He turned slowly and looked me over from where I stood with his own shotgun aimed at his stomach. The expression on his face was one I had seen numerous times since I’d bought Briar. He was disappointed.
I didn’t give a shit.
“One day you will thank me. You’ll realize it would have turned out badly. You were way beyond the bond the two of you were supposed to have. She would’ve become a ransom, or a target for a grave.”
I didn’t respond.
“Put the gun down, Lucas. You’re acting like a spoiled child who had his toy taken from him. You’re mad now, but it wouldn’t compare to the pain later.”
“Her name . . . how did you find it?”
The corner of his mouth twitched wryly. “I have my ways.”
I nodded absentmindedly. I should’ve never put it past someone like William to break every rule he enforced without a care for the consequences. Because he knew he was untouchable.
At least, he had been.
“I’ve let you get away with too much because of who you are,” I said darkly. “That ends today. If you ever touch, or try to take Briar from me again, I promise you won’t live another day.”
Shock flashed through his eyes, but he composed it quickly.
I smirked. “What is it we say? Oh. Right. Because she’s still breathing . . .” Dropping the barrel a few inches, I aimed at his right knee and shot.
Like for like.
Screams sounded from outside the room, but they didn’t compare to the blood-curdling cry that came from William. His knee was completely blown out, and he just continued yelling over and over again as I walked slowly up to him.
“It’s a good thing we have drivers to take us everywhere, isn’t it?” I sneered. “Looks like you’ll be needing one for the rest of your life.” I turned and walked over to open the doors and searched the horrified faces of the women who’d been brave enough to stay outside. “Call the driver, get William to a hospital. He’ll probably lose the bottom half of his leg, but he’ll be fine,” I assured them.
“Lucas, what is wrong with you?” one of them cried when I walked past them. “How could you do this to him?”
How could I not?
He’d tried to take Briar from me.
My hand twitched on the shotgun, and I had the urge to go back into the office and aim the next shot at his chest. But in this world, it was like for like. My girl continued to breathe, so the person responsible for her pain would as well.
I gritted my teeth and forced myself to continue moving. “Ask him yourselves.”
I walked through the house to the garage and took the keys to another of William’s cars.
He wouldn’t have use for that one either.
My driver had positioned himself so he could see the front, back, and garage doors, and was standing still as a statue when I walked in from the garage not long after that.
“Briar?”
“Upstairs, Mr. Holt.”
I thought about what that could mean. “And how is she?”
He thought for only a second before saying, “I believe she will be fine. She is strong where it matters.”
That she is. I nodded down the hall
and walked in that direction. “Come with me.” Once I was in my office, I went to the large safe in the corner and opened it while I waited for my driver to follow me in. I glanced over my shoulder as I pulled out a thick stack of cash, and smiled at the fear he was trying hard to conceal. “You have a protector, you know.”
“Mr. Holt?”