He flicks his smoke onto the ground. “All right, then. Suppose you’re also not in the mood to make this easy for me?”
“What do you think?”
Sighing, he takes a step forward. Without a second of hesitation, I clock him hard in the face. It’s shot for shot after that until we’re both nursing bloody lips and throbbing cheeks, but he’s the one who finally backs down. As fucking pissed as I am, I probably would have gone all night. Maybe he could sense that.
Face and knuckles aching, I jump on my bike and head home, ready to drink myself to sleep, but as I approach my front steps, I can tell my night isn’t gonna play out like that. My frontdoor is cracked open, and inside, it’s a disaster, my shit strewn everywhere.
God. Fucking. Dammit.
Slowly, silently, I push the door open with the toe of my boot. Eyes open for movement, I slide my hand along the shelf above the coat rack, searching for the gun I keep there. Gone. The house is dark, but the mess isn’t hard to make out. Pictures smashed. Dishes broken. Cupboards and drawers open. A mix of foam and feathers and balls of fluff all over the living room. My pillows cut open, my couch destroyed.
Someone was looking for something.
A loud thump.
And they’restilllooking.
Remaining silent is damn near impossible when glass and ceramic crunch under my feet. I grab a kitchen knife on my way to the bedroom, where the light is on. Breath held, I push the door open with the tip of the blade. The sight I’m met with ignites a rage in me so fucking hot that I barely register what she’s got in her hand.
Sitting in a chair, centre of the room, is Grace fucking Donovan.
Short skirt, leather boots. What looks to be my high school yearbook on her lap. Wide grin split across her goddamn face.
And a fucking gun pointed at my head.
10
“Grace,”Decker growls as he storms into the room.
I extend my arm, reminding him of the weapon I’m holding, and chamber a round.
The sharp clack is enough to make him stop.
Hand steady, I point the barrel at his weapon. “Drop the knife.”
He doesn’t move.
“Don’t make me shoot you,” I warn.
It would be easy. A bend of my finger. That’s it. One shot, and his heart stops beating. With that knowledge, the gun feels heavier, my palms suddenly damp with sweat.
He grits his teeth as he tosses his blade to the floor. “You can’t pop that off without someone hearing. I got neighbours. South Bay PD would be on you faster than you could get out of town. Put the gun down so I can properly throw you out. And I willnotbe fucking gentle this time.”
Is that what he was? Gentle? I distinctly remember his hand closing around my throat, the fire in his eyes while he did it. I wonder whatnot gentlemeans to a man like Lincoln Decker.
Part of me desperately wants to test out that threat. Make him show me exactly how much he’s changed, how dark he’s become, hownot gentlehe can be.
With the gun still on him, I angle forward and rummage through the box at my feet. I was tearing apart his closet when I happened upon his high school yearbooks. I would have been in elementary school back then, but I found Jack, big smile and long, wild hair. Axe too, with his leather jacket and a pissed-off look on his face. And Emily and Linc, of course.
“I forgot you were prom king,” I say with a snort as I find what I’m looking for. I pull out a second gun—a bigger one with a suppressor—and point it at him. “Think anyone will hear this one?”
He only stares at me, mouth hanging open.
“You’ve got a lot of guns,” I say. “This is three. Four if you count the one in your safe. Your birthday as your combination? Really?”
He blinks, exhales noisily, like he’s finally catching up. Then he smiles. One of those obnoxious, arrogant smiles he always keeps in his back pocket. “We both know you’re talking shit. You ever kill someone before? You’d be surprised how hard it is. You’re not gonna shoot me. So, I’ll say it one more time. Put the fucking gun?—”
I pop off a shot to his right. He jumps back as the bullet tears through the vase on his dresser. Ceramic shards fly across the room, and he throws up his arms to cover his upper body.
