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Bryson.
He’s right here. After all these years. The more rage-filled part of me still wants to shoot him, but the logical part of my brain wins out. I press the gun to his side instead of his head.
“What are you doing here?” he seethes, glancing back at his room.
“Doing a bit of remodeling,” I answer, then add quietly, “I’ll see you at the hospital later.”
His head tilts to the side, then I shoot him.
Not what I planned, but it works for the situation. He won’t die. As long as he gets a doctor to pull the bullet from his ribs. A little payback for beating on Olivia and for abandoning me all those years ago without a word.
Men come into the hallway from all sides, including Titan. Jaxon starts shooting, and I throw Bryson to the ground, half in his room so he’ll likely avoid any stray shots.
My eyes lock with Titan’s. He’s just standing there, not making a move to retaliate against our actions as he grins at me. His smirk pisses me the fuck off, because I don’t know what he does. But I will soon. That fucker isn’t going to get away with whatever he’s been planning. I’ll make damn sure of that.
“We need to go,” Jaxon tells me just a moment later.
I step back, kicking Bryson on my way out and moving quicker through the rubble. My eyes cast around the yard, but I don’t see Olivia or Markus.
Fuck. I hope they made it out.
The house is wide enough that by having eyes on Titan just now, he should at least not have seen Olivia sneak in, but I don’t know if he would have sent someone else to get Tori and lock her up somewhere.
When we pass the front door, it’s wide open and so are the curtains in the living room. I don’t see anyone, and there aren’t any messages on my phone that something has gone wrong. Still, as I continue past the house, further away from Titan, allowing him to live, I can’t help from thinking.
Even if everything went how we hoped, or close enough, did we just do exactly what he was hoping we would? And if we did, how the fuck could he use that to his advantage?
21
OLIVIA
As soon as the explosion goes off, I take a steady breath and start the timer on my phone. My eyes shift between the countdown, Luca, and the massive fucking hole in the side of the once-beautiful house. Someone—likely Tori—screams, Luca and Jaxon are entering the house, and then it’s my time to move.
I stand from my position at the fence and run for the front door while giving my surroundings a onceover. I don’t see anyone through the living room, not even Tori, but that doesn’t stop me from going to the front door and pushing it open.
A few seconds pass and nobody comes running to see who threw the door open, making me feel confident to move forward. I go right to the living room and there’s a step down to where the couch sits, angled toward the massive television on the wall.
The power must have been blown when the bomb went off since everything in here is dark, but I can see well enough, thanks to the oversized windows. Still, I don’t spot Tori.
I know I have mere seconds to grab her and run. Thanks to that short time, I start to panic, having no clue where to look for her. But I refuse to give up. Not when I’m so close to having her back and the peace of mind that she won’t be hurt at some point by Titan.
Moving around the couch, I notice a small hallway that leads to another room. When I step across the threshold, a fist slams into my stomach, thankfully avoiding my busted rib, followed by a screech.
“Damn it, Tori,” I groan. “It’s me.”
Before she can hit me a second time, she pauses with her fist in the air. “Olivia?” Her eyes widen, tears filling them. “Olivia!”
She moves to hug me, but I recover from her punch and grab her wrist. “We need to hug it out later. Come on.”
Her feet remain planted. “We can’t leave. Your dad… He’s…”
“I know, Tor.” My eyes plead with her to not make this harder than it needs to be. “But if you trust me at all, if our friendship means anything to you, don’t ask questions. Just run with me. Please.”
She glances around, hands shaking and lip quivering. “We need to find your dad.”
“My dad died the day he walked out on me, then again when he beat the shit out of me for not doing what he wanted me to only last week,” I say curtly. “Now, come with me.”
I turn to make sure we’re still alone and see Markus enter the house. His eyes land on me and then Tori. She whimpers behind me, and I know if I don’t get her to come willingly, Markus has likely been sent to make sure she’s brought with us by any means necessary.
