Her back is to me while she selects her cakes, so she doesn’t see me pop the lock on the back passenger door, or when I lay on the back seat before softly pulling the door closed. Lifting my hips, I take the gun from my waistband and wait.
The central locks beep as muttering comes through the glass. “Oh, shut the fuck up.” She’s busy tapping away on her phone while she balances the bakery box on her forearm, so she doesn’t notice my legs in the shadowed backseat as she climbs into the car. The dim light illuminates the center console, but one of the small bulbs is out so it doesn’t reach the back seat as she dumps her things on the passenger seat.
She’s so fucking oblivious that I don’t know if I should be thankful for making my job easier or if I should tell her to pull the fuck over to teach her about personal safety. Why the fuck did she get in without checking the car? So what if she locked the doors? I clearly fucking bypassed it without leaving a mark. Even now, she doesn’t drive straight away as she hits the central locking, fiddles with the fucking radio,thenpulls out onto the road.
Her music is fucking awful, so is her voice as she sings along to some old power ballad. She’s still using her phone as she drives, and I nearly laugh at the thought of her recklessness killing us both. Lowering the music, she holds the phone in front of her face as the line trills. When it connects, there’s a little girl’s voice on the other end, asking, “Did you get them?”
“Yes, my little diva. Tell your dad his favorite song just came on the radio. I’ll be home soon, love you.”
“You’re going to kill that little girl’s mother who’s waiting for her to come home with treats.”
She ends the call, throwing her phone on the seat while I contemplate how the fuck to get out of this situation. There’s nothing. I can’t fucking do anything as she tortures me with her warbling.
“Scar?” I ask, slowly sitting up.
The tires screech as Scarlet swerves and screams, “What the fuck?” She manages to stop herself from colliding with anything, but her breathing is ragged. Wide blue eyes stare at me throughthe rearview mirror, quickly flicking back to the road, then to the mirror again. “Kane? What the fuck? We thought you were dead.”
“Keep driving.” I press the gun to the back of her seat as my vision blurs. “I’m sorry. I’m really fucking sorry, Scar.”
Sasha will be safe now. Everything I’ve earnt over the last three years is waiting for her when she wakes up. She’ll find the letter I left her and remove her mask to live a normal life. I’ll never know what she looks like without it, but this way I’ll save someone like I couldn’t with Kid. If I kill Sasha, I’ll fucking implode.
“Kane,” Scarlet says softly as I dig the gun into her spine through the seat, her wide eyes filling the rearview mirror. “I’ll keep driving. Okay. Remember when you were younger? You wanted to buy Dilly a birthday present, but you didn’t know what she’d like?”
I nod, repeating, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, you haven’t done anything yet. I’m fine. It’s just like that day when I took you to the mall to pick her birthday present.”
“We got a necklace,” I whisper.
“Yeah, we did. She loved it.”
I keep apologizing to her as my hand trembles around the gun. The plan was to follow her until she got home, then kill her there. Make it look like a suicide so no one would have any questions. If Delilah ever found out, she’d never suspect me. I was going to explain why I’m doing it, and she’d know it’s all for Delilah. She’d write a letter to her sister, give her closure or whatever the fuck else. That way, no one was being tortured. She’d be at peace, Sasha would be safe, I’d have Delilah.
I can’t kill her in front of her child I didn’t even know she had. Why did she have to have a fucking child?
“Turn left here,” I instruct, which she does without argument. “Scarlet, I need you to know I’m sorry. You know that, right? You know I don’t want to hurt you?”
“I know.” She blows out a long breath, tears welling against her lower lashes. “I know you, Kane. Tell me what happened.”
“I don’t know.” Reaching around the seat, I lift her phone and tuck it under my thigh. “It’s all fucked up. I have to get her out of there. They made me hurt her.”
“You wanted to,”Asher snaps.“No one made you shove your fist inside her, or your fingers in her ass. You loved it. You wanted your worthless cock to work so you could fuck her while she screamed how much she hates you.”
“That’s okay,” Scarlet lies. “She’ll understand. None of us are blaming you, Kane. Why don’t you tell me where she is?”
“I don’t know!” I shout, digging the gun harder against her back. “Do you think I’d be fucking doing this if I did? No. I have to because if I don’t, they won’t fucking tell me.”
“If you do, Delilah won’t forgive you.” She keeps driving as I direct her to the empty streets leading to the church the Wards told me to meet them in once I’ve made my choice. “I know you love her. It was clear as day when you were kids. You couldn’t stop yourself looking at everything she did with a smile on your face.”
“I’m sorry,” is all I’m capable of saying while she revisits the past.
“Do you remember when you wanted to learn how to drive?”
“I’m sorry.”
“I taught you. How old were you? Twelve or thirteen? You were too cautious and you wouldn’t go above ten miles per hour, but when it was Dilly’s turn, you were encouraging her and checking the mirrors for her.”
“I’m sorry.”
