“Almost. Point your toes out.” Stepping behind her, I bump her knee until her leg and foot are where I want them. Then I guide her hands. “There you go. Hands here, and…yeahhh, there you go. You’ve got it. I’m gonna hold your arms to help with the recoil. Remember what I told you?”
“Aim to kill, fingers off the trigger until then, and keep steady.”
“That’s my good wife.” She’s so damn intense as she repeats my instructions. “You’re so strong,” I murmur into her ear as I brace her forearms. “Never broken. And you’ll never stand alone because I’ll always be right here with you.”
Mara glances up with a gratitude so at odds with our current circumstances. “Thank you for finding me and making me fall in love with you. You’re the only man I want to live this life with, Warren Shay.”
Tightening my grip so I don’t knock her off balance, I kiss the hell out of her. “Thank you for letting me love you. Now send this son of a bitch where he belongs.”
Then Mara faces Blackwood, squares her shoulders, and lines up the barrel to the center of his chest. Wetness seeps from his cockless manhood as he blubbers through his gag, but the time for sympathy is long past. “Go to hell, bastard,” she spits out, finger tightening on the trigger. “See if you can count high enough for all the punishments the devil’s going to give you.”
God, I’m so proud of her.
Boom!
She stumbles back, but my body stops her. Just as I expected.
“Did I get him?” she breathes heavily.
“Gut shot.” Admiration fills my voice as rivulets of red bloom at his abdomen. “You do so well with first times, Mrs. Shay.”
A faint smile crosses her lips, but then they flatten as Blackwood moans. His eyes that burned so brightly with hatred now glaze over with well-deserved suffering.
“Two choices, Mara.” I take the gun from her trembling hands as she leans back against me. “Sun’s going down. We can wait here until he bleeds out, or we can end it for good and take the kids home.”
“Let’s end this.” She doesn’t even think on it. “I want to go home.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do.” I brush a kiss to her sweat-dampened hairline. It makes my blood fucking boil all over again for the hell he inflicted on her, what he did to Sullivan, and the fact that his filthy hands were on my daughter. That he trespassed onto my land. Went into my house, a sanctuary where my family should have been safe. Scared my wife, daughter, and family, and kicked my dog. Part of his repayment was satisfied with Mara’s bullet, but now it’s time for mine.
For ours.
Big hands cradling smaller hands, we lift the gun.
We aim.
We shoot.
And as the purple and orange hues stain the sky to mark the setting of the sun, our bullet hits dead center of Montgomery Blackwood’s forehead, forever ending his hold on my family.
CHAPTER 30
MARA
All the way home,I keep waiting for any hint of regret or shame for killing someone, but there is none to be found.
Just peace in knowing that there’s no more Montgomery Blackwood.
No more threat to me or Emmaline.
But the entire ordeal has most definitely left me emotionally exhausted and ready to be home. It’s dusk when our house finally comes into view, and my soul settles, even with the burnt smell lingering in the air.
Dove and Eleanor wait on the porch while Dalton sits with Patches on the steps. The moment I dismount, Patches is there to greet me. His entire body wiggles in excitement as he barks out a welcome and alternates between licking me and Warren and winding between our legs to get as close as possible.
“How’s your side, sweet boy?” I ask, carefully checking for any tenderness, but there doesn’t seem to be much. “You were so brave and did your best, didn’t you? Yes, you did.”
Sullivan holds cautiously to the back of my dress, and I urge him around. “This is Patches. I have a feeling you andhe will be the best of friends soon. Here, hold your hand out for him to scent you.”
Patches’ snuffling snout to his small, dirty palm is enough to elicit a quick giggle from him, and it lightens my heart in a much needed way after the heaviness of what just transpired.
