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The precision and speed with which they drew their guns. The single kill shot when it was obvious the man I beat up couldn’t escape—eliminating loose ends.
“I’m confirming a few things, but I think you know my answer to that. If it was a robbery, they weren’t really successful, were they? A lot of risk for a few purses and loose change,” Elias answers.
And Olivia’s camera.
I emailed a contact to see if they could locate it. The odds are slim to none, but it’s important, judging by how she dashed after the motorcyclist when he snatched it from her hands.
And so I’ll find it for her.
“So, Bree’s in danger. Officially now.” I swing open the door and step onto the deck, my eyes squinting from the cold sunlight.
“Yes. They obviously figured out her identity. I told her not to leave the ship for now.”
My ribs tighten as guilt sweeps in. I didn’t save Bree first. They almost took her. They would’ve taken her if she hadn’t fought back.
It didn’t even occur to me to go to her first, because all my attention was riveted on Olivia.
Fuck. I can’t mess this up. I can’t have another death happen on my watch.
“Do I need to fly out earlier?” Elias asks. “Because what the hell happened to you? I saw photos of the bastard—I can barely make out a face. You better hope forensics showed the bullet killed him and not you.”
I groan, a fifty-pound cannonball sitting on top of my chest.
I don’t know how to answer him.
The surge of violence three days ago obliterated all rational thought, and I can’t bring myself to regret it.
My fingers tighten on my phone, and I hiss from the sharp pain. Raw knuckles requiring ten stitches will do that to you.
Shit. I was a savage.
“Rex? I can pull you out if you can’t handle it. You had a shit ton of witnesses, you don’t just—”
“He hurt her.”
The confession pours out of me, and silence fills the line.
It’s the only answer I have.
My mind still quakes from the red-hazed memories of the scariest moment in my adult life.
The asshole pointing a gun at Olivia.
Her eyes wide with fear.
The murderous craze surging in my veins when I pushed her out of the way, not caring about my safety.
Then I let my monster out.
My ears rung. Logic winked out. Only one thought percolated in my mind.
Kill him. Kill the bastard.
Turn him into ground meat so he could never hurt her again.
Then the strange split second when the man lying beneath me, taking my punches, became…me.
The same gray eyes rimmed with dark circles, a deranged smile twisting his lips.
