Page 23

But honestly, I didn't give a fuck. Why?

My goal from the beginning had been to stay under the radar, to be a ghost in the night, slip in, slit their throats quietly and disappear. That didn't work.

All I wanted was one man, but to get to him, I had to go through others. I was tired, drowning in this life.

I had come to the end of the road, needing to choose a path. Left would lead me back into hiding, into pretending like I was an abandoned child, trying to find their way in the world. But I went right, I decided I was done, it was time for me to take control and finish this shit once and for all.

He deserves what's coming for him.

He stole everything from me.

I wasn't going to run anymore, I wasn't going to let them use fear to rule me. I had already lost my family because of what I had allowed him to turn me into. The past few years were horrible and lonely. I was done living by their unspoken rules, done watching over my shoulder every second of every day.

Enough was enough.

Emery had gotten far too close for me to let her walk away. She saw my face, she knew I killed him. She feared me, I could see it in her eyes, in the way she looked at me.

But I didn't really give a shit what she thought about me or what truth she knew. She had bigger problems to worry about than me.

Who knows who else was there watching, no one was ever all alone. There were always eyes everywhere; spying, learning, waiting.

I was tempted to tell her who I was and what was going on, but I couldn't.

Emery wouldn't understand why. How could she?

Even I had a hard time still grasping the situation I was in. It wasn't fair for me to burden her with the shit storm my life had become. It was going to be hard as hell now to keep her from getting killed, and I couldn't make her any promises that she wouldn't end up dead.

Her hair tickled my arm as she moaned and turned her head into my chest. She really was a beautiful little vixen. Emery's hair was the color of gold, gleaming like metal under the sun as we passed beneath poorly lit street lamps. Her skin looked soft and dewy, cheeks slightly pink from the cold breeze.

Her legs bent up as she tried to snuggle further into my arms to stay warm, forcing her dress to slink higher up her thighs. The edge of the fabric danced with the crest of her mound, and I found my gaze drifting over her pink panties peeking out.

Shifting her body, I gripped the hem with the tips of my fingers and tugged it back down. I didn't know why I did that for her. I had been seconds from fucking her brains out before everything turned to shit around us.

Decency was a void, caring was an empty bag that blew weightlessly around inside my gut. But for some reason, I felt for her.

What the hell is wrong with me?

If I had the ability to feel bad for others, I'd feel awful for taking her in the first place. But I didn't feel bad, I felt angry and frustrated that I had brought this down on her.

This wasn't supposed to happen and I reacted the only way I knew how; I took control. This woman had taken me by surprise in so many ways. I felt a weird sensation in my gut, a heavy feeling that made my cock thicken and my body ignite.

What am I going to do with you Emery?

Turning up the driveway, the front door opened and my mother stepped outside, crossing her arms as if she was going to lay into me for being late like she used to when I was younger.

“Port—” she started to say then cut herself off. “Who's that? Is she alright?”

“Her name's Emery, we got in an accident, the car's about five miles back, off of Breakneck road.”

Waving her arm, she held the door open. “Here, bring her in. Are you alright?” Her eyes ran up and down my body, hands reaching up to touch my face.

She doesn't hate me, even if her eyes say she does.

“I'm fine, but she hit hard.”

“Bring her to the spare room, I'll get my stuff.” My mom quickly walked off down the hall, heading towards the bathroom. “Try not to be too loud, Dad's sleeping. I'll wake him after and let him know what's going on. For now, just leave it be.”

“Yeah, fine, just hurry. I don't know how bad she's hurt.” Carrying Emery up the stairs, I went into the bedroom and flicked on the light with my elbow. “Okay, you're going to get some real help now, better than my hack job,” I said quietly, whispering into her ear.