“Bitch,” he grunts and snatches the wood from her hands before using it to shove her chest. She loses her footing and tumbles backwards down the stairs in a heap.
“Helen, no,” I whisper.
“Come quietly, Honor, and I’ll leave the old woman alive.”
His voice isn’t familiar, but if I had any doubts about his connection to Gideon, they disappear with his use of my real name. “The only way you are taking me out of here is in a body bag,” I reply in a steely voice.
He snorts and pulls the gun free of my grip. “No need for that. I won’t get my payday if I deliver you cold. A little banged up is to be expected though.” He backhands me across my left cheek, sending me sprawling to the floor. If he thinks that’s enough to scare me into submission, he is clueless as to the horror his employer inflicts on those he ‘loves.’
He tucks the gun into the waistband of his jeans and plucks me off the floor. I keep my body limp as he cradles me in his arms.That’s right, I’m a pathetic weak female who couldn’t possibly defend herself against you.
He storms down the stairs. My gaze lands on Helen, and she winks at me before her eyes flick to the gun at his waist. This is going to be incredibly dangerous, very stupid, and exceptionally courageous. But fuck it. If this man puts me into the hands of my husband, I may as well be dead.
He steps over Helen. At the last second, she snaps her foot up and nails him in his groin.Fuck me, Helen.The dude cries out, and I snatch the gun as he falters and drops me onto the floor, my skull receiving a second knock as my finger pulls the trigger. The shot skims his shoulder.
“Fuck no, not again,” I grit out, adjusting my aim. He roars and leaps forward in an attempt to prevent me from burying a bullet in him. I squeeze off another shot as his body lands on me. He grunts but circles my throat and squeezes hard, cutting off my air supply. My first instinct is to panic, but I shove it back.No. I’m not letting you win.Adrenaline courses through my system, and my heart races as I fire again. This time, his body spasms before his grip on my neck goes limp. I greedily suck in air, filling my lungs with precious oxygen.
Tremors rack my body as warmth blooms across my chest. My mind races to catch up to my actions. Did I shoot myself? I’m not ready to die. I just found someone to live for, someone to risk my heart with. It’s not fair.
Heavy pounding on the door yanks me out of my head. Helen’s worried face appears above mine. “Did you call the police?” she asks.
“No.” She frowns as the knocking gets louder.
“Helen? Cleo? It’s Sam. Fox sent me. I heard shots.
Fuck. Someone let me in, or I’m breaking down the door.”
Helen’s shoulders droop, and she moves to open the frontdoor. A worried Samuel storms into the house and closes the door behind him. “Where’s—” His gaze lands on me.
“A little help please?” I say. He strides over and uses his boot to shove the guy off me. He helps me stand and holds me steady as I sway. When he sees the massive crimson stain covering my chest, his eyes fly wide. “It’s not mine,” I tell him.
“What the fuck happened?”
“Language,” Helen chides.
“Excuse me, Helen, but fuck proper manners when I get a call in the middle of the night from my best friend saying there’s a dangerous man invading the home his grandmother and woman are in.” He points at the man on the floor. “Someone going to explain that to me?”
“Home invasion,” Helen snaps. “That’s all you need to know.”
“Fine. How long until the police get here?”
“We haven’t called them yet,” Helen says as she bends to check the intruder’s pulse.
Her face relaxes. Because he’s dead or alive? “He’s dead,” she says with a nod at me. “That will make the next part a little easier.”
He’s dead. Gone. Unalived. I did that. I took someone’s life. Fuck. I killed someone. The room sways, and I look down at the gun still clutched in my trembling hand. “Can someone take this off me? I feel weird.”
Helen snatches the gun and snaps the safety on just as an unfamiliar ringtone echoes in the room. Time seems to stop as we all stare at the man on the floor. The ringing cuts out before starting again.Fuck this.I bend and rummage in his side pocket for the offending phone, doing my best to ignore all the blood. Unknown caller ID flashes up.
I swallow. Deep down in my gut, I know who it is. But tonight I made the decision to stop running scared. I stood upfor myself and the people I care about. No more hiding. He knows where I am anyway. I slide the button to accept the call, leaving a bloody streak on the screen.
“Do you have her?” the voice from my nightmares snaps. “She better be unharmed.” I swallow as Samuel frowns and folds his arms. Helen raises a brow at me. “Honor?” Gideon drawls. “Did my disobedient wife grow a backbone?”
“Who is Honor?” Samuel mouths.
I drag in a breath but force myself to stay in the moment. I wrestle the panic welling inside of me as I gaze at Samuel and Helen.I’m not alone.“I always had a backbone, Gideon.”
“You won’t when I snap it,” he snarls. “Stay where you are and surrender yourself to my men once they reach the house in that pretty little town you’ve been holed up in for weeks. Come quietly, and I’ll leave Helen alone. You are there alone with the old women right now, and your knight in shining armor is still hours away. Don’t make her collateral damage.”
