Page 120 of Lethal Vengeance

Wolf: Damn it. Perp?

Me: Dead. Operation dismantled.

Wolf: Good work. Later.

I can’t stop thinking about the beautiful blond girl clutching her friend’s hand to give her strength. An innocent girl.

Going into this, I knew I’d lose parts of me that I’d never get back, but this fuckinghurts. Another family who will never get their daughter… sister… friend back. Who will forever wonder what happened to her and never get the answers they deserve.

This is my punishment. To know I had a hand in the trafficking and death of a young woman. Pain spears through my chest like lightning.

A door slams, and I hear someone yelling my name.

Staggering into the bathroom, I shut the door and strip off my clothes. Tears pour down my cheeks. A sob escapes, but I clamp a hand over my mouth to stifle it. I turn the shower on and get in.

The cold water stings like needles when it hits my skin. I sink to my knees and cry for Sophia, for ‘Mel’, and for all the young women who are kidnapped or trafficked and never make it home. Violent shivers rack my body, but I can’t seem to get up. My legs won’t move. I drop my head on my knees.

Strong arms reach down and pick me up. “I’ve got you.”

The water switches from cold to warm and gradually to hot. His hands briskly rub my arms and legs until the feeling starts to come back.

When I open my eyes, there’s no escaping Raider’s ice-blue eyes or his fury. “You have to accept who you are now.”

“I do,” I insist, but my voice lacks conviction.

“Tell me. If Sophia disappeared tomorrow, would you take the same path? Knowing the outcome, would you do it all over again?” he spits out.

Would I? The image of Sophia’s body splayed out in the desert flashes in my mind, and the fury I felt then rises inside. I would. She never deserved the death she received at his hands.

“Yes.”

He grips my chin, refusing to let me look away. “What did you feel when you looked at the image of Armando today?”

I close my eyes.

“Look at me,” Raider orders, his voice hard. “Tell me. You liked the image, didn’t you? The dark places inside you rejoiced to see him spread-eagle, on the dirt, with your knife in his chest. His dick cut off. His organs gone.”

I compress my lips, refusing to let the words out.

He slams the tile beside me. “Tell me how it made you feel!”

“I fucking loved it. If I could do it all over again, I would!” I scream back at him, unable to hold back the words. “Oh God. What is wrong with me?” I drop my head back against the tile.

He jerks me up against him. “You invited the darkness in and used its strength to deliver your vengeance. There is no going back. It will never leave you. Embrace it. Feed it. Own it.”

The shadows inside pulse in response to his words.

His eyes flash hot and cold. “What did you see in me when we first met?”

“Darkness. A killer,” I murmur.

“Did it scare you?” he asks, jerking his briefs down.

Remembering how drawn I felt to him, I shake my head. “It was enticing. The darkness inside me recognized the darkness in you, and all I felt was need. Voracious need.”

He picks me up and slams his mouth down on mine.

The kiss is rough and hard, and I can’t get enough of it. I moan and wrap my legs around him. My teeth scrape along his bottom lip, and his cock jerks between us. I grip it tightly. Mine.