AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I heard Kaash’s words echoed in Gunnar’s. There was no coming back from this. He had killed my brother because my VP had managed to convince him he would get what he wanted if he did. He had turned his back on our friendship for his own greed and gain. He had betrayed me in the worst possible way. Friend or not, he would pay for what he did.
“I hope it was worth it, Gunnar.”
“Everything was worth it,” he replied.
And that was all I needed to know.
I raised my gun.
Aimed.
Fired.
And shot him point blank in the face.
Chapter 31
Alex
It had been almostan hour since Nick had left, and the longer he was away, the more my anxiety tightened around my throat. Myla was playing pool with another girl around her age in the bar. Knowing that she was being carefully watched by the other women, I retreated to the quiet of Nick’s bedroom. I hadn’t heard from him yet, and I hadn’t heard anything more from Hayes after I’d warned him of what was coming. I knew deep in my gut that he would’ve told my father, but I’d made peace with that. If it saved Hayes’s life, that was all that mattered.
Flopping down onto the bed beside Lucifer’s warm body, I let out a deep breath and closed my eyes. Meditation had helped me in the past, and I was hoping it would provide me with a little clarity now. As I let my mind drift, I sank into the mantras I’d used in the past.
You are safe.
Your feelings are valid.
Your fears don’t control you.
Over and over again, I repeated them, willing my mind to accept them as truth. I’d done what I could to keep Hayes out of the line of fire. Nick would also be safe. He’d promised me. Everything else was out of my control. And with that realization,a sense of peace washed over me. I listened to the thumping of my heart in my ear, the way the air from my deep exhales brushed past my lips—warm and slightly damp. Nick’s scent hung in the air, mixing with the distinct musk of Lucifer, who was pressed against me from hip to thigh.
You are safe.
Your feelings are valid.
Your fears don’t control you.
My train of thought was broken by the intrusion of my ringing phone.
Nick.
I grappled quickly for the phone, pulling it from my pocket, but my blood instantly turned cold when I saw the number on the screen.
With shaking hands, I answered the call. “What do you want?” I snapped. But Maddox didn’t say anything. Instead, there was a muffled scream, and the hairs on the back of my neck prickled.
“Shut her up,” Maddox snarled, just as Bliss screamed my name. I clutched the device harder, my heart slamming against the bone cage around it.
“Bliss?Bliss!Let her go!” They had to have got her when she was in my apartment, but how in the hell did they get in there? There were guards. There were supposed to be guards on my apartment the whole time… only there weren’t.Oh shit.Every available man had been pulled into the pending war, which meant my garage—and Bliss—had been left unprotected.
“No, I don’t think so, baby,” Maddox finally said. “Since you can’t pay me the money you owe me, I’m going to take something of value away from you… unless…”
I clung to that conjunction. “Unless what?”
“Meet me at the garage. We can negotiate.”
“I can’t leave.”
He chuckled. “I heard about the trouble between the Devils and the Hunt. Whose side are you on?”
