No.
No, they made a mistake. There was a flaw in their plan—me.
They wanted me to be their little soldier when I grew up and never considered I wouldn’t go along with it. Now,wewere the flaw in their plan, and we could make sure it never happened again.
Chapter 45
Aiden
Pain was a bitch.
Not the kind of sharp, fleeting pain from a quick hit in a fight. No, this was the deep, gnawing kind, the kind that clawed at my ribs and sent waves of nausea rolling through me. Blood seeped through my shirt, sticking the fabric to my skin as I gritted my teeth.
Zack stood across from me, arms dropped to his sides, looking way too pleased with himself.
“You look like shit,” he observed, smirking.
“No kidding. That will happen when you have to save your girl from not only one deranged maniac, but two. Including one that you thought was your friend.”
Zack’s lip curled. “We were never friends and you know that. I never fit in with your group and you were more than happy to kick me out the second you had a chance.”
I grinned despite the pain, knowing he wasn’t wrong. “Well, after you took your sick little video of me fucking Evie, yeah, I was more than happy to let you go. I only wish that I let you go without the ability to walk.”
“Because you are all weak. When it comes down to it, you’re weak, and that’s why you couldn’t do anything about it.”
“You keep telling yourself that. You do know how this is going to end, right?”
“With Evie understanding why I did this and realizing you are on the losing end.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Yes, because Evie isnothingbut understanding and someone who really thinks it through. She is definitely not a shoot first type of girl. For someone in love with Evie, you really never paid attention to her, did you?”
“Of course I paid attention to her.”
I smirked right back. “Then you can appreciate why I call her psycho girl.”
“Both of you, shut up,” Anderson snapped. He crossed the room in two strides, boots scraping on the floor, and checked the door like he half expected it to burst open. “You don’t even have Evie, Zack, so before you run your mouth more, maybe we should focus on getting her back—and getting rid of... him.” He spit the last word out like it tasted bad, a disgusted snarl twisting his face.
I pursed my lips, trying to stifle my laugh. “What’s the rush? We’re just three guys, in love with the same woman, hanging out. Luckily for me, I’m the one she doesn’t want to kill. Not today at least.”
“Maybe she doesn’t, but we do,” Jack said. “I don’t particularly need you, and from what I’ve seen the past few weeks, you will only be in my way if I keep you around.”
My lip curled. “So you’ve been the one stalking us?”
“Obviously.”
The slam of a metal door cut through the tension. Jack turned—and hell itself stormed through the room.
Hell itself being the love of my life.
Evie came through the door first, all fire and fury, her eyes locking on me, and I couldn’t help but smile. Rook was right behind her, a gun in one hand and a knife in the other.
But Evie was the only thing I could keep my eyes on.
Something had shifted when Rook found out, some part of me accepting that Evie was my fate no matter what. Nothing would ever come between us.
So really all I had to do forever was fall in love with her again and again.
Not that it would be hard. She raised her knife, heading right toward Jack as the echo of a gunshot rang out. Rook had dropped one of the guards, the man screaming as he fell to the ground.
