“I already have,” I tell him. “I’d guess you’ve got no more than ten minutes. But that’s a gift, my friend. That’s ten minutes you can use to think about Saoirse and all the evil shit you did to that girl. And as for Saoirse, don’t worry about her in the slightest. I plan on fucking your memory right out of her. In fact… I’ve already started the healing process.”
I spit on the writhing motherfucker.
“She screamed my name the last time she came,” I continue, relishing the expression on his bloodied face. “So I think she’s making real progress.”
Then I turn and walk away from him.
Better that he dies on his own.
Do I feel guilty? Remorseful? Squeamish?
Fuck no.
I feel fucking alive.
And there’s no reason to waste that feeling. Which is why I start scanning the war zone for the other man of the hour.
Brody fucking Murtagh.
I don’t have to look long to locate him. He’s the most heavily-guarded, the one starting to realize that he might very well lose this particular battle.
As I hunt, he gets into the vehicle with a handful of his men.
He’s trying to escape. And no one has realized it but me.
I make another executive decision.
There’s no fucking way I’m letting the man behind all this shit flee. If he lives, this will continue. We’ll be locked in a never-ending cycle until either I’m dead or he is.
And I don’t plan on dying anytime soon.
Time for action, then.
I run forward and aim at the tires of Brody’s getaway jeep. Then I start firing.
I keep firing even when my bullets meet their target. I don’t stop until the jeep has skidded to a complete stop.
I notice a few Kovalyov men who’ve just finished gutting a couple of Kinahans and I signal them over. They fall in behind me instantly as they reload their guns.
The Kinahan security detail exits the lifeless vehicle and runs screaming for the hills—only to be gunned down in their tracks by my impromptu firing squad.
But Brody stays inside in his protective cocoon.
“What’s the matter, Brody?” I ask, raising my voice to make sure all his men can hear. “What’re you doing hiding in there? It’s easy to talk big when you’ve got numbers on your side, huh? Because you’re awfully quiet now that the field is level.”
I can feel someone move forward to my side. I don’t have to glance his way to know it’s Artem.
The fight is all but over.
We’ve almost won.
“Where’s Kian?” I ask, realizing that I can’t spot my brother in the small army of men behind Artem and I.
“Inside,” Artem answers. “He’s unconscious, but he’ll be okay.”
I have to content myself with that for the time being. I can’t allow myself to get distracted.
I walk around to the jeep and swing the door wide open. Brody is in the backseat. He’s turned an unattractive shade of purple and he’s looking at me like a caged beast.
Nowhere to run.
Nowhere to hide.
No one to save him.
I raise my gun and look him right in the eye. “You should’ve stayed dead,” I say with a grim smile.
Then I pull the trigger.