“Why h-h-her?”She glares toward the room.
Because she’s not a goddamn loon…
I’m overwhelmed with the desire to tell her how revolting I find her. How no man would ever in their right mind want to settle down with her. Not just because of her vices, but because she’s fucking crazy. She wasn’t just attacking a romantic rival. There were two fucking kids in that bathroom, screaming their damn heads off. Susan is getting exactly what she deserves.
But instead of telling her this, I say nothing, watching the light dim in her eyes as she bleeds out. No one to miss her. No one to bury her. No one to shed a goddamn tear.
It’s a long time before Suki leaves the bathroom, and when she does, she approaches the hall with her sword raised.
Even covered in Susan’s blood, she’s so fucking beautiful. Wild and free and without the constraints of the modern world. She’s a queen the deserves worship. A goddess in her own right. A fucking prize.
But she’s not mine. She’ll never be mine.
“Go!” she says through gritted teeth.
My heart shatters.
Somehow, she knows. I wish I could explain to her that it was over with Susan before I met her, but that might not even matter. I brought danger to her door.
“I’m sorry—”
She stomps a foot. “GO!”
There’s no use fighting, especially when her kids are sobbing in the bathroom.
I stab Susan through the temple, so she stays dead, and scoop her into my arms. I won’t shit in her skull like she deserves, but she’ll get no respectful burial from me.
There’s no way I’m going to let Suki and the boys stay here, not that I can communicate that with her. After I ditch the body, I’ll figure out what to do.
Duri rushes out of the bathroom and shouts. “Don’t go!”
Startled, I take in his clear, precise words. Perhaps he learned them from one of the cartoons he watches.
And fuck me if a tear isn’t welling in my damn eye.
Suki says a few snappy syllables to him, and he pouts.
I wish I could tell him that everything’s going to be okay, but right now, his mother is angry, and I’m not about to make it worse on her. Not after the hell I just put them through.
“I’ll-be-back!” I say, knowing she can’t understand me but hoping my calm tone assures her.
But the look on her face tells me she doesn’t want me back. That she might just want me dead.
ChapterFourteen
NEED
SUKI
It’s been hours since Trent left. I know I did the right thing, but there’s a part of me that’s utterly torn.
Trent was never mine. He belonged to that woman. The one with the hollow eyes.
I’ve packed our things, because staying here is no longer possible, but with night so close, I’ll have to wait until morning before finding a new place.
“Mom, why are we going?” Duri pouts.
“Because people know we’re here.”