Page 96 of Pay the Piper

“If time wasn’t of the essence to give you your present, I would take you to the ground right now and make you regret your sass, Miss Reid.”

Oh shit, he Miss Reid’d me.

“Since you agreed, I’ll ask my questions. First, how do you feel about ruthless revenge?”

Well, that’s easy.

“In vehement favor. Next question.”

“Does in-person, violent gore bother you, including but not limited to whole or partial corpses in large quantities?”

A few minutes later, wearing a respirator and standing on the corner of the theater’s stage, I finally think of something to say.

“Wow.”

Eloquent, Abby. Misha stands a few feet away, hands in his pockets, trying so hard not to ask what I think.

“You weren’t kidding.”

He laughs at that, moving closer to put his arm around me.

“I wasn’t.”

“How many?”

“All of them.”

That shocks me, and I snap my gaze to his.

“All?”

“One hundred thirty-one. All of Conor’s men plus any known associates who were in my kill radius for this trip. I have facial recognition software combing through every single one of Conor’s hard drives for any man who so much as sniffed working with him or touching you, and those lists will be dealt with swiftly. All forms of media containing you have already been blacked out. Not a shred of that exists anymore.”

“Misha—”

“They can’t be allowed to live, Abby. Not a single one who ever hurt you. I’m not saying it’s right or moral…I’m not saying I’ll always be the one to pull the trigger, but none of them can continue while I walk the earth. Please don’t try to stop me.”

This man. This fucking man.

“I wasn’t—”

“I’ve already messaged Ellie about setting up something for all the women who were with you, and we’re also tracking all the previously sold women we can to extract them and exterminate their buyers. She said someone named Sandy has already been helpful, and they’ve got tons of ideas. They can’t wait for you to get back.”

“That sounds—”

“But nobody is going to rush you, baby. I think we could both use a vacation, I was thinking Italy, and—”

“Misha!”

He finally stops rambling and looks at me timidly, like he’s afraid I’m going to chastise him for killing the worst men on the planet, helping eradicate even more, dedicating resources to support women who have been through hell like me or taking me on vacation.

“All of that sounds amazing. But I have one suggestion before we do any of that.”

“Anything, lesnaya. Anything, and it’s yours.”

“I’d like to introduce you to my parents.”

EPILOGUE