Don't break, don’t break, not now, you stupid bitch. We’re so close.I disguise the whimper in my throat as a small cough.
Mother must sense my climbing unease because she exhales loudly. “Sabrina, darling, walk me to the door, yes?”
“Of course.” I giggle softly, stepping away from Kane as he reluctantly lets me go.
“Quickly, Sabrina, I’d like to show you something. Theothersurprise,” he emphasizes, and I smile brightly at him. He turns his attention to my mother. “Mrs. Barclay.” He nods and steps away.
“Right…” I trail off and grab my mother by the elbow, moving us swiftly into the foyer, with Parker trailing behind us. I open the large oak door for her and give her a hug. “Mum—”
She embraces me, her touch burning where the hives are screaming. I shiver in her hold. “You’re not safe here anymore, are you?”
I squeeze her a little tighter just in case it’s goodbye. “No, Mum. I’m not.” But it’s not because of them. It’s because of what I’m about to do. “My work here won’t be done until I’ve slaughtered him and I've pissed on his corpse.”
Mama’s eyes flash with pride as she swipes under my eye with her thumb, then reaches for my hand, slipping something small and metallic into it. “Then do it well, Tink.”
“Give Derek my best!” I call after them with a wave and lean against the concrete pillar, letting the freezing air cool the burning irritation under my skin and simply breathe for a few beats until the Maserati is down the elongated drive and but a speck of cherry red.
I allow Kane to lead me down the corridors of a long hallway that seems to go at a downward angle, as though we’re going underground to a morgue. Truly, I would not be surprised if that’s where he’s taking me.
The best part of this ordeal… is that we’re alone.
Perfect.
“Just through here, darling,” Kane coos, untucking a badge from his inner jacket pocket and pressing it to a scanner by a set of heavy, steel double doors. Ah, so it’s been on his person this entire time. I scold myself for not being braver and getting closer to him to swipe it.
“Erm… Kane?”
“Yes, darling?”
“Where are we going?”
“Well…” he drags it out. “Seeing as the games were canceled today, I thought you’d like to watch me kill your husband.”
I step closer to Kane and lay my hand on his bicep. “Kane… you’re always thinking of me.” Tipping on my toes, I slip my hand to the nape of his neck and pull him down for a kiss. He groans into my mouth as his tongue tangles with mine and I… put my hand behind my back and into the waistband of my trousers, remove the safety from my favorite birthday gift, and thumb the hammer down.
My grasp on his hair tightens and he chuckles. “My, my Sabrina… had I known this is what you needed from me to become so rambunctious, I would have done it sooner. Taken him out back and put him down like the beast he is.”
I grin against his lips. “Call him a beast again…”
Kane moans, “Beast…”
The warmth and the weight of Pixie, my gun, makes me shiver. I tuck the barrel of Pixie under his jaw and grip his hair even tighter. “Call my husband a beast again, Kanedrew. I dare you.”
“Bea—” hegruntswhen I bring my foot up and stomp my heels down on his toes. He bends forward and I bring my knee up. “Fack! Sabrina!” His hands go up to his bloody nose, and I go in for the kill, kicking my leg up right between his legs. He goes down to his knees, and I grasp his hair again, holding Pixie to his temple.
I tilt my head to the side, watching as crimson oozes from his nose and mouth. “You’ve never been more beautiful to me than you are now, on your knees and bleeding for me,” Itsk. “Pity that. Now, take me to my husband, and I might let you live.”
That’s a lie, of course. But he doesn’t need to know that. After all, Kanedrew Cornelious Burton must die.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Parker
“Here, Tildy. Goddammit, woman, you drive like a fucking spy in a Bond movie.”
She laughs as she pulls over. “Thank you.”
“That wasn’t a compliment,” I gripe, opening the door and clambering out on the side of the road, trying to keep my breakfast down. I had her drive while I changed out of my suit and Armani’s and into the black tactical pants, boots, a skin-tight thermal jacket over my Under Armour, and gloves with grip.
