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I’m the victor.
Except I’m not.
Not yet.
Because our fight was just a show, a fucking good one at that, given death had me in its grasp only moments ago and Derby has stepped into the afterlife. The King wanted Derby dead for fucking his wife and Carter wanted me dead for loving his daughter. They both needed revenge. Looks like I fucking delivered, at least partly.
“Remove the bodies. Get this shit cleaned up,” I hear Carter order, his voice a cold, unyielding hammer to my painful head.
“Yes, boss,” Dom replies, the heaviness of his voice as painful to hear as Kate’s distress is. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he was gutted by my apparent death.
“Get the fuck away from him!” Kate yells, her weight pushing off of me as she stands. I watch through slitted lids as she strides towards Carter, gun in hand, oblivious to the fact I’m not actually dead.
Not fucking yet, anyway.
She’s holding a gun, and that makes me feel so much better because fuck knows I’ve been worrying about her from the moment she stepped out of the cage with Carter. I’d lost sight of her almost immediately, too busy trying not to fucking die and knowing that I had to win this fight in order to keep her safe from him.
Except she isn’t safe.
She never will be whilstheremains alive.
“Lower the gun, Grim!” Carter demands. “There’s no need for dramatics. Everyone’s fucking gone.”
“Fuck you, Carter!” she replies, refusing to do as he demands.
Good girl.
Rodriguez, the King and Dom are standing just outside of the cage, right in my line of vision. Both the King and Rodriguez are watching this all unfold, neither paying me any attention. Clearly they think I’m dead, just like Kate and Carter do. Dom’s gaze however falls to me, his eyes widening a fraction as I blink at him a couple of times, willing him not to rat me out. I’m praying I’ve read him right and he’s going to keep his mouth shut. I’ve got one chance at this, and one chance only. He gives me the tiniest nod, then looks away. I make a mental note to buy him a fucking drink when this shit is over.
“You’re a fucking monster!” Kate yells.
I’ve never seen her so enraged, so fucking broken, so radiantly beautiful in her anger. I want nothing more than to stand by her side, to back her whilst she takes on her father and any other motherfucker who dares try to control her. Instead, I use these few precious moments to gather my wits and concentrate on mentally checking my body. I hurt, there’s no denying that, but that’s a good thing. Hurting means I’m alive, and that’s all I need to be to end this.
“Grim, lower the gun andbehave.”
“Behave?! Screw you!” Grim continues, screaming at her father now, her rage undeniable. “You killed him!”
Carter shakes his head. “No, he did that all by himself by fucking you and fuckingmeover. He knew the rules. He broke them. There was only ever going to be one motherfucking outcome. Betray me and die. End of.”
“We’ve never fucked!” she screams, lifting the gun and aiming it at Carter’s chest. “Beast is loyal, so fucking loyal that herefusedto sleep with me even whenIoffered myself up to him!”
For a moment Carter appears taken aback, then a smile glides across his face. “You think I’m fucking stupid? No man would ever deny themselves a hot piece of ass, so your lies are worthless to me. Beast mademea promise, Grim, and he broke it when he went after you. He betrayed me.”
“He didn’t!” Grim exclaims, her broken voice taking on a hard edge as they circle one another. I watch transfixed, enraptured by the woman who’s snared my heart so thoroughly. She’s a lioness, prowling, baring her teeth at her dad, a man who was willing to sell her to pay off his debts.
Yeah, he’sthatman.
Looks like The Crib Club has been a home away from home for Carter over the last six months, and all of Tales’ profits have been sunk into card games and pussy. Turns out the bastard was willing to sell his daughter to the King to clear the debts racked up by his gambling habits and addiction to pleasure.
A debt thatIwill clear the moment I kill the cunt.
Carter might be acting holier than thou right now, but he’s the fucking villain, not me, and because of that he won’t live to see another day.
The moment he has his back to me, I launch myself upright. Adrenaline and the need to protect the woman I love propelling my feet forward the few paces to rip the knife from Derby’s body and then drive it into Carter’s back, straight through his heart.
He dies instantly.
He didn’t see it coming and neither did Kate.
