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I should’ve shot him in the hallway when I had the chance.
Hazel froze. Her breath practically suspended in her chest. I knew she had to be afraid any movement might cause the tip of the knife to enter her soft skin.
“It’ll be okay, Sunshine,” I reassured her.
The blinding trust that filled her eyes slayed me.
Pushing her away had never been the solution.
Keeping her by my side was the only way to keep her safe.
“You think I didn’t have a contingency plan?” Terri asked, his smug tone making me want to shake him and then riddle his body with bullets. If this was his contingency plan, I had no idea how he survived.
“There’s two of us, Terri.” A slow, hard smile tugged at my lips.
Terri dug the tip of the metal blade into Hazel’s throat, causing a thin stream of blood to run down her neck. I had to give my girl credit. She didn’t wince or cry out, but if looks could kill, Terri would be laid out on the floor stone-cold dead.
I needed to act fast.
“Do you honestly think a piece of ass is more important than my revenge against you for killing my father?” I asked, deliberately making my voice sound disinterested.
Terri paused.
Hazel closed her eyes, tears tracking down her cheeks.
Pain shot through my chest and up my throat. Saving her was more important than the lies I needed to tell.
“I’ve seen how you look at her. You dropped everything to come here and save her.” He uttered a soft, disbelieving laugh.
“Or I dropped everything to confront the man who murdered my father. The person I swore revenge on for the last twenty years.” I shrugged. I needed to get his attention away from Hazel. “I will admit I’m baffled. How did you hide it all these years?”
Terri’s lips drew up in a twisted smile. “It was easy. You were grieving. Whenever it seemed like you might get close, I’d slip a piece of false evidence for you to follow.”
I’d considered this man a second father, and his betrayal burned like rotgut in my stomach.
“Your desire for revenge blinded you to my duplicity.” I wanted to wipe the grin off his deranged face.
“But why would you kill him? I thought you were friends.” I kept my tone even.
In his delight in finally being able to share his side, his hand dropped less than an inch from Hazel, just enough that the knife was no longer pressed against her throat.
“We were.” Terri shook his head. “I’d even offered to let him in on the embezzlement and money laundering. Neither of us would ever have to struggle again, but no… he said he couldn’t leave that kind of legacy for his son. I didn’t have a choice.”
I suppressed a wry smile. “We all have choices.” I took a calculated risk, aimed for his kneecap, and fired.
Terri gave a high-pitched scream, the knife clattering to the floor as he dropped heavily to the concrete ground. “What the fuck?”
I shifted the gun higher, keeping it trained on Terri’s head.
Alden eased around me and kicked away the knife before lifting the chair Hazel was on and carrying it a few feet from Terri before untying her.
I nodded my thanks, lowered the gun and fired again, hitting Terri’s leg. I’d take my time torturing him. “That was for deceiving me all these years.”
My godfather groaned in pain as blood bloomed on his thigh through the navy pants he wore.
“Jareth, no. Don’t,” Hazel pleaded with me. Alden had pulled the gag from her mouth and was untying her wrists.
At the raw, bloody skin revealed with the ropes gone, red sheeted my vision. I fired again, the next bullet ending up in Terri’s bicep. I hope he suffered. I’d make sure he did.
