Grant scoffs. “You really think that absolves you?”
“No,” I say calmly. “It explains me.”
His eyes flick again toward the exit.
I don’t give him time to try.
The gun fires.
Once.
Grant jerks as the bullet slams into his chest. He hits the floor hard.
I step over him immediately, gun still trained on his body.
“You will never hurt us again,” I say.
Grant coughs, and crimson rivulets escape his mouth.
It’s only a matter of time. The fucker will be dead in a matter of seconds.
What can I say, I’m a good shot.
My hand lifted to fire again, because why not? He might be dead already, but a few more bullets will make me feel better.
My finger pulls back the trigger, but what I see stops me . . .
A smile twists through the blood on Grant’s face. He’s smirking at me, like he knows something I don’t.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” he gurgles on his own blood that’s bubbling out of his mouth.
My pulse slows. “What do you mean?”
Grant wheezes, breath hitching. “You just signed her death warrant.”
What the fuck. “Speak,” I snap, crouching, pressing the gun closer. “Now.”
His eyes glass, but there’s something feral still burning behind them.
“If I can’t have her,” he rasps, “no one can.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I demand. My heart is beating so fast now that it might explode from my body.
Grant’s gaze locks onto mine, triumphant even as he bleeds out.
“I put a hit on her,” he whispers, “through a network.”
The world tilts.
“Call it off,” I snarl, grabbing his collar. “Call it off now.”
Grant’s breath stutters. “O-only I-I can,” he chokes. “A-and I-I don’t feel—”
Rage detonates.
“Call it off,” I roar.
Grant smiles. One last smile. Because before I can even yell again, his body goes slack.
