Asa’s nostrils are flaring. He’s staring at Sloan, hatred in his eyes. “Is that true, baby?” he says, his voice laced with fear for her answer. Sloan is right. She’s the only thing that can break him. “Did you know he was a cop when you fucked him?”
Sloan is staring at Asa, her fear forcing her chest to heave up and down. She nods. “It’s true, Asa,” she whispers. “And it was the best fucking orgasm of my life.”
There’s a split second when I can actually see her words breaking his heart. Cracking his entire soul right down the middle. His eyebrows draw apart and he blows out a quick breath, refusing to believe the words she just spoke to him.
That split second is all it takes to aim my gun in his direction. I pull the trigger, hitting him in the arm that’s holding the gun.
The second the bullet makes contact, Ryan breaks free and grabs Asa’s gun, shooting him once in each leg and once in the other arm.
Sloan is wrapped around me, one of my arms is holding her tight while the other is aiming straight at Asa’s head. My finger is around the trigger and it’s taking everything in me not to shoot him. To end his fucking worthless life for good.
Ryan can see it on my face. “Don’t do it, Luke,” he says.
Asa falls to the floor and Ryan is on top of him, cuffing his arms behind his back. “Where’s Tillie?” Ryan demands.
Asa makes eye contact with him. He has four bullet wounds in his body-none of them necessarily life-threatening-but he has a solemn look on his face, like he can’t even feel the physical pain.
“Fuck if I know,” he says.
Ryan reaches back and smashes the barrel of his gun across Asa’s face. Blood splatters on the wall. He grabs Asa’s phone out of his pocket and says, “You’re going to call them off! Right now! You’re going to free Tillie and my sister, you piece of fucking shit!”
Asa is staring up at him, laughing. “Your sister was a lucky guess,” he says. “Found her online. Looked up her address. I don’t even have people at her house, you gullible piece of shit.”
Ryan stares at him long and hard. He pulls his phone out and dials a number.
“Are you okay?”
He pauses. Then, “Tillie, are you fucking okay? This isn’t a joke! Where are you?”
Ryan closes his eyes and then in a split second, his gun smashes against Asa’s head again. “You pathetic fuck!”
He hangs up the phone and calls his sister. “Hey,” he says. “I’m sending police to your house. Don’t freak out, I just need to make sure you’re okay.”
When he hangs up the phone, he looks at me. He shakes his head. “I’m sorry, Luke,” he says. “There was no way I knew if he was lying or not. I couldn’t take any chances.”
“I would have done the same thing.”
Ryan makes sure Asa’s cuffs are secured to the mantle and then walks toward the door. “I’ll call the station and have this sorry fucker picked up. I’ll be downstairs. Keep your gun on him until they come get him.”
As soon as the door is shut, I pull Sloan to me, squeezing her. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I did that. I’m sorry I put a gun to your head and said those things.”
She lifts up on her toes and kisses me. “You saved my life, Luke. Don’t apologize, I knew what you were doing.”
“Get the fuck off her,” Asa grumbles.
We both glance over at him. He’s handcuffed to the mantle, his jeans covering in the blood that’s coming from his legs. But he still doesn’t seem to care that he’s been shot four times. He’s staring at Sloan, rage in his eyes.
All I can think about is Sloan and how relieved I am that this fucker is definitely going to prison now.
She’ll feel safer, at least.
But she still won’t feel vindicated.
***
ASA
Stupid cock-fuck. His hands are on her, his lips in her hair. My stomach feels like someone went after it from the inside with a fucking machete. Every time he touches her, I can taste vomit.
“Get your hands off her,” I whisper.
Sloan’s eyes meet mine and she slides in front of Luke, presses her back to his chest. She pulls his arms around her waist. “I don’t want his hands off me,” she whispers. “He makes me feel things, Asa. Things you never could.”
She lifts her shirt and slips one of his hands inside it.
What the fuck is she doing?
My breathing is getting real fucking hard to control right now. I’ve never hated something this much. If it took me going to church just so I could believe in a hell Luke would rot in, I’d never miss a fucking service.
Luke’s eyes are locked with mine as he lowers his mouth to her neck. I can see his hand moving inside her shirt, straight up to her breast. He squeezes her breast and I fucking gag.