Page 48 of Pucked Around and Found Out

Told myself the baby means nothing.

Told myself I can use her for information and then walk away clean.

But as I stand here alone in the dark, I realize the only person I'm lying to is myself.

Because that baby does matter.

And so does she.

And I have no fucking idea how to deal with either truth.

So I do what I always do when emotions threaten to overwhelm me.

I shove them down. Lock them away. Focus on what I can control.

Fiona Williams needs to die.

Masen needs to pay.

Steven Kellar’s empire needs to be destroyed.

Those are tangible goals. Clear objectives.

Unlike the mess of feelings Toren Kellar stirs up inside me.

I pull out my phone and text Cas.

Me - Meeting at the apartment in an hour. Bring everyone. We have a new target.

His response is immediate.

Cas - Who?

Me - Deputy Director Fiona Williams. CIA.

Cas - Fuck. Okay. See you soon.

I pocket the phone and start getting dressed, my mind already strategizing, planning, calculating.

This is what I'm good at. This is who I am.

A monster who destroys everything he touches.

And if Toren Kellar thinks she can save me from myself?

She's about to learn just how wrong she is.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

TOREN

Some things follow you out of the dark.

The parking lot is cold.

I hadn't noticed how cold until now, standing here with the ocean still dripping down the back of my neck and sand grinding between my toes inside shoes I somehow managed to pull back on before I made my exit. The rest of me is still a disaster. Bra. Pants. The knowledge that I just had the most devastating, most honest, most completely wretched conversation of my life and walked away with nothing to show for it except a wet bra and the particular brand of heartache that comes from loving a man who's decided destruction is the only language he wants to speak.

I wrap my arms around myself and stare at my phone.