Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 46197 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 231(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46197 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 231(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
“Yeah. He can hang here and rot. The Arkansas branch will find him eventually and dispose of what’s left,” I replied.
“Sweet. So, we’re about done? Not sure he’s mentally with us anymore,” Gathe said as he lit a cigarette that he had clenched between his teeth.
“Yeah. We’re about done.”
I stepped up closer to the bastard who had hurt Cressida both physically and emotionally. He made a gasping sound, then a gurgle as blood came from his mouth.
“You touched what belonged to me. My little Songbird was broken at your hands. She survived you. Escaped you. And I’ll take care of her now. You can go to hell, knowing she won. She defeated you. And that sweet body she would never give you? I’ve had it. I had it first, and I’ll have it last. She gives it to me. She wants my cock. Those pretty legs spread for me.”
I smirked as hatred glinted in his eyes. He was still in there. He understood. I grabbed his face, squeezing his cheeks together as more blood ran from his nose and the corner of his mouth.
“I’ll see you in hell, you son of a bitch,” I drawled, then took the blade in my hand and slid it right between his ribs. The exact way I’d taken Pirate’s life four years ago.
The struggle to breathe was instant for him, and I twisted the knife in his lung that I’d punctured, watching his wide-eyed panic when he realized he was going to choke to death.
“And there he goes,” Gathe drawled as the fight in his eyes slowly faded until as did the sounds of him struggling to breathe.
“Are you gonna tell her he was the one who killed her mother?”
I wasn’t sure. That was information I didn’t think he’d meant to divulge. The affair that Cressida’s father had been having and his refusal to leave his wife because of her emotional state had led to the current Mrs. Beck bribing her brother with Cressida one day being his if he killed her mother and made it look like an accident. I wasn’t sure Cressida needed to know that. I’d gotten her revenge for her.
“Are we gonna kill the stepmom too? Because if we are, I suggest putting some time between the two deaths,” Than said.
I turned and walked back toward them. “No. But I’m going to make sure her sins are revealed and she pays for her crime. She has to suffer, too, but I’ll let the law handle that one.”
“Thank fuck. I hate killing women. Even terrible bitches like that one,” Gathe said, falling into step beside me.
We walked out of the mine into the evening air. I was ready to get back to Madison, clean the bastard’s blood off me, and go see my little Songbird. Reassure myself she was safe.
The sight of Bane’s truck outside my house when I finally pulled in the next morning wasn’t what I wanted to deal with right now. I’d texted Cressida ten times, and she’d not responded once. I’d called, and it would only beep once, then start recording for a message. No ringing. Nothing.
Bane being here meant he was aware I’d left town and possibly why. Dammit. Leaving Cressida and going back to Alabama was not happening. Not yet. I needed more time to figure out how to stay. How to have her too. Yes, I’d acted out of rage four years ago, and if Cressida hadn’t lied, I would have very likely gone to prison. But I hadn’t. She’d protected me, and I hadn’t protected her. I sure as fuck wasn’t leaving her unprotected anymore.
Why couldn’t I have her? What was it the family’s business? So I’d killed a man over her. I could tick off at least ten family members who had killed a man because of a woman. Yeah, maybe I’d been too young to feel what I did for Cressida, but four years later, and I still felt it. All of it. Just as strong as I had back then.
Opening the front door, I stalked inside, ready to face whatever bullshit was waiting on me. I had barely gotten inside the foyer when Bane stepped through the open entrance of the parlor on the left to face me. His arms were crossed over his chest, and the scowl on his face just pissed me off. I wasn’t dealing with him. He wasn’t the boss. If Linc had a problem with me, then send him.
I met his scowl with one of my own but kept walking passed him.
“Kash!” Oz’s sharp tone stopped me.
I didn’t want to fight with my brother, but if he was siding with his best friend over me, I would.
“What?” I asked, spinning back around to glare at them both.
“Why were you in Arkansas?” Bane demanded.
He knew where I had been, but not why. The son of a bitch had a tracker on me. I’d left the phone they knew I had here and taken a burner with me. That meant he had one planted elsewhere. We’d left my truck at Gathe’s and rented an Escalade so the tracker had to be on me somewhere.