From the corner of my eye, I saw Harley draw his weapon and then a moment later, the two who had helped Gavriel and I did the same, pointing them out the door. Harley's command was not to be ignored as he said, "You would do well to stay where you are and put your weapons down."
I kept my attention on Ezequiel, and I had to remind myself to take my time. Not to rush this. “You’re right about one thing. This isn’t the first time, you old bastard.” I leveled the gun as I grounded myself, sure of what was to come. “But it’ll be the last.”
The first shot was a calculated, slow, controlled squeeze that struck his left shoulder before blood sprayed onto the wall behind him. A guttural curse came from him as he leaned over the desk, groping for the drawer that held his only chance at survival. I aimed lower, and the shot rang out as the bullet punctured his knee. He dropped into the chair he had previously been sitting in.
He stared up at me, shock and fury warring in his eyes. I stepped closer, savoring the moment I'd dreamed of for months.
"You killed my father." My voice was eerily calm. Ezequiel’s gaze flicked to Gavriel, but I pressed on. “Don’t look at him. Focus on me. Focus on the whore warming his bed who has become a liability.” Gavriel huffed a laugh behind me. "Did you really think I wouldn’t take everything from you? Burn everything you worked for? For what your name stands for?”
The third shot, I saved for his chest, catching him through the ribcage on his right side. He slumped, head lolling, and gurgled a desperate gasp.
The room went quiet except for his ragged breathing. Gavriel re-holstered his own gun, his features locked in a mask of loyalty and dark satisfaction. Juarez’s corpse lay bleeding crimson intothe white geometric rug, a growing pool creeping toward the soon-to-be former Don.
Ezequiel’s eyes slowly lifted and met mine with all the rage, refusal, and terror he had. He looked at Gavriel as if for rescue, but Gavriel only met his gaze with brutal, stony indifference.
Ezequiel’s mouth twisted, a sneer fighting through the blood in his mouth and coating his teeth. “You think you’ll last, Talon? You’ll be dead by morning. You and your little whore.” His voice rattled like gravel in a tin can. “No one will follow you.”
Grinding through my teeth, I hissed, “I said don’t look at him.”
His eyes were wide as he stared at the guards who had led Gavriel and me in. “You worthless pieces of shit. Your loyalty . . .” His words trailed off with a gurgle and a wet cough. Blood sprayed out onto the carpet with the force of it.
“Their loyalty is with the one who will rule after you.” I couldn’t help but smile as he brought his attention back to me. “The Owl’s Talon, now Don Gavriel Azzaro.” Without taking my eyes from Ezequiel’s, I said, “I think it has a nice ring to it, don’t you?”
Gavriel came over and gave me a soft kiss on my temple. “It really does.”
A slow smirk lifted the corner of my lips. “You thought you were so invincible, but you can’t see that I’ve already taken everything from you. Your son, your men . . . your prospects with the Mexican cartel. It’s all mine. And you know who taught me how to do all of this?” His breaths were becoming shorter and wetter as he sat there. Every ounce of viciousness and hatred I had for the man before me wiped away the smirk on my face. “My father. The man you killed because he dared to worship the ground your daughter walked on.”
Ezequiel coughed, a sickly laugh catching in his throat. “You think you’ve won, Elin Perkins?” He spat my name with disgust.“You’re nothing. Just another body for the furnace. My son will burn you himself.”
I smiled. “That’s the part you always got wrong. I’m the fire, Ezequiel. And you just ran out of oxygen.” His eyes flicked to those behind me before they returned their focus to me. “Remember my name in hell, asshole. I’ll see you there,” I hissed, putting the barrel to his temple.
Time slowed and I was acutely aware of every minute movement: my finger on the trigger, the charring of the skin at his temple as the gun went off, sending the bullet straight through his brain and out the other side, blood spraying, the light in his eyes going out . . . all of it.
Silence hung in the air, broken only by the ticking of an antique clock on the mantel. Gavriel stood motionless, watching me with an unreadable expression. For a moment, all I heard was my own heartbeat. The reverent silence that continued to hang in the air was of a ritual completed. The death of a king and the birth of a new world.
I slowly stood, Gavriel there pulling me a few steps back. “It’s done. You’re free.”
My focus centered at the gun in my hand, its weight familiar and right. Tossing it to the side, I pulled a knife from my boot I’d brought for this very reason before leaning over Ezequiel’s cold body. It was time to pay him the same respect he’d given my father.
With methodical precision, I cut through his expensive suit, through skin, muscle, organs. Tossing the knife aside, I shoved my hand into his body, his blood squelching between my fingers as the warmth seeped into my skin. I gripped one of his ribs, feeling cartilage tear as I peeled it back until it gave with a sickening crack. I did the same to another, the bone splintering under my strength, sending droplets of gore spattering across my wrist. His chest was covered in red as I wrenched it aside,exposing what I was digging for—his still-warm heart, twitching with the last bits of nerve responses.
The doors to the study burst open just as I wrapped my hand around it. I heard guns being drawn and Gavriel’s commanded, “Put them the fuck away. Anyone shoots her and they deal with me.”
“But, sir, Don Azzaro?” a voice said behind me.
“He’s already dead.” Gavriel’s voice was steel as he ordered, “Anyone lays a hand or fires a single shot in the direction of my wife and you will be executed on the spot in a manner thatshedeems fit.”
I froze at his words.Did he just call me his wife?My heart was beating fast now, but for an entirely new reason. When I heard guns being holstered, I yanked, blood spewing everywhere. Warm droplets sprayed my face.
Holding his heart in my hand, blood coating every inch and running down my arm, I smirked at Ezequiel’s cold, dead face. “You thought this needed to be done to shame my father when you killed him? To punish him even after death? Well, here. Fair is fair. I will give your heart to the new Don.”
As I turned, taking in the wide eyes of the six men standing there, I met Gavriel’s gaze, which was warm, evil, and mischievous all at the same time. This was the face of the man that I loved. I took slow, sultry steps toward him, swaying my hips back and forth.
I watched as his eyes heated with each step, how he sucked in the corner of his lower lip, how he caught himself from falling to his knees before his Goddess. I smirked at him.
“I present to you the heart of the former Don. The Owl’s Talon is now Don Azzaro.”
“Thank you. I am honored to receive your present. However, that isn’t the heart I crave nor the one that keeps mine beating.” His gaze held mine, and while I relished the look he gave me, Iwas acutely aware of just how still everyone else in the room was. “May I kiss you?”
