EPILOGUE

AVERY

“TAKE THE NEXT RIGHT,” MY brother informs me as I drive down the New York highway. Bunny and I have been visiting him for the last two weeks. She spends all of her time with Chloe and Alex, and none of them argue with me when I make Kayn escort them.

“She’s calling you again.” He holds up my phone in his hand, and I glance over at it to see Bunny light up my screen. I hit answer. “Hey, Bunny,” I call out into my speakers as the Bluetooth picks it up.

“Where are you?” she asks in her sweet voice.

I dodge her question. “Are you back at Tristan’s?”

“No.” She sighs. “We are at some Halloween store looking for costumes.” She gets quiet for a second. “Can we come back for Halloween? Chloe and Alex have made plans to go out. And I really wanna go.”

“Of course,” I answer although I hate New York.

“Thanks, babe.” Her voice has changed to excitement. “I’ll see you back at Tristan’s. Love you.”

Click.

She hangs up before I can even respond.

My brother begins to laugh. “Shut up,” I order before he has the chance to say anything. He knows that I would do anything that woman wants. Thankfully, he keeps his mouth shut.

I see my exit coming up and jump off the highway. Going ten over the speed limit, I take the curves faster than I should.

“It’s up ahead.”

It comes into view, and I slow down. The house sits on ten acres back off the road. I see a black Corvette parked in the driveway, and I smile. The bastard is here.

I pull into the driveway like I’m expected and get out, my gun tucked in the back of my slacks. Tristan and I make our way around to the back of the house and use the key that Kayn gave me. That guy can get anything anywhere. I unlock the door and step in. There’s soft piano music playing, and I smile because that could be an advantage.

My brother falls behind me, allowing me to take the lead, knowing I can handle it. He just came along because he didn’t wanna go shopping with the girls.

A voice comes from down the hall, and I follow it. Pulling my gun out of my pocket, I also grab the silencer out of the other and screw it on. My brother pulls his out to be ready just in case. Cocking mine slowly, I raise it. As I step into a kitchen, the man comes into view. He stands in front of the burner, his back facing me, flipping pancakes. He picks them up with the spatula and plops them down on a plate. He turns around but gasps when he finds me and my brother standing in front of him. “Who the hell are you?” he demands.

I place the gun under his chin and speak. “The real question is, what did you do to deserve this?” Then I pull the trigger. He drops the plate, and it shatters before he falls to his knees, then face down.

I kneel, place the gun in his hand, and then we turn around and leave, not even bothering to turn off the stove. If the house catches on fire, then it was meant to be. I remove my gloves, and we walk outside and jump in my car. There will be signs that it wasn’t a suicide. Like the fact he dropped a plate of pancakes and no suicide letter to explain his decision. Or someone might have seen my car. But the police will never place me here because I have no connection to the man. And the gun is untraceable. I can make that possible in my line of work.

The love of my life was once a patient of his. She went to him for help, and all he did was make her feel like it was all her fault. After doing some research on the man, I found he had assault charges while in college. He had money to have it hidden well but not good enough. The man preyed on women who were already victims—too afraid they had no voice—so I did society a favor. If he had taken care of Bunny, I would have spared his life, but no one seemed to have done that. That’s why I got a list, and I’m going name by name until they are all dead.

“I can’t believe you’re gonna become a boring husband.” My brother finally breaks the silence. “Who am I gonna kill people with now?”

“I’m not quitting. I’m just taking a vacation to spend alone time with my wife.” A vacation that is long overdue.

“Have you told her yet …?” His voice trails off.

I shift gears. “The other night.”

“And how did she take it?” he questions.

I take in a deep sigh. “As good as I figured she would.”

He grunts, knowing it didn’t go all that well. I’ve tried to avoid telling her what I do for a living. When I first took her and she asked, I’d just completely ignore her. Or tell her it’s none of her business. But things have changed. Now we’re trying to make up for the eleven years that we lost. The other night while eating dinner, she wanted to know how worried she should be every time I left the house. And I couldn’t hide it from her anymore. Didn’t want to. So, I told her, and it was worse than what she had suspected.

I’m a man who kills for a living. It doesn’t matter how I do it, as long as the job gets done. I take out men who use women and little boys and girls. I always thought she hated the part of me that wouldn’t stand up for the women who had no hope, so after I thought she left me, I buried myself in that world but in a different way. My brother and I wanted to make a difference, and to my surprise, the government paid us millions to end worthless lives like Vaughn’s and Victor’s. Our father and Damon are still out there, but I have no doubt that Tristan and I will find them once I return from my honeymoon. The only difference is that I will be coming home to a wife. Who I will treat like the queen she is.

“Are you nervous about tomorrow?” he asks, handing my phone over. I put it in the cup holder.

“No.” I’ve waited all my life to marry Bunny, so I couldn’t be more ready.

He turns and looks out the window, changing the subject. “Do you think he’ll stay away?”

I know he’s asking about our dad. “He won’t for long.” He’s not the kind of guy who sits on his hands. He’ll come for us. He’ll forget about Bunny. She’s no longer important to him. I know how he works. According to him, Tristan and I killed the one thing he couldn’t live without—Vaughn. His protégé. He would never believe that Bunny did it, and I’d like to keep it that way. The less he knows about her, the better.

“It sure would be easier than us trying to find him,” he states, and I’d have to agree.

Thirty minutes later, we pull into Tristan’s driveway, and I see my Escalade SUV with bulletproof glass already here.

We walk inside, and I go straight to our room that we are staying in. But I find it empty. “Bunny?” I call out.

“One second,” she answers from the other side of the closet door.

I begin to undo the buttons on my shirt and sit on the end of the bed. A moment later, I hear the closet door open. Looking up, my breath gets caught in my throat when I see her exit.

She comes to a stop in front of me, holds out her arms and spins around. When she comes to a stop, they fall to her sides. “Do you not like it?”

I stand and push her dark hair back from her shoulders. “I love it.” My eyes sweep over the deep purple satin dress that clings to her from her chest down to the floor. It has a black sash high on her waist and ties in a big bow in the back that falls down the length of her dress and to the end of the small train. “I’m not supposed to see your dress.”

Back when we were kids, I used to imagine the day I would see her in a white wedding dress while I stood at the altar. But that’s not who either one of us is anymore. Tomorrow, she will become my wife and me her husband. It’s not going to happen at a church in front of God. Instead, my brother is going to marry us in front of a few of our friends. And that is better than any fantasy I’ve ever had because this is real life. Finally, after all these years, she’s gonna be mine in every way.

She wraps her arms around my neck and smiles up at me. “I’m not superstitious, Avery. Don’t tell me you are.”

I open my mouth to tell her no when my eyes catch sight of the black lace collar around her neck. The same one I gave her the night for Conway’s party. I reach up and run my fingers over it, looping one through the hook. Gently, I bring her toward me by it. And I arch a brow in question.

“I can be your bride and your dirty little whore,” she whispers, running her tongue along her nude painted lips.

My cock hardens behind my zipper at her words. “Yes you can, Bunny.” We laugh and smile with one another all the time, but one thing hasn’t changed. She still likes to be my slave in the bedroom. She still begs me to let her come, and there’s times I still refuse her. She likes the way I take charge of her and use her however I want. And I love that about her.

“Turn around,” I order, and she does without thought.

My hands go to the sash, and I untie it before unzipping the dress. I pull it down her body, and she steps out of it. I grab the dress and walk it into the closet. Hanging it up, I open up one of my bags that I brought and pull out what I want. Then walk back into the bedroom.

She stands in front of the king-size bed looking like a dream that I never thought would come true. Her long dark hair is over one shoulder, breathing ragged and nipples hard. I bet she’s wet. She always is for me. All she wears is her collar and black ten-carat princess cut engagement ring. She doesn’t wear flashy things. She never did. But I wanted something that men could see from a mile away. Bunny would have been happy with just a band, but I wanted to make a fucking statement. She’s mine! And I chose black because I wanted it to be dark—like our love. Our story may have once been hearts and flowers, but now it’s storm clouds and hurricanes. And I’m okay with that.

Her round tits are asking to be kissed. Her shaved pussy begging to be fucked.

Her eyes drop to my hands, and her teeth sink into her bottom lip when she sees the black leather straps that hang from them. “Lie on the bed, Bunny. Face down.”

She tries to hide her smile but fails. She crawls onto the middle of the large bed, and being the good girl she is, she places her hands behind her back for me. I take the thick straps and wrap them around her small wrists, making sure they’re nice and tight. Once I’m satisfied with that, I slap her ass. “Up on your knees.”

She moans into the duvet and wiggles her ass up into the air. I sit between her legs and use my knees to shove them farther apart. She begins to pant. I run my hand over her pussy, and she pulls on her restraints. “You’re not going anywhere,” I say with a smile. “You’re mine.” I slap her ass again, and she hisses in a breath.

“Please …”

I grab her hair and yank her head back, cutting off her words. I lower my face down to hers, whispering in her ear, “You can fucking beg me all you want, Bunny, but it won’t get you off any sooner.” Then I let go of her head, and it falls to the bed.

Tomorrow night I will marry this woman, and when we get to our hotel, I will pick her up and carry her through the door and then make love to her until she passes out in my arms.

But tonight … I’m gonna use her. Just like we both crave.