Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 97557 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97557 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
She dives for the gun, but Aries is there, too, and the moment her fingers ghost the butt of the gun his boot comes crashing down on her hand.
“I’ll be taking that.” He smiles and reaches down to retrieve the weapon.
With the gun in hand he steps away, and Tanya rolls back, wailing, clutching her most likely broken hand to her chest.
“You broke my hand!” She wails.
I turn back to face Ely. "I know you’re afraid, and I won’t tell you that you shouldn’t be. I don’t have that right. But I will tell you that nothing that happens today will leave this room. None of them will say anything to anyone. We're a family, a brotherhood.”
"Your family?" she whispers.
I tilt her chin up and lean down so I'm only an inch from her lips. "And yours. Any one of them would die to keep you safe because they know if you die, I die. Same with Bel. You belong to me. To us. And no one is going to hurt you ever again, not without suffering the consequences."
That response seems to connect with her and a little bit of the panic in her features dissipates. “Yes, come back to me.” I murmur, soothing her until she stops shaking. "I’ve got you. Forever. And I’m so fucking proud of you, Elyse. So fucking proud."
She hums in approval of my praise, and I slowly untangle myself so I can look her in the eyes again. “Are you okay to stay, or do you want to go and be with Bel?”
Her gaze flicks from mine, and I know without a doubt she’s looking at Tanya. "No, I want to stay. I should be here, to support you, to remind you it’s all going to be okay.”
I nod in understanding. We'll comfort each other once we make sure our family is safe. I press my lips to Ely’s one last time before I pull away completely. As I come to stand Drew grabs the Sheriff's coat and hauls his body out the door, leaving it in the foyer.
Our gazes collide when he steps back into the room. "Didn't want to ruin your rug anymore than it already was."
“I think at this point I’ll be buying a new rug.”
“Good call.” Lee adds.
Tanya lets out a low, moaning sob bringing our attention back to her. "What are you going to do? What do you want from me?"
If only she knew how much I want to simply pick up that gun and be rid of her. But I can’t. Like Ely's dad, she needs to understand and face what she's done. Unfortunately for Tanya, I'm willing to go a lot farther than Ely did to make that happen.
Turning from Ely, I focus the entirety of my attention on her, and I don’t know if it’s the expression I wear or the fact that she knows she’s not leaving the room alive, but she starts to sob.
Her tears mean nothing to me. After all, mine never meant a fucking thing to her.
"Please," Tanya begs. "Please. I'll do whatever you want. I'll go away. I'll drop the charges and you'll never see or hear from me again. Please. Please. Sebastian. Please."
It's my name on her lips that breaks me. The anger, the fear, the shame bubbling to the surface threaten to take me back down when they recede again.
“Where’s your faithful watchdog now, Tanya?” I ask.
Her sobs hesitate. “Marcus? I got rid of him a long time ago…it was you I wanted, Sebby—”
I pin her with a cold glare. "You don't get it, Tanya."
"I'll do anything. Whatever you want. Just please, don’t kill me."
I take a menacing step toward her. "You don't get it, Tanya," I repeat. "I never wanted a goddamn thing from you. Not your breath in my face, not your body against mine. Not that worthless cunt you think is worth its weight in gold. I didn’t want any of it.”
She blinks up at me, mascara streaking her cheeks in dark rivers. "What? That's what this is about? I thought you were going to kill me for pressing charges against you.” Her throat bobs. “You're pissed because we had sex?" Something hard enters her tone, and my stomach churns.
"We didn't have sex," I snarl.
I clench my hands into tight fists and try to gain some type of control over my emotions. Looking back at Ely, I see her eyes are clear now, the tears gone. Fuck. If I keep talking to Tanya I'm going to do something that will make Ely hate me. If I can get her out of here, if she doesn't witness what I'm capable of, maybe I’ll still be able to have the happily ever after I deserve.
War rages inside of me. Tanya deserves the worst of the worst, but I don’t know if doing this will set me free or banish me to the dark all over again. If that happens, I’ll never be worthy of Ely’s love. I’ll never be free, even if Tanya is dead.