Page 99 of Guilty as Sin

Together we pick our way back over the bodies in the stairwell. Seven’s retaliation, vanquished.

Connor covers his mouth like he’s trying not to be sick, but he doesn’t falter in leading me to safety. As we slip out the back door, we hear sirens in the distance, the emergency response late as usual.

Blood covers the front of my clothes, and Connor walks close in front of me to keep me hidden. My little brother, protecting me as we wind through the streets of my city. Dawn seeps between the skyscrapers as the streetlights flicker out, and we make it back to our apartment before the sun fully rises.

Connor gives me privacy to change out of my bloodied clothes and take a shower. When he knocks on my bedroom door, I’m already in old pajamas and under the covers.

“Come in,” I say, my voice detached. It’s like all the parts of me have separated, floating aimlessly around the room, so jumbled up there’s no chance of me pulling back together into something whole.

“You okay?” Connor sits on the edge of my bed. His posture is horrible, and his dark brown hair is so shaggy it almost brushes his shoulders as he hunches. I want to tell him to sit up straight, to get a haircut, to take care of himself. Yet he’s the one taking care of me.

“I’m fine,” I say, not bothering to conceal my untruth.

“Coralying.” He shakes his head at me.

The irony of the nickname is that he could never tell when I was lying, unless I chose to be obvious about it. It was only if I revealed myself later that he’d know. Poker bluffs, stealing his car, bribing his teachers to pass him.

I hadn’t thought about that nickname in years, not until I got that threatening text informing me that Connor was in trouble. The one that triggered this disaster of a marriage.

“You told the O’Sullivans to call me that.” My tone is numb, not accusatory, but he flinches all the same.

“They said they needed to make sure you took their text seriously.”

“Well. I did.” And now look where we are.

“I knew you would,” he says. “I knew you’d drop everything to come to my rescue.”

My heart wants to take comfort in his words. My little brother knows how much I love him. But there’s no solace for me in this world anymore. With my adrenaline crashing and my emotions bled dry, I have nothing left.

I am empty.

Chapter 47

Brady

I kneel on the floor in front of my wife’s discarded wedding ring.

I let her go. I let her walk away from our life together.

I had to.

Yes, I’ll lock her in a safe room when it’s necessary. But I’m not going to keep her in our home against her will.

My phone rings. A reminder of my duty, of the million other things I have to deal with right now. I pocket Cora’s ring and pull out my phone.

It’s Finn, confirming that all the police downstairs are on our payroll. I have him send them up, then tell him to go to Mam and Da’s on the South Side. This building is my responsibility. I’ll coordinate the cleanup myself.

After the police have removed the bodies and scrubbed the scene, I pay them accordingly and send them on their way. Once I’m alone, the first thing I do is pour myself a stiff drink. The second thing I do is check my nightstand drawer. Beneath its false bottom, the key to my office’s safe room is missing.

I curse at myself for being a fucking eejit. I should’ve checked on all my hidden keys as soon as I’d seen the scratch on my home office’s lock. That telltale sign of her cunning.

My clever, scheming, beautiful wife.

I never deserved her.

I won’t force her to stay with me. Just like I wouldn’t force her to sleep with me until she wanted to, until she begged for it. She won’t beg this time. I know my stubborn wife well enough to know she won’t be coming back. Not after I locked her away. Certainly not after I endangered her brother. By all rights, she should kill me for that.

At least it’d put me out of my misery.