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“Hmm… you smell so good,” he whispers, laying kisses along my shoulder.
I release a sigh and lay my arms over his. “I feel so bad for Grace.”
His cheeks rests against mine. “She’ll be okay. She knows nothing permanent will ever happen with Emo.”
“Because of what his father did to him?”
He nods. “And because of Rella. His guilt for what happened to her won’t let him form deep feelings for anyone else. He feels he doesn’t deserve any form of happiness. That’s part of the reason why he hurts himself with that key. It reminds him of where he came from and what he thinks he’s capable of.”
I frown. “Capable of?”
His arms tighten around me, his voice deepening. “He blames himself for not stopping his father from forcing him to do things to Rella. He was just a kid, and his father was a bulky and mean motherfucker, so there’s no way he could have stopped him, but Emo doesn’t see it that way. No matter what my brothers, Mae, or I tell him, he still puts all the pain Rella endured on his own shoulders.”
I turn in his arms and look up at him. “What is the key to? What does it unlock?”
His brows furrow and his gaze drifts over my head. He stares across the room for several seconds, lost in thought, before shaking his head and looking down at me. “It’s the key to hell,” he answers cryptically.
Before I get the chance to ask him what he means, he leans down and presses a kiss agai
nst my lips. “Let’s go check on our girl.”
Back out in the living room, Grace is nowhere to be seen, but we find Maisy and Emo on the couch. She’s sitting so close to him that the whole side of her body is pressed against the side of his. She has her tablet out on her lap, her feet barely touching the floor, tapping the screen every few seconds. Emo’s head is tilted down with his ever-present emotionless expression, but his attention seems to be focused solely on what she’s showing him.
I wrap my arm around Judge’s back, and we both just stand there and watch the pair.
Emo gave us a special gift when he put himself in front of the bullet that was meant for Maisy, and there’s not a day that will go by that I won’t silently thank him for it.
I just hope one day he’ll know the kind of happiness that he granted us.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
JUDGE
AS I LOOK DOWN AT THE bitch who almost took everything from me, not an ounce of remorse enters my subconscious at what is about to happen to her. Most people would sympathize with Sierra because of the abuse she was subjected to at Gary’s depraved hands. All of my pity left me when she swung the gun in the direction of my daughter and pulled the trigger.
Hatred isn’t a strong enough word for what I feel for the woman. Death is the only punishment for a person like her. Nothing else will suffice.
My brothers and I stand around her in our usual fashion. I’m in front of her with Emo across from me and Trouble and JW are to the sides, across from each other. Sierra is on her knees, her arms loose and hanging by her sides. The bruises she inflicted on herself are a nasty brown and yellow. The one on her temple where JW hit her with the butt of his gun to knock her out is a blackish purple.
She holds my stare with cold eyes. Not once has she struggled or begged for her life, because she knows it’s useless. Her time has come to an end, and there’s not a damn thing she can do about it.
“Sierra Butler, do you have any last words?” I ask. It’s a courtesy we give everyone who receives the Expiration Penalty.
Her lip curls up and she bares her teeth. “Only that I wish my aim was better and you felt the pain I did when you took Gary away from me.”
It takes every bit of willpower I possess to not pop my knuckles against the smirk on her face.
I keep my expression blank as I deliver my own last message. “I find it extremely pleasing that you’ll die in the exact same spot and the exact same way he did.”
“You’ll rot in hell, just like every person in this town. You’re all so hypocritical. Claiming to be righteous in your actions, calling it justice against those who harm others. The first person you killed made you just as bad as them.”
She may be right, but I’ll whistle a tune and skip my way through the gates of hell happily, knowing I stopped an innocent person from being hurt.
I pull the gun from the waistband of my slacks, flip off the safety, and point it between her eyes. For the first time since her sentence was unanimously announced two days ago, fear glints in her gaze.
Her eyes dart to the left then the right, finding Trouble and JW have their guns raised as well.
“Wait!” she shouts, panic flashing across her face.
