She steps back, each movement controlled like she’s shedding the last remnants of his hold on her.
The gun drops to her side as she stares him down, disgust etched into every line of her face, contempt curling at her lips—a warning in the shape of a snarl.
“Fuck you,” she says.Every word is a strike, tearing the last vestiges of his control straight from her soul.“I won’t become you.I won’t turn into a monster just because you didn’t have the spine to be a fucking father.”
And damn, my chest aches with pride.I’ve never been more in awe of her.Of how beautifully she just ripped herself free from the poison he’s spent a lifetime trying to pour into her veins.
She’s not just Emery in this moment.She’s fury wrapped in skin.A fucking storm with a pulse.Every breath she drags in is defiance.Every word she throws lands like fire-tipped bullets.And I see it now… the strength that crawled through the wreckage, the fire that didn’t just survive the chaos.She became the fucking chaos.And she’s still burning.
She doesn’t bend.Doesn’t flinch.She rises.Again and again.Like a goddamn rebellion, carved into her skin and bone.
She’s everything I’m not.Everything I was never allowed to be.And everything I fucking still crave.
I’m the lucky bastard who gets to stand beside her.The one who gets to worship her—my hands, my mouth, my cock, my body all devoted to her.Who gets to hear her fall apart when I fuck her like she’s sacred.Because she is.
She turns, her gaze locking with mine, eyes blazing with rage, pain, and power.
Without a word, she hands me back the gun.It’s not just a gesture.It’s a declaration.She didn’t need to pull the trigger to take control.She already has it.
I grab the bastard by the collar, yanking him up so hard the chair screeches across the floor.He chokes as I shove him toward the door, my grip punishing, unforgiving.Every muscle in my body’s still wired tight, adrenaline flooding through me, synced to the fury burning inside her.
I glance back, needing to see her.
Emery hasn’t moved.She stands right where she was, feet planted, shoulders squared.Eyes burning bright, like she just stepped out of hell and owned it.
She’s not the girl I used to know.
She’s something more.
And fuck, I’ve never wanted her more than I do in this moment.
It takes everything in me not to stop, not to turn around, grab her by the back of the neck, and kiss her so hard it leaves a mark.Because right now, all I want is her.Her mouth crushed against mine, her body locked to me, her thighs hooked around my waist while my cock slides in deep and pulls a moan from her throat, my name the only goddamn thing she can remember.
But we’re not there yet.
We have to finish this first.She deserves a clean ending, real closure, before either of us can finally breathe again.Before I get to rip away every last layer between us and have her the way I’ve been dying to for years.
I keep moving, shoving the bastard toward the truck, each step weighed down by the rage still burning in my chest.
Dante stumbles, weak, pathetic.
I yank him upright by the collar, my voice dropping low, vibrating with everything I’m holding back.
“You fall again, and I’ll drag your sorry ass the rest of the way.Face first.”
He doesn’t speak, doesn’t even glance in my direction.Maybe he finally understands now.This ends my way.No more fucking deals, and no more running.
Behind me, I hear Emery.Her footsteps echo in the quiet.There’s no hesitation in her stride.
When I reach the truck, I shove the bastard into the back seat without a second thought for how he lands.He grunts, his wrists twisting as I yank them behind his back, cinching the zip ties tight enough to remind him who the fuck’s in control now.
I slam the door so hard the whole frame rattles.
And then I turn.
Emery walks toward me, the wind tearing through her hair, strands whipping across her face—pure storm and salvation wrapped in one.Sunlight ignites in her eyes.Wild.Fearless.Fucking glorious.A vision made to be worshipped.
And I feel it clawing at me.The need to take her, drag her into me, bury my hands in her hair with my mouth on her skin.
