The room goes completely silent.
“What the hell is wrong with you? What game are you playing now?” Ayita gripes, but I see the fear in her eyes. She should be afraid.
“What’s wrong, Ayita? You don’t want Bear’s brothers to know how you fucked my brother as a thank you for hurting Bear. How you ordered Bear beaten despite the fact he was slowly dying? How you told Douglas’s men to rape me and mock me while they were doing it?”
If I weren’t reliving the past, stuck in it with snatched memories of that day playing in my head, I would have died of embarrassment. Thankfully, none of that occurs to me as I advance on her. My hand slides under the cut and into the pocket of my blazer. I grip the gun tightly as I stare her down.
“You’re lying!” She looks around the room and screams at everyone. “She’s lying! You all know me. I would never do that to Bear. Never!”
“Ask her how Ranger knew to approach Bear and why he was with Bear that night at the garage,” I call out. “It’s not like Bear trusted Ranger over his own brother, or Hangman, Viper, any of you guys. In fact, Ranger would have been pretty low down on Bear’s list—except he had been talking in Bear’s ears for weeks. Feeding him just enough information to make him believe. It helped that you were in his ear, too, wasn’t it, bitch? Telling him how much Ranger missed having Bear in his life. How he had been talking to you and wanting to mend fences, all that poison came from you, Ayita.”
“You’re talking out of your head. You guys can’t believe her. She’s just trying to tear us all apart. The bitch is probably working for her brother all over again!” Ayita screams, clearly moving past panic into desperation.
“I guess there’s only one way to get you to admit the truth,” I say with a deep breath. Then I pull out Bear’s gun.
“Livy, honey, maybe we should talk about this,” Hangman says from somewhere behind me.
“Leave her be,” Blade answers, his words final. Mostly I’m ignoring them all. I stare straight at Ayita, who looks like she’s afraid to breathe. She should be.
“Now, we can do this the easy way. I will give you a chance to tell them the truth. If you don’t, I’m going to shoot you. The fact that I’m using Bear’s gun seems like justice. Don’t you think? It’s one of the last vows I ever made to him. I promised I would get revenge on you and Douglas. You should know I’m intent on keeping that promise, Ayita.”
“You wouldn’t. They won’t let you. I’m family. You’re just a whore who is responsible for Bear’s death.”
“I was really hoping you’d pick the easy way,” I grumble. I lower my gun just enough. I see victory shine in her eyes before I smile and pull the trigger, shooting her in her kneecap. I hear some whistling and some cursing behind me. I’m pretty sure that Viper says, “Fuck, that’s hot.” If Bear was still alive, he’d kick Viper in the balls for that. If Ayita wasn’t screaming and hadn’t fallen down on the floor, I’d enjoy the thought longer. I like to imagine Bear is alive and interacting all around me. It’s something I never mentioned in therapy because they’d probably put me in a padded cell.
“Now, tell them why you betrayed Bear,” I growl.
“Go to hell!” she hisses. I don’t even blink. I bring the gun back up and shoot her in the shoulder. This time she cries out even louder. “Stop her! I’m Bear’s woman. You can’t let her do this.”
I squat down so that I’m closer to her. I’ll admit that I take a certain amount of happiness from watching the bright red blood pouring from her wounds. I hold the muzzle of the pistol against her forehead. She goes completely still. “One. Last. Chance.”
“Fuck you!” she snarls.
“Have it your way.” I shrug. I move the gun quickly to shoot her other kneecap.
This time she squeals like a pig. I guess it hurts more up close. I’ll make a note of that if I ever get a chance to shoot Douglas.
“You fucking bitch. This is all your fault. Bear was mine! Mine! Then you come along and suddenly you’re all he can think about. Fucker even called your name while sleeping in my bed! You didn’t leave me a choice!”
“You’re wrong. You had a choice! All you had to do was leave. Tell him to leave. Do what grown adults do that break up instead of being an unhinged …” I stop trying to find the right words, drawing a blank because I don’t think they make words to explain how evil she is.
“Cunt waffle!” Winnie suggests, and if I wasn’t struggling with so many different emotions right now, I’d laugh.
“Cunt waffle,” I repeat.
“Fuck you! He deserved the pain. He was mine. He may not have slept with you, but he wanted to! I despised you both. I loved watching him experience the pain he put me through, and I cheered those fucking bastards on when they held you down and gang banged?—”
I shoot her in the mouth. Blood splatters on me, but I don’t pay any attention. I’m too busy screaming for her to shut up.
I keep saying it over and over. Then I feel Cross’s arms go around me. “It’s okay, Ollie-girl. I’ve got you. You’re safe now,” he whispers in my ear.
“I want to go home,” I tell him, curling into him as he lifts me up.
“I’ll take you home. I promise,” Cross says, his voice soft and steady.
“Will you stay? Like you did before.”
“I’ll stay, Ollie. Don’t worry. We’ll get Mrs. Dynes to clean you up and we’ll watch those horrible Christmas movies.”
