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Val’s jaw drops. “I’m sorry, did you just say—”
“Baby?” I finish, my jaw now in the same spot as hers.
The doctor pauses and smiles at us over his shoulder. “I did. Congratulations. And maybe next time you elope if you think people might be shooting each other. Or you.”
“We’re having a baby.” Val’s eyes glisten.
“Holy shit.” I scrub a hand down the front of my face, my own eyes wet.
“The baby’s having a baby,” Luka says in a soft voice, grinning wide at Val.
I dip my head, brushing my lips against Val’s. Resting my forehead against hers, I whisper, “I thought I was here to save you, but now I know you were sent to save me.”
“I love you so much.” She sniffles. “And we’re going to have a perfect life… our own version of perfect.”
Her skin is smooth underneath my fingertips. She’s breathed so much life and love into me, I don’t know how I could ever survive without her. She’s marked my soul, claimed my heart. Val’s become an extension of me, the lifeline I never thought I needed or wanted.
Reminds me of something my mother said to me before she passed. I haven’t thought about it in a long time, but today… right now… it hits home hard.
“Life always goes on, Quinn. And what you do with it is all up to you. Make the most of it. Don’t waste a second. Love hard, laugh harder, and be thankful for every blessing you’ve been given.”
I will, Mom. I swear I will.
Epilogue
MERCER
The moment she walks into the party, the air pressure changes.
It becomes thicker, alight with all the dark fucking possibilities that come along with her.
I know, because I can think of things so depraved, twisted, and thrilling even the unrepentant in Hell’s depths would moan with pleasure.
I know, because I’ve done many of those things.
She sets off a vibrating edge, a sliver of excitement. The air sings when she’s near.
I can use that.
And I’m going to.
Just not yet.
Because the wait brings the pitch up to a sweeter level.
I’m also busy watching a dead man walking.
Right now, the poison’s destroyed his liver and kidneys, unraveling his DNA. He’s dead. It just hasn’t come full circle. Even if he was rushed to a hospital, he’d still end up dying.
I spent a long time devising the poison. Tasteless, odorless. Untraceable. Death cap mushrooms are a marvel, my favorite weapon when I’m not working with guns or knives.
But poisons take time. The right approach, the right formula, the right administration. And then they require time to work. Get one thing wrong, rush a step, and it all crumbles.
Patience, they say, is a virtue. And I play that game like a prodigy.
Stone-cold. A killer. These are me. I’m also rich as fuck. So rich my past can’t touch me. That long and scarred path that stretches as far back as I can remember might not have ever been paved with gold, but tools? Things that have enabled me to become who I am?Thisversion of Mercer Vale?
Fuck yes.
