Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 149137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
“Go away, Kay. I need to deal with this. Send Shane down. He’s going to need more than one of us.” Declan eased him down.
Kay’s eyes widened. “No. No, you can’t hurt him.”
But fuck he wanted that hurt more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life. Maybe even more than he’d wanted her. That pain would be real and visceral, and it would release the agony he was in.
She’d been nothing but an illusion.
He struggled, but Declan strong-armed him down the stairs past Kay. He maneuvered Josh into the basement, away from prying eyes.
“No ears down here,” Declan said, letting him go.
He wheeled on the larger man and hit him with an uppercut to his gut. Declan didn’t move. Didn’t grunt. Didn’t show that he’d felt anything at all.
“That’s it, buddy. Take it out on me. I can handle it,” he said. “Hell, sometimes I fucking crave a good fight. A few rules though.”
“You can’t hit his face,” Kay said, looking vulnerable as she stood watching them. “Declan, please don’t hurt him.”
“He needs this,” Declan replied. “We can do it this way or he’ll find a way to hurt himself. I should know. I would do the same. He’s a pressure cooker waiting to explode and destroy everyone around him, but you and I are going to let off a little steam here.”
Declan pulled the T-shirt he was wearing over his head and tossed it to the side, but not before Josh saw that his back was covered with ink.
“Are those wings?”
Declan turned, a predatory look in his eyes. There was a smile on his face, but it was a feral thing. “Yeah, I’m a fucking guardian angel. Remember that over the next couple of minutes. And remember that you can take all this out on me, but you touch her and I’ll take your balls off.”
“Please don’t hurt him,” Kayla said.
“Fuck that,” Josh growled.
And went to town. That first punch he took had him seeing stars, but he was finally satisfied.
This…this was exactly what he deserved. Pain. Cleansing pain. Agony that would remind him that this was all the universe had to offer him.
* * * *
Kayla barely managed to make it up the stairs. She couldn’t watch that, couldn’t see what she’d done to him. Josh and Declan trading punches was nothing more than the outward symbol of how she’d just dealt him a damn death blow.
She’d watched the light die in his eyes. He’d been sitting there, holding her and being the warm, loving man she knew he was, and the next minute her words had shoved him right back into the darkness. He couldn’t do anything else. He’d tried to protect himself, tried not to show how badly she’d hurt him. Not for one second did she buy the whole “you meant nothing to me” routine. She had ears. He’d been trying to leave her behind out of pure terror for her safety.
He loved her.
Had loved her.
She’d killed that love.
She stumbled on the step because she could barely see from the tears that now poured down her cheeks. The world was blurry and the steps she’d come to know so well now seemed to shake under her feet.
Probably because it sounded like someone was being thrown against the side of the house.
He was down there, taking a beating because he had no other way of letting the pain out. She’d done that to him and put the entire op in danger. What were they going to do if they couldn’t convince Josh to go along? It wasn’t like she could force him.
Although she’d practically blackmailed him to do it. That’s exactly how he’d seen it.
“What the hell is going on?” Shane stepped out of the house. “I can feel this place shaking. Are we having an earthquake? Hey, are you crying?”
She wiped away the useless tears. They wouldn’t bring him back. “Josh knows.”
Shane stilled. “How?” When she was silent he cursed under his breath. “Damn it, Kay. I know you care about the guy, but this is going to get you fired. I like the guy, but he’s unpredictable to say the least. Is Declan with him? Or did he take off on his own and we need to go find him?”
The stairs shook again and a low moan could be heard. That sound was all pain.
“Dec’s with him,” she admitted. “They are working things out the hard way. Dec asked me to get you.”
Shane started down the steps, stopping on the one below her. “I suspect he took it poorly.”
“I think I ruined his life, Shane. The way he looked at me…”
His head shook in the negative. “You were doing your job. You didn’t lie to him about your feelings. This is why I hate the spy shit. I’ll go down and make sure no one gets hurt. Well, seriously hurt. I take it Josh needed someone to take his anger out on and Dec volunteered?”