Page 66 of Unexpected Complication

I gripped my hair. “One of his dealers didn’t…please him. Orson issued the order.”

“You killed him?”

I shut my eyes. “I had no choice.”

“You’ve killed before, Cian. You knew you’d have to kill more.”

“He was just a kid, Sean. I don’t even think he knew what he was doing. He was younger than Skylar. He just fucked up.” I sat down heavily, recalling his face, the look of utter terror as I pulled out my gun and shot him—dead. Remembering how my stomach twisted, my heart pounded, and still, I pulled the trigger, then turned away, feigning indifference.

Moments later, I was out back, throwing up in the bushes, desperately trying to control my breathing so I could go back inside and continue pretending not to give a fuck. The urgent need to see Skylar had started then and had grown immeasurably all day long.

“He just fucked up,” I repeated. “He didn’t deserve to die because he got his fucking numbers mixed up.”

“If he was involved with Orson and this world, he was headed for an early grave.”

I nodded silently, knowing he was trying to comfort me.

“Orson is really on edge. We’ve got him jumping at shadows,” Sean mused.

“I know.”

“Cian, we can end this. Say the word, and it’s done.”

“I have to see this through. I have to.” I swallowed and steeled myself. “I want his fucking drugs off the street, even if someone else replaces them. I want him gone. I want to do this for my father—for all the other people that bastard murdered.”

“We can get him on something else.”

“And the room goes up in smoke.”

He grabbed my arm. “It’s a watch, Cian. It’s just a fucking watch. It’s not going to bring him back. It’s not worth losing your mind over it.”

I shook my head. “It’s more than a watch, Sean. It’s a piece of my history. All the things in that room are memories—fucking sacred memories—small pieces of a life that fucker snuffed out because he decided he was God and chose to take them away. I want to give their families that piece back. Deny him that final pleasure. I want him to know he lost.

“I have to do this.” I let my head fall back down to my chest, suddenly exhausted. “And I need Skylar close to help me get through it all—if she can forgive me for doing what I have to do to end it. If she’ll stay with me when it’s over.”

Skylar’s voice came from the doorway. “I’m right here, Cian. I’m not going anywhere—now or when it’s done.”

I lifted my head and held out my hand. She came forward, slipping her hand in mine.

“You get him, Cian. Then we’ll start our life together and leave all the ugliness behind us.”

I pulled her onto my lap, wrapping my arms around her waist and holding her close. I buried my face into her neck, breathing in her delicate scent, allowing it to calm me.

Sean cleared his throat. “If you want to speed it up, we need to hunker down, Cian. We need to be there and monitor everything. Which means…”

“…I have to be alone,” Skylar finished for him.

“Yes.”

“Then do it. I’m fine.” Slipping her hands under my chin, she lifted my head. Her wide eyes met mine, calm and determined. “Stop worrying about me, Cian. I’m warm, safe, and fed. Thanks to Sean, I have drawing stuff and I enjoy it. I’m in a far better place now than I was a couple of weeks ago.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but she pressed a finger to my lips.

“Finish it, so we can start.”

I blew out a deep breath. “Okay.”

She brought my head back to her shoulder. “Okay.”