CHAPTER 70
It’s not time yet.
More guests are coming, so we have to wait.
We have to let these sick fucks sign their own warrants in blood.
But every minute we sit here feels like betrayal.
Drinks are passed around on the feed, waiters smiling like this is some fucking country club gala instead of a goddamn flesh market.
Snacks.
Cocktails.
Laughter.
I want to put my fist through the screen and put a bullet in their fucking heads.
Paty’s gone pale, her hands trembling slightly where they’re curled around the edge of the seat.
When I check on her, she waves me off with a tight, broken smile that doesn’t reach her eyes.
“I just...” she starts, then stops, swallowing hard.
“I just wish we could do something other than wait,” she whispers, blinking too fast, her voice starting to crack around the edges. Her eyes shine, unshed tears making them glow in the flickering light from the screens.
“Hey,” I say, voice low. I reach out, catching her hand where it’s clenched tight in her lap, forcing her to meet my gaze.
“You got us here,” I remind her, low and certain. “Without you, none of these bastards would ever see the inside of a cell.”
The words seem to land.
She nods, biting her lip, clutching my hand tighter before she lets go.
She’s still pale, but there’s fire in her eyes again when she finally lifts her chin.
The comms crackle to life.
“All teams—final address received. Move to positions.”
I shove open the side door of the van, boots hitting the ground hard.
Pull my gun and rack the slide.
One last check—it’s loaded.
We’re fucking ready.
Ahead of me, three of our best are already moving into formation.
I’m the last behind them.
Focused. Head down. Heart hammering.
The second we breach that building, all hell’s going to break loose.
“Roger.”
My name stops me cold.
Her voice—so small. Broken.
Barely more than a whisper.
It tears me apart before I even turn around.
But I do.
And Jesus fucking Christ, the look on her face is going to haunt me for the rest of my miserable life.
Terror.
Panic.
Hope.
“Be careful,” she says, and a single tear slips free, sliding down her cheek in a glimmering trail.
Before I can say a goddamn word back—before I can do something stupid like grab her and promise things I shouldn’t—the call comes through.
“All teams go.”
And without hesitating a single second, I’m gone.
Istand in my kitchen, trembling, rooted to the floor like if I move, I’ll shatter.
Silence presses in from all sides, thick and stifling, as my mind spins, dragging me down into a pit I can't outrun.
A client who tried to kill herself.
Two bodies on my conscience.
Colleagues I once trusted, exposed as monsters with polished smiles.
Roger—God, Roger—every warning siren in my head and every soft ache in my chest.
And my stalker. Because of course. What’s one other thing?
The man who touches me like he already owns me.
Who made me feel things I didn’t know existed.
Who showed me that surrender could be terrifying and holy.
Worst of all?
I liked it.
I craved it.
I crave it still.
I squeeze my arms tighter around myself, blinking fast against the hot sting in my eyes.
Dexter, still faintly pink, sits near the couch, gnawing his paw like he’s over it too.
I want to laugh.
I want to scream.
Mostly, I just want to disappear.
Tonight should have been a victory.
We watched from the van—every monster hauled out one by one, including the mayor.
No shots fired. No bodies dropped.
The girls were rescued. The warrants were already flying before the dust even settled.
It should have felt like winning.
But it doesn’t.
It feels like sitting at the bottom of the ocean, the weight of everything crushing me, no air left to breathe, nowhere to put the hurt clawing through my insides.
When the front door creaks open, I don’t flinch.
I already know it’s him.
The man who never knocks, never hesitates, never asks permission.
He steps inside like he belongs, the sound of boots on hardwood grounding me in a way that terrifies me more than anything else.
I run to him.
No hesitation. No thought.
I collide with him mid-step, my body crumpling into his chest, sobbing so violently it rips the air from my lungs.
He catches me without a word.
Strong arms wrap around me, steady and unmoving, like the world can fall apart and he won’t.