Dorian stepped back, chest rising and falling a little heavier now, eyes flicking between the body and Ro. “Sorry. You had it under control. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“It’s fine,” Ro replied immediately. There was no anger in it, just tension. “Just… learn as you go.”
From down the hall, there was a heavy thud followed by the sound of floorboards creaking.
Ronan’s gaze snapped toward the end of the hallway, where a faint line of light cut across the floor beneath a closed door.
“He’s up,” Dori murmured.
“Yeah,” Ro confirmed. “Hard not to be after that.”
Dori winced, a very faint reddish hue blooming across his cheeks.
“Come on,” Ro ordered quietly.
We stepped over the body—Dorian last, pausing to nudge it out of the middle of the hallway with his foot so it wouldn’t trip us on the way back.
Then we advanced.
Ro reached the master bedroom door first, positioning himself just to the side of the frame. He held up three fingers, glancing back at us once to make sure we were ready.
I nodded, excitement buzzing under my skin.
Dorian gave a single, sharp dip of his chin.
Three.
Two.
One—
Ro shoved the door open and pivoted in just as a gunshot cracked through the room.
I flinched instinctively as the bullet slammed into the wall just behind where Ro had been a fraction of a second earlier.
Jackson Neil stood on the other side of the room, both hands gripping the gun, arms locked straight, eyes wide and wild.
“I fucking knew it!” he shouted, voice shaking but loud, manic with adrenaline. “I knew one of you would come!”
“Drop it,” Ronan said calmly, eyes on the gun aimed our way.
Jackson laughed. “You think I’m stupid?” he snapped, backing up a step, the gun tracking between the three of us. “I’ve been getting threats for months. Months. You think I wouldn’t be ready?!”
His gaze flicked past us—toward the hallway.
Toward where his brother was.
“Where’s Matt..?”
No one answered.
They didn’t have to.
His face drained of color. “You—” His voice broke, then came back louder, sharper, splintering into rage. “You killed him?!”
Ro didn’t lie. “Yes.”
The word landed like a trigger.
