Page 46

Sierra

My bladder protests as I lie in the dark. I’m so warm. I don’t know what woke me, but now I am lying in the dark as my bladder threatens to explode. I’m so warm, cuddled up to Beckett. Eventually, I give in and get out of bed. I tiptoe to the bathroom, not wanting to wake anyone. When I get done and I’m leaving the bathroom, I see a shadow move in the yard outside.

“What the hell?” I whisper to myself.

I look over, and Beckett is still asleep. I don’t want to wake him over a wild animal, so I pull the bathroom door to the frame, but don’t shut it all the way before leaving the room. Everyone in the house is asleep, so I try to be as quiet as I can be.

Mom and Dad have been here with us since finding out Ronan is a rat. It’s a lot to handle, and we don’t know what he is capable of at this point.

Ace is snoring on the couch, so I go to the kitchen to use the back door instead of the front. I type in the alarm code to disarm it before quietly stepping out on the back patio. It’s a chilly night, so I wrap my arms around myself as I walk to one end of the patio to look out into the side yard.

When I don’t see anything, I determine that it was probably nothing. When I turn back to the back door, my heart leaps out of my chest as I jump back when I find Ronan standing behind me.

"Couldn't sleep either, huh?” he muses as he slowly walks toward me. He has a pistol in his hand, but he’s not pointing it at me.

“W-What do you want, Ronan?” I ask, trying to remain calm.

“For a cold-blooded killer, Anthony sure did have a soft spot for you,” Ronan says. I force myself to stop walking, and Ronan steps closer until he is directly in front of me.

“I wouldn’t call beating me a soft spot,” I say.

“You’re alive, aren’t you?” he says with a creepy smile. “That’s more than he offered his first wife.”

“Why are you here? If you are going to kill me, you don’t have to run your mouth first,” I say.

“Kill you?” he chuckles. “Oh… No, I have a much better idea.”

“Sierra?” I hear Beckett call out from inside the house. We are backed into the yard a bit, and I can see the moment he walks out of the house.

“Ronan,” I say frantically when he lifts the gun.

“Your own family handed you off so Mason could be president,” Ronan says with a tight smile as he grabs my hand. Beckett has his gun raised, but he can’t shoot with me here. “You ran right back into their arms, never knowing they once wanted to be rid of you.”

“What do you mean?” I ask. “They wouldn’t…”

“But he did,” he says, placing the pistol in my hand. “Pain is temporary, but a grave is forever.”

“Ronan,” Beckett says calmly. Ronan moves so he is behind me, and my arm is pulled behind my back. He doesn’t want them knowing I have the gun. Why?

“Go on,” Ronan says as Mason and Dad join Beckett. “Tell her.”

“Tell her about what, Ronan?” Beckett says calmly. He’s trying to keep the peace so Ronan won’t kill me, but that’s not what this is.

“Tell her how unwanted she was!” Ronan shouts. “How she got in the way, and Anthony was the distraction they needed.”

“Ronan, man,” Beckett says, putting his hands up as if to surrender. He doesn’t get it. None of them do. I was sold off to Anthony, but he was always the target.

“Tell her!” Ronan screams at my family. “Tell her that all you wanted was to be president. Tell her you knew he was beating her, but didn’t make him stop. Tell her how you…”

A gunshot rings out, and I am stunned for a moment when Ronan’s body crumples to the ground behind me. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Beckett asks, holding my face.

“Move,” I say quietly.

“What? Sierra…”

“Move,” I say again, and this time he does. I bring my arm around and raise the gun to aim.

“Kitten…” Beckett says softly.