Page 98 of Our Darkest Summer

“You’ve no proof against me,” the bastard smirked, his eyes locking on mine like he was enjoying this.

“Yeah?” I said, leaning in close enough for him to breathe in my fury. My grip twisted tighter in the fabric of his hoodie. “I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”

His lashes flickered, and I watched with satisfaction as the first real trace of fear crept into his eyes. Then, his next words knocked the air from my lungs.

“You would send your brother to prison?”

I froze. The words didn’t register. They couldn’t. My knuckles went white, a sharp pulse of static buzzing through my skull. “What did you just say?”

His chest heaved, but he didn’t try to move. “Why do you think I called Joshua here?” His bloodied lips curled again. “I wanted to meet myfather.”

My mind blanked. My blood turned to ice.

“Kevin still isn’t answering,” Braxton’s voice cut through the fog.

So he probably didn’t get my text. I sucked on my teeth. Alright. Then I’m handling this my way. I hauled him up and slammed him against the tree. His head snapped back, a dull thud against the bark, and for a second, he actually looked dazed.

Then, he smiled through it.

“That’s right,” he breathed, his voice ragged. “You and your mom tried to keep us away. Tried to bury us.”

The air in my chest turned sharp, my lungs locking.

“But in the end, it was us who buried her.”

My vision burned red.

“Why do you think mommy never came home?”

Before I could think, before I could stop myself, my fist collided with his face. His head snapped sideways; the crunch of cartilage sharp in the night air. I hit him again.And again. And again.The world blurred, my blood roared, my body moved on instinct.

Then, hands on my shoulders. Dragging me back. I fought against them, my body twisting. Braxton and Connor. I didn’t even know when he’d gotten here.

My breathing was sharp. I tried to move again.

“What are you doing, T?” Connor’s voice was tight, urgent, but I barely heard it over the pounding in my ears. “You can’t kill him.”

Can’t I?

“I think he can,” Braxton muttered. “But you still shouldn’t.” His grip didn’t loosen, even though I was fighting back less and less. The grip of logic slowly tightened around the chaos spiraling inside me. My mind was taking control of my body.

“At least not until he tells us everything.”

Kinsley.

I turned at the sound of her voice. Bruises marred her skin, her hair clung to the sides of her face, and she looked like she had fought her way through hell and made it back. A fighter. A survivor. God, I loved her.

I exhaled sharply, forcing myself to focus, turning back to my brother. “Do you realize, he?—”

Connor nodded, cutting me off before I could finish. “Kevin and his dad, are?—”

A click. The world froze.

My gaze snapped back at Kinsley. The gun pressed against the back of her head.

My stomach turned to ice.

The bastard’s breathing was uneven, his face swollen, but his hand was steady. Steady enough to pull the trigger.