I turned to him, seeing that he was staring at Kate. “Do what?”
“Kill him,” he answered, lifting his beer.
I knew he wasn’t joking ’cause the motherfucker didn’t joke. I also knew who he was talking about. He was watching my woman and her daughter laugh in the sunshine like they didn’t know what waited for them in the shadows. It was impossible not to want to avenge them. To make sure there was no one on this earth who was a threat to them. It wasn’t in our nature to do nothing.
“Brother, I promised her I wouldn’t do it,” I gritted out. That promise still sat heavy on my shoulders, jerking me awake at night.
“You won’t,” Hades said, still looking at them.
I chuckled without humor. “Yeah, the distinction of who pulls the trigger won’t fly with Kate. Her husband ends up dead, she’ll know it was the Sons.”
“I can make it look natural,” Hades offered.
He could. He was an expert in killing, like all of us were. Anyone could pull a trigger, draw blood. But there was an art to it that few men possessed, enabling them to make a death slow, painful or quick and painless.
“I’m sure you can,” I replied, tempted to take him up on the offer. “But Kate is smart. I know Macy’s got her into crystals and shit, but I doubt even she thinks karma works that fast.”
“If she knew what this was doing to you…”
“She knows,” I grunted. “But what this is doin’ to me don’t mean shit compared to what this is doin’ to her. She wants him dead. Even though she’s not bloodthirsty by nature. Even though she saves strays. Even though she’s got the softest, kindest heart I’ve ever known.” I reached down into the cooler for another beer. “She would wear his blood if she could,” I continued, staring at Kate. “But she will live in agony forever if it means saving her daughter from even an inch of pain.” I let the cool liquid slip down my throat. “Plus, I’ve come to the decision that letting him live without his money, without them,” I nodded toward my girls, “that’s the worst punishment. A fate worse than death.”