Page 7 of Scarred Angel

And he did. It was fucking humiliating.

Without thinking, I grab the pistol and send round after round into what’s left of his picture until it’s confetti on the floor.

“There. Now there’s no evidence.”

Remi laughs. “Fair.”

“I don’t have feelings for him anymore,” I blurt. “If that’s what you’re thinking. Aside from wanting to hang him by his toes off the Ben Franklin Bridge. Now, those feelings are very much alive.”

She throws an arm around my shoulder and gives me a grin. “I know. I wouldn’t judge you even if you did. That shit doesn’t just disappear because we tell it to. Would I want to slap you? Maybe. But judge? Never.”

“Good to know,” I say with a hollow laugh, leaning my head against hers and already feeling less homicidal.

Remi isn’t just my cousin—she’s the sister I got to choose. Before the twins were born, and when I thought I’d be an only child, it didn’t bother me because I had her.

But a bond like ours doesn’t just come from growing up together. Our family is unique in every sense of the word.Unconventional, bound by secrets and a knowledge of the world’s darkness that would leave most people unsettled.

“I didn’t see his name on tonight’s roster. Maybe a little cash and some adrenaline are exactly what you need to purge every last bit of him from your system.” Remi slides on her ear pro and lifts her weapon. “And if he shows up…well, a snip here and there to his brake line?—”

“I thought murder was off the table.”

“Never,” she says with a wink, then lights up the target.

I step back and watch her rip through the blue paper, each round punching tight holes dead center. Remi is a damn good shot—not that she’d accept anything less. She’s a perfectionist through and through, excelling at everything she touches. But her obsession comes at a cost. If she thinks she can’t be perfect, she won’t even try. And that is a tragedy because Remi is a fucking genius. She’s destined to do big things in this world someday. I can feel it.

“Is my daughter trying to put a hole through the wall?”

Aunt Amalia’s unexpected voice startles me. I twist around and pull one of my favorite people into a hug. She doesn’t often come around the range, the last time being when my dad and Uncle Kai signed it over to Remi and me, so I’m immediately curious as to what brings her by.

“Just some therapy.”

Her eyes light with understanding, sympathy, and a glint of something darker. “I heard. Say the word, and I’ll pay that asshole a little visit.”

It might have been over a decade since her last contract, but one motto threads thick through this family: stay ready.

“Tempting, but we’ll put a pin in the idea, just in case.”

“As you wish.”

Even though I shredded Cole’s face with two magazines, I don’t exactly want him dead.

Yet. Maybe a little ass-kicking, sure, but the fucker gets to live to fuck another day. As long as I don’t have to see him.

Convincing my dad to back off…well, that’s another story.

Remi sets the gun down and nearly stumbles at the sight of her mother. “Mamá, I can explain.”

Aunt Amalia arches a brow, folding her arms across her chest. “Dale. Tell me your version.”

I narrow my eyes, confused. Remi usually shares everything with me, but for once, I’m the last to know about something clearly significant.

With a huff, she pushes out of the main room into the lobby, and we follow.

“He tried to write me a ticket because I forgot my decal. But I’ve been parking in the same spot all year. That bastard just hates me.”

“RemiIsabelCain, you throat-punched your school resource officer over a $5 infraction.”

My cousin purses her lips, trying not to grin. “He was being a dick, insulted my car, and threatened to have me towed. What else was I supposed to do?”