Emery has been gone a lot lately, and I’m starting to think she’s doing it on purpose so Ryker and I can have the place to ourselves. I don’t like that one bit. As soon as her ass gets home, we’re having words.

“I’ll be out in a few,” Ryker says, heading to the shower.

I immediately pull my laptop out. Sifting through the tapes, I see nothing new. Along with the money, no movement. He hasn’t tried to pull anything out. At least, it’s not documented that he has.

The Skype app dings. It’s from Emery. I accept, and when I do, my blood runs cold as JK’s face appears on the screen.

“Hello there, bitch,” he spits out. I can’t speak. “Meet me at my house in the basement, now! And come alone.”

“I’m not stupid,” I retort, finally finding my voice that is much steadier than I feel. The power this man once held over me … well, it’s still there, but I’ll be damned if I let him see it.

Emery’s wide, panicked eyes come on the screen briefly, and my heart lurches.

“Your little bitch of a roommate is as stupid as they come. You don’t meet me, she gets exactly what was done to you.”

The screen goes black as my body takes on a life of its own. I grab my gun and knife then toss on my pants. Ryker will be pissed I’m leaving without telling him, but I can’t let Emery get hurt the way he did to me or at all.

I can still feel him ripping through me sometimes at night. No one deserves to have that happen to them. The fear so stark in her eyes … I need to get there now.

Grabbing my keys, I drive to the one place I never wanted to return to, but low and behold, life is throwing me one of its famous curveballs once again.

The house is the same stucco it was before, except now there are no people running around the place. No, it’s eerily quiet.

Gun in hand, I make my way to the front steps. I have to steel myself when I open the door.

A man, one of the ones who hurt me, pops out. A smug grin comes across his face just before he lunges for me. The gun goes off, but I miss. He hits me hard across the face, sending me spinning and the gun flying out of my hand. Shit!

His bulky body falls on top of mine, already reaching above me for the gun. Snapping my leg up, I kick him in the shin just as I let my elbow fly, crashing into his nose.

“Fuckin’ bitch!” he screams.

Lunging for the gun, he’s there, both our hands on the gun. He’s much stronger than me physically and there’s no way I can outmaneuver him.

“What are ya gonna do now, bitch?” he bites out.

Lifting my foot, I connect it with his dick. His eyes widen, his grip loosens, and I shoot, hitting him in the chest several times. He lies there in a pool of blood. One down, and I have no clue how many more there are.

My breaths come rapidly as I press my back to the building, looking in every direction. Only then do I try to catch my breath. Everything races in my head.

My heart is having palpitations, and sweat breaks out over my skin. Holy shit, I just killed a man. Yes, a very bad man, but still.

Resting my head back against the wall, I expel a deep breath. There’s more to do here. Emery, I’m coming.

Entering the room, the smell of dirt assaults me as I look around the space, one that haunts my memories. The large table is in the middle of the room with cuffs on the sides and bottom to strap a person down. A place where JK decided to filet me like a fucking fish.

“Aust …” Emery says, and my focus goes to her in the corner of the room.

JK stands behind her with a knife placed at her throat and hand over her mouth.

“Bitch, shut the fuck up!” he yells, taking the knife and carving it down her arm, deep enough for blood to pour out.

Emery screams.

“Stop it!” I yell at him, my gun still out.

JK’s laugh is sinister. “You stupid little cunt.” He drags the blade up, putting it at her throat again. “Would you rather me cut here?”

“No!”

That damn smile haunts my dreams.

The walls seem to close in on me. It takes effort to breathe in and out steadily.

I left the comfort of home with Ryker and didn’t tell him where I was going. Emery is my best friend, though. I’d do anything for her in the blink of an eye. The thought of JK having her made me physically sick. No one deserves what he can dish out.

Shit. I need to get us out of here.

“I told you I’d get to you. And your little bitch of roommate is helping with that. Now I’m going to destroy you.”

“Boss.” I jump at a second man’s voice coming through a door off to the left. “We got company.” He then takes back off through the door, not even looking my way.

My heart hammers as I hold the gun steady in front of me. There is no way JK’s going to get away with this. I want him dead. Not just for me, but for the fear in Emery’s eyes and what he did to Deke. I thought about eliciting my revenge by cutting parts of his body off—mainly his dick—and feeding them to him, but now I don’t want any of it. I just want him dead. Gone. Finished. Out of all our lives forever.

“Austyn!” Ryker’s voice comes from the doorway, one of JK’s assholes behind him, gun to his head. Another one who touched me. Knowing that, fury bubbles inside me. “Are you okay?”

God, how did he find me? And so quickly? I don’t want him anywhere near this man, and now he has a gun to his head. I love him. Really love him. And now I’ve done this to him—falling for JK’s words. The gun to his head is on my shoulders. Fuck me.

“Yeah.”

“Fuck. Emery, you, too!”

“I’m okay,” she says, but it comes out croaky.

I stare into her eyes. It takes her a moment, but then the fear begins to go deeper inside her and the fight begins to come out. We can fucking do this shit—three against two. True, Ryker and Emery each have weapons trained on them, but I’m not going to focus on that. Only on how the hell to get us out of here.

“Aw, isn’t this just pathetically precious?” JK says as Ryker is brought further into the room. The asshole behind him kicks his knees out, making him fall hard to the floor with a thump.

“Fucker, you’ll pay for that,” Ryker growls.

JK laughs. “Nah. By the time your little friends come, we’ll be finished here.” His focus comes to me.

Thoughts of how I’m going to get us all out of this race through my brain. Each idea shittier than the next, considering the gun is at Ryker’s temple and probably why he hasn’t moved much.

“Let Emery go,” I demand of JK, who’s deep chuckle fills the space.

He takes the blade and places it along Emery’s waist. “How far should I go in? Should I just go surface, or go really deep so she remembers me for the rest of her fucking life?” He scrapes the blade along her belly, and I’m thankful of the shirt taking the brunt of the cut. It’s in shreds, but who cares? It hasn’t cut into her belly yet.

“Stop! What do you want?”

JK’s eyes come back to mine. “For you to fucking die!”

From the way he holds Emery, I can’t get a good shot, so I take a step to the right. He counters it, then pushes the blade into her flesh, making blood ooze out. I still.

“Please don’t do this!” Emery cries out.

JK’s eyes still on mine, he asks Ryker, “Your little whore’s pussy is delectable, isn’t it? You know, it was the luck of the draw that I got the little Ravage MC princess in my hunt that night.”

Bile rises from my stomach, burning my throat as I force it down.

“Shut up!” I scream, the gun wavering as tears form in the corner of my eyes. I try to stand strong, but his words are cutting me to the quick.

JK’s smile widens. “Oh, you mean your little boy toy here doesn’t know that you murdered my baby?”

“I’m sorry,” I say softly to Ryker, who says nothing, though his eyes turn cold.

Fear slams into me hard.

Emery whimpers in the background.

“That virgin pussy was enough, but then you had to go and kill my baby!” JK screams. “For that, bitch, you will die!” With the knife now at Emery’s throat, he begins to dig in and dig deep.

The gun is steady in my hand, the weight of it not giving me a bit of comfort. The cold of the metal, the unforgiveness of its mold, it matches the way I feel inside. Hardened steel, molded and made by the hands of men, the firearm gives me no fear. It only feeds the burning need for retribution in my soul.

Aiming it at him, thoughts of how I got to this place rush through me. The choices that were stripped, the consequences of actions and life that were altered and changed forever. All of it weighs heavily on me, but my strong shoulders bear it.

Being a warrior is in my blood, carried through me from my parents. Eye for an eye is our motto. They would expect nothing less from me.

The blood pumping through my veins was once a life source. Now, my sole focus and the fury that courses through me is fueled by vengeance with every beat of my heart.

Ryker looks up at me, eyes blank.

“Bye, Ryker.”

I eye Emery, darting them to the left quickly. Even with tears streaming down her face, she catches it, moving fast as she lunges. I take that as my opportunity.

Without a second thought or a moment of hesitation, I pull the trigger, sending off several rounds into JK’s chest. He jerks back, the arm with the knife flying upward. Then JK’s body falls to the ground with a hard thump.

The gurgling sounds coming from him make my stomach roll. Blood seeps from his lips, pooling on the floor as he turns on his side and begins to cough. For good measure, I put a bullet in his head, thanking my mother for her target practices. When he stops moving, I turn my attention to the rest of the room.

Ryker is moving fast, subduing the man behind him. He rips the gun from him and pulls the trigger.

As blood squirts from the guy’s neck, the man reaches up, trying to stop the flow, his eyes wide with fear. He collapses on the ground, and then Ryker steps forward and puts a few more shots into him until the man stills.

This is all surreal. I want to cry and curl into a ball. I want to disappear into nothing. Instead, I rush toward Emery, whose hand is at her neck, trying to stop the blood flow.

“Is it deep?”

“Part of it is.”

Fuck!

I pull off my shirt and place the fabric against her neck. “Put pressure on it.”

Ryker sweeps Emery up into his arms then grabs my arm. “We need to get the fuck out of here. I took out one of the guys before that asshole found me. I don’t know how many more are here. The guys are about five out.”

Sucking in much-needed air, I follow him and Emery through the room. We pass by JK, who now lies in a pool of blood, his eyes looking straight up, sending a shiver down my spine.

He’s gone. Officially gone. Too bad it wasn’t soon enough.

Gun fire can be heard from outside.

Ryker sticks his head out. “They’re here.”

Relief washes over me for only a moment.

It’s all over. All of it.

JK.

Ryker and me.

He knows now. The dirt and grime. He knows all of it, and I don’t feel one bit relieved.

It’s all over.

Everything.