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Ryan snapped his head in my direction. His lips pulled back from his teeth in a wolfish grin.
“Finally came to your senses, little sis?”
“I guess you could say that,” I replied. “Now that you have me, we can leave. You don’t need to hurt anyone else.”
He snorted.
“These bastards took you away from me once. I’ll make sure they pay for it. And I’ll start with your boyfriend here—”
I lunged. My knife caught Ryan in the middle, just below his rib cage. I pressed the blade up to the hilt with surprising ease, cutting deep into his flesh like soft butter on a hot summer afternoon.
Ryan’s lips parted in surprise. A puff of air escaped him.
“You…little…bitch,” he croaked.
I looked up into his face. And I twisted the knife.
“Go to hell, big brother.”
A strangled noise gargled in the back of Ryan’s throat. He sank to his knees on the pavement. The knife slipped from my fingers as he fell.
When I glanced down, my hand trembled, streaked with hot, fresh blood.
I should have done that a long time ago…but the relief I expected never came. I felt…nothing. Only the roaring in my ears and the sticky blood on my hand—Gideon’s blood, Ryan’s blood.
Distantly, I heard someone call my name.
Then Gideon stood in front of me, holding a rag. He wiped my hand clean, saying…something. His lips were moving, but I couldn’t make out anything clearly enough to understand. The ringing in my ears was just so damn loud.
“It’s over,” I whispered.
Gideon brushed his knuckles against my cheek. His touch was so achingly gentle that my legs buckled and I folded like a ragdoll. He caught me as I dropped, gathering me into his arms to cushion my fall.
“Breathe, sweetheart,” Gideon murmured. “Take a deep breath for me.”
The ringing in my ears faded into silence. I closed my eyes, inhaling the scent of Gideon—leather and smoke and the faintest hint of his cologne.
Then a sob tore from my throat.
“It’s over,” I repeated.
My brother was dead. After years suffering under his abuse, he was gone. And I wanted to be relieved. I wanted to hate him.
Instead, all I could feel was grief for losing him.
Gideon said nothing and crushed me against his chest so tightly that my ribs creaked.
Chapter Eleven
Gideon
I held Liss until she cried herself out. Then I took her straight home. Peeling away her clothes, I turned on the bath and scrubbed her clean. The water ran red down the drain. Still, Liss said nothing, staring glassy-eyed into space.
Fully clothed, I eased myself into the tub, settling her in my lap. The hole in my side felt like it was splitting me open, but I gritted my teeth against the pain. The bullet went through and the bleeding had mostly stopped by now. I’d be fine.
But Liss…
I didn’t know if Liss would ever be okay again. She killed her own brother. Even if he was an abusive scumbag who beat the living shit out of her for years, his death by her hand would take a toll on her.
