Page 174 of Darling Psycho

Breaking and entering was a cakewalk, boring even.

But he wasn’t here for kicks and thrills.

It had been a long seven hours for a man of vengeance to endure.

The bedroom he crept into smelled of cloying perfume and sex.

His eyes swept over the sleeping couple, and after that slap Ruiz delivered to his wife earlier, he wondered if it had been consensual sex.

He didn’t give a fuck.

The bed was vast, and the couple slept on either end, miles apart.

Angela was a cuddler. Wherever he was in bed, she found him to climb half on top.

He was getting used to it.

This was no friendly neighbor dropping in for a cup of coffee and gossip.

Nah, Lawless had a job to do.

The most important one of his existence because his whole chest was on fire with anger.

He’d never harmed a woman outside of the bedroom, and that was with her begging consent.

His mother, he’d make an exception for by tossing that bitch from a bridge.

Another exception was when he slapped a piece of duct tape over Verónica Ruiz’s mouth, and the woman came hurtling awake to find a man towering over her, pinning her down. Lawless used a finger to his mouth to indicate she shut the fuck up and not make a sound to wake the slob.

She shook like a rat, her eyes wide while he taped up her hands and legs before bodily dragging her out of bed in her skimpy nightie and dumped her on the floor. Again, he made a gesture for her to shut the fuck up before striding around the bed, his steps cushioned by the thick carpet. He needed all obstacles out of the way.

Now, this he was going to fucking enjoy.

One fast maneuver, and he was straddled over the dead weight body; his hand slapped down on Ruiz’s mouth hard enough he brought the man awake in a terrifying rush.

Not that he could move with Lawless’ other hand clamped tightly around his throat.

“Thought you’d seen the last of me, didn’t you, motherfucker? You are dumber than I know you are if you thought I’d let it go.”

If the guy thought all he’d get away with was a bullet to the leg, he was in for a shocking surprise.

Freeing Ruiz’s mouth, Lawless pressed down harder on the man’s throat, using his weight to keep the bastard still, though he tried to thrash beneath him.

He saw Ruiz’s eyes dart to the side of him.

What? Did he expect his wife to save him?

Lawless smirked and clicked his tongue. “Don’t bother. Your bitch is dead. I could have stuffed her into a box to die from lack of oxygen slowly, but I’m a humanitarian and slit her throat fast.”

“You’ll never get away with this,” Ruiz said, calmer than a man should be in his position. “I talked with Rider...”

“Rider isn’t the fucking boss of me. You put my woman in the ground. She has bruises on her skin.” She could have only had a hair out of place, and Lawless would still be here, ready to bring down the darkest retribution on this breathing corpse.

“I’m sorry, things got out of hand,” he choked out with a thick accent. “But now you have killed my wife, so it is even.”

“Is it? Is it really? Not from where I’m looking, it isn’t. I could slaughter your whole fucking family, and it wouldn’t be close to equal for what you did to my woman. See, I’m not a fair man, Ruiz. I’m pretty fucking crazy, and what you did angered me.”

He tried to interrupt, and Lawless smirked, pressing down harder until the man turned purple. Only at the last second, before he’d pass out, did Lawless let up and give him air. He wasn’t ready to bequeath oblivion yet. What he planned would bring Ruiz a lot of pain first.