says.
I can’t help but laugh. “Keep going.”
“Con, you’re bossy. Con, you’re grouchy. Con, you think you own me.”
“I don’t think I own you, Evie. I know I do. Continue,” I tell her.
“Pro, you look really good in a suit. Pro, your dick is really impressive. Pro, you make me come—always. Pro, you make me feel less broken.” Her voice quietens as she says the last one. “Pro, you are loyal to your friends. Pro, you’re protective of those you love. Pro, you worship me.”
“I’m feeling like this list is heavy on the pro side, Evie.”
“Con, you make me forget my own morals. Con, I can’t seem to stay away from you.”
“That one seems like it should be on the pro list.” I laugh.
“What would be on your list? About me,” she questions.
“I don’t have a single con to list about you, Evie. You are fucking perfect in every way,” I tell her.
“That’s bullshit. There has to be something about me that aggravates you,” she says.
“The fact that you’re not already my wife,” I mutter, shocking both of us. Where the fuck did thatcome from? Do I want to keep Evie? Fuck yes. Does that mean I want to get married? It would seem that way.
“Um… I didn’t thank you. I should have. Thank you,” she whispers.
“What are you thanking me for?”
“For the first time, I walked around here without looking at the faces of strangers and wondering if they were the one. You know… the doctor,” she says.
“Evie, you don’t need to thank me for that. I will erase all of your monsters from this earth. That’s a promise,” I tell her. “When can I see you?”
“You just saw me today… or yesterday.”
“It was too long ago,” I grunt.
“Charlotte is going to help me search for a new shop location tomorrow. I also need to try to contact the insurance company and see what, if anything, I can get out of them,” she says.
“Evie, you don’t need an insurance payout. Use your bank account. I will see you later today,” I remind her before cutting the call.
I’ve been keeping busy, trying to give Evie space and time. It’s a good thing I’ve got a list of targets to huntdown and kill—otherwise I would have caved and gone to her already.
I’ve gone through two names on the list of ten. The fucker in front of me is number three. I wasn’t expecting his family to be home when we breached the property. I’m not deterred by that fact either. None of them will be able to talk once I leave here.
Is it fair for his family to pay a price for his crimes? No, but the world doesn’t revolve around fairness. When it comes to the fucking assholes on this list, I have no empathy for them or their families. What they did to Evie, and God knows how many other girls just like her, makes me fucking sick to my stomach.
“Bruce, Bruce, Bruce.” I shake my head at the fucker on the ground in front of me. His hands up in surrender, as if it’s going to make a difference. “You want to be the one to tell your wife and daughters why they’re about to die? Or should I do the honors?”
“I don’t know who you are or what you want. Take it. Just let them go,” he says, looking at his two teenage daughters and then their mother.
“You don’t know me. But you knowher.” I hold out my phone with a photo of Evie on the screen. The weak fuck wets his pants, literally.
“No.” He shakes his head.
“Oh, but you do. Do you want to tell them what you did?” I ask him.
