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Chapter Thirty-One

MERRICK

My phone dings with a new text from Grayson when we’re about fifteen minutes into our drive toward the abandoned bar.

GRAYSON: No cameras that I can find. I’ll be waiting on the roof in case some shit goes down.

I don’t tell Marcello about Grayson waiting on the roof. I don’t trust him implicitly and probably never will. So I won’t be telling him where Grayson is, just in case he tries to fuck me over. Because I’ve had enough of that to last me a goddamn lifetime. Marcello is, after all, still one of Adriano’s men.

When he pulls up to the back of the bar, we stay in the car, waiting in silence. I can feel the uneasy vibes as they sweep through the cab. A few moments later, I realize why I feel those vibes, because a large black SUV comes wheeling around the corner and stops facing our car. They shine their headlights into the front of the vehicle, but I couldn’t give less of a fuck.

He won’t recognize me. It’s been far too long. And if he does, I hope he looks right into my fucking eyes and knows that I’m the one. It’s me who is going to fucking end him. I might not be the one who ultimately pulls the trigger, but I’m the one who is going to hand him over to his death.

It’s been a goddamn decade in the making, and I’m here for every fucking second of it. I’m disappointed that I have promised my vengeance to Adriano, but it was either that or risk losing him again, and not only do I want to ensure that he is taken out, but I need to keep Colette safe as well.

“Are you ready?” I mutter, careful not to make my words too obvious in case they can see me clearly.

“I’m ready,” Colette whispers.

“Stay here. Merrick and I will go out together and motion for you to come when it’s time,” Marcello says.

As much as I fucking hate that Marcello is part of this and giving orders, I don’t say anything. I’m so close to this whole thing being done, to being able to breathe freely again. I can’t remember the last time I felt at peace. I don’t think I ever have, actually.

I’m not sure how I’m going to feel without having the thought, the idea, of Ravet hanging over my head. I don’t think I’ve ever lived a life without him consuming at least some part of my mind.

Marcello and I open our doors and unfold from the car. Before I walk away, I reach for the keys and turn the vehicle off. Looking behind me, I smile at Colette. “We just gotta get through this, baby,” I rasp.

She smiles, giving me a small nod, but doesn’t say anything else. She doesn’t need to. Straightening, I close the door, then take a step forward, locking the car behind me. I’m not going to let anyone fuck with what’s mine, and Colette is mine.

The back doors to the SUV open, and I watch as he unfolds. My spine straightens at the sight of Ravet. It may have been ten years since I’ve laid eyes on him, but I understand exactly why Theron froze.

He’s not any less intimidating today than he was back then. It feels like I’ve been catapulted back to fifteen years old. Pressing my lips together, I roll them a few times as I wait for him to say something.

I can’t speak first, mainly because the words are not coming. They’re lodged somewhere deep in my chest, and as much as I want to scream at this fucker and lunge toward him, I do nothing but stand in silence, my jaw clenched as I stare.

“Where is she?” Ravet demands.

“In the car,” Marcello mutters.

Finding my voice, I clear my throat before I speak. “Have you canceled the hit?” I ask.

His gaze flicks over to me, his eyes sliding down my body, then back up to meet my own. It makes me feel the same way I did years ago—disgusting. I watch as he tilts his head to the side, his eyes staying focused on mine, then he chuckles.

“You have changed, Merrick,” he states. “I don’t know why you thought you could take what was rightfully mine, bought and paid for. You know better than that. I always win.”

I hate him. I hate every fucking thing about him. “Have you canceled the contracts?” I ask.

When he laughs, the sound slides down my spine. “Where is my bride?” he asks.

Rage instantly fills my veins at the sound of him calling Colette his bride, but I tamp that down, my heart racing faster and faster with each passing moment. I want to kill him right now. I want to fucking murder him where he stands.

The only thing keeping me from doing that is the fact that there is a hit on both me and Colette. If it were just me, I would have taken him out instantly. The moment he opened his SUV door.

“She’s in the car,” I say.

I hope to fuck that Grayson is watching and keeping his gun ready. “Stay where you are, Merrick,” Ravet orders. “Unlock it from here.”

He knows I have the key. Reaching into my pocket, I pull out the key fob and touch the button, unlocking it. Colette doesn’t need anyone to direct her. I hear the back car door open then close.

Her sneakers make a crunching noise on the gravel behind me, but I can’t turn around to look at her. I’m focused on Ravet, because not only do I not trust him in general, I know that he is evil in every way a person can be.

This man doesn’t have the devil residing inside of him—he is Satan Himself.

“Cancel the contracts,” I grind out as Colette approaches.

“Give me my bride,” Ravet barks.

Marcello takes a half step forward. “In good faith, we have brought Colette here, but the contracts must be canceled. You see her. You know that she is alive and well. She is going to go to you of her own free will.”

“Yes, she will, but not before she’s completed her contractual obligation.”

The door opens, and I watch as another man unfolds from the SUV. I recognize him immediately. No wonder Adriano not only wanted to please Ravet in any way and be beholden to him but also did whatever the fuck he said.

The goddamn secretary of state emerges from the SUV. There is still a driver sitting in the car, but I don’t know about anyone else because the back is too goddamn dark to see anything.

“Her contractual obligation?” I ask.

I know exactly what the fuck he’s talking about, but I want to hear him say it anyway. I want to watch the way his face twists and contorts, and then I want to watch him being wrangled into Marcello’s car before we take him to Adriano’s by gunpoint.

It’s going to be glorious.

“It’s her duty, and this man is going to get what he paid for. I believe that he deserves it after waiting for as long as he has,” Ravet says.

My jaw clenches, and I gnash my teeth together just thinking about this absolute piece of shit. But instead of telling him that I can’t wait to see him die the way I want to, knowing that I can’t, I think I might actually talk Adriano into letting me watch him die.

I don’t think I can walk away from this whole thing without witnessing this absolute monster’s life come to an end.

“She’ll perform this duty before I cancel any contracts.”

My spine straightens. Absolutely fucking not.

Absolutely.

Fucking.

Not.

“Yeah?” Marcello asks, taking the single question from my mouth.

“Exactly this,” Ravet states.

COLETTE

I will not.

I refuse.

My gaze searches the men around me, flicking from the stranger who paid for me to Malcolm, Marcello, and finally, Merrick. He doesn’t look at me, though. His focus is on Malcolm. I don’t know if anyone else can see it, but even in his profile, I can see not only the rage but also the fear that fills him.

But then something shifts. Something changes, and Merrick jerks his chin. “I knew you would understand and see things my way,” Malcolm announces.

I don’t know what’s happening. But Merrick seems almost resigned as he takes a half step backward, at the same time, Malcolm takes a full step forward. He reaches for me, wrapping his fingers around my biceps, and tugs me toward him. I don’t make a sound, too dumbfounded to believe that this could be real life.

Turning my head, I look over my shoulder at Merrick, but he isn’t looking at me. His attention is focused on Marcello. I’m not sure what he’s expecting to happen, but I lose sight of them both because the man who bought me wraps his hands around my shoulders and spins me around to face him.

Tipping my head back, I look up into his eyes. Everything about me completely shuts down.

My mind.

My body.

My soul.

I am not a person.

I am nothing as he stares into my eyes, his gaze full of lust and desire.

It disgusts me.