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“He’ll never stop,” Cain responded quietly. “He’ll get off or he’ll get out or he’ll find someone to do his dirty work for him.” Cain’s eyes shifted to me for the briefest of moments. “You were right, Ethan. It was never a matter of ‘if.’ It was and always will be ‘when.’”
“I didn’t have you when I said that, Cain. I didn’t have a lot of things.”
Cain shook his head. “I can’t be with you 24/7 for the rest of your life. This is the only way.”
I took a few more steps closer until I was standing next to Cain. He was so rigid it looked like his entire body would snap in two if someone touched him. But I wasn’t someone.
I put my hand on his arm. “Please don’t do this.”
“He’ll never stop, Ethan,” Cain repeated, his voice softening, desperate now. “He’s like him.”
I knew who him was. And Cain was right. Eric was as sick as Cain’s father had been.
“But I’m not like your mother. I’m not pretending that his feelings for me are anything other than hatred. And I’m not scared of him anymore.”
I glanced at Eric and realized it was true. The hate in his eyes didn’t spark fear in my belly. The promise of vengeance didn’t have me wanting to run.
I turned my focus back on Cain. “I want to fight back, Cain. I want to tell the world what he did to me. I want to watch them put him behind bars where he’ll finally know what it feels like to have no power, no control…to have his every move dictated. To wake up every day knowing that that’s his life. I want him to have to live with knowing who put him there. Please don’t take that from me,” I said gently. “I love you for wanting to keep me safe, but I need this to end on my terms.”
“You think anyone will believe you?” Eric said with a laugh. He coughed and spit up some blood. “You and that little bitch have nothing on me! I’m a fucking hero! I saved more lives in one day than you’ll save in a lifetime, you pathetic piece of shit.”
I felt Cain’s arm tighten in response.
“You’re mine, Ethan!” Eric snarled. “I don’t care how many times you let him fuck your fat ass, you’re still mine and you know it! I’m so deep inside of you that you’ll never be free of me!”
“Don’t,” I said sharply as I saw Cain start to pull the trigger. I stepped in front of the gun and Cain immediately lowered it.
“Ethan,” he said, his voice pained.
“He can’t touch me ever again, Cain. You’re not going to lose me. I promise.”
Cain nodded and then he was pulling me forward into his embrace. My whole body started shaking as the relief crashed over me. I heard Eric spewing vile words at me, but I didn’t care what they were. I was only interested in the man holding onto me.
Until a gunshot rang out.
I jumped in Cain’s hold and spun around, terrified that Eric had somehow managed to pull a gun on us. But it took just seconds to realize the shot hadn’t come from him…it had been aimed at him.
Eric let out a shriek as a bullet pierced the ground dangerously close to his head. I saw a bullet hole in the wood floor next to the other side of his head. I watched in mute fascination as Vincent continued to fire at Eric, narrowly missing his body with each shot.
Missing on purpose.
“Okay, okay!” Eric screamed as he pulled himself into a ball in a desperate attempt to protect himself.
Vincent strode right up to Eric and straddled him. “Turn over you fucking little coward,” Vincent said, his voice as deadly calm as it had been when I’d argued with him in the hotel room.
“Vincent,” I began, but Cain wrapped his arm around me from behind, his message clear.
I fell silent as I watched Eric slowly roll to his back, his eyes wide with fear. But it was short-lived because his face twisted into an ugly sneer. “Do you have any idea who I am?” he shouted. “I’m a fucking cop, asshole. You’re all going to prison for this!”
“The question you should be asking yourself is, do you know who I am?” Vincent drawled.
“Yeah, I know who you are, old man! You’re the fucker who’s going to spend the rest of his life behind bars. I have more friends than God! All I have to do is snap my fingers and you’re fucked.”
“Is that so?” Vincent asked.
“Yeah, that’s so,” Eric bit out. “Secret Service, FBI, the fucking White House! Take your pick! I’ve got people in all of them.”
I had a good enough view of the scene playing out before me to see Vincent smile. But it was a dangerous smile. I watched as he pulled out his phone. “Let’s give one of your people a call, shall we?”
