Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Hudson

I help her to her feet, the spell cast over us breaking the second she finds her balance.

S he rips her hand from mine and rushes over to where I threw her hoodie. She goes to pull it on, but I yank it from her hands. I shove it into the dirty laundry basket in the laundry room and grab one of my clean shirts.

I walk back to where she's still frozen and hold the shirt open for her. Like a puppet, she lifts her arms and allows me to slide the shirt on before I fasten the buttons, pausing when I secure the one between her breasts.

"I don't want you wearing his clothes anymore," I admit quietly, knowing I'm being unreasonable, but I can't help it. When it comes to Starling, it's like I've been possessed.

She looks up at me, her blank expression turning into one of fury. "What about when I'm wearing his cum?"

I have her pinned to the wall before it's even a conscious thought. "Don't," I grit out.

"Truth hurts, huh? You didn't mind being cruel with your honesty. It's not my fault you can't handle mine."

"If he comes inside you, I'll fuck it out of you. I'll fill you so full you won't be able to move." I reach down and cup her pussy that's slick with my cum. "If he comes on you, if he marks what's mine, I'll tie him up and make him watch me fuck you in every hole until you beg for mercy."

"I hate you," she whispers, a tear running down her cheek.

"You won't hate me forever."

"I will. I'll never forgive you for this."

"I don't need you to forgive me. I want your pussy, not your heart. I tell you what, the second you stop hating me, when you love me more than you love him, I'll set you free," I lie, dangling hope in front of her like a proverbial carrot.

She shoves me back a little, her anger giving her strength. "You're pathetic. I thought I was the child, but it's you. You only want me because I'm his."

I lift her and pin her to the wall, my hand wrapping around her throat and cutting off her air. I position myself between her legs, line myself up, and let her go, impaling her on my cock. I clamp my hand over her mouth to muffle her screams and fuck her brutally. She won't get any mercy from me. Not today.

Her nails dig into my shoulders as I hold her, one arm under her ass to keep her exactly where I want her. I don't kiss her or touch her anywhere else. I don't give her pleasure in any way besides what she's getting from my cock.

This isn't about making her feel good any more. This is a warning about what's to come if she doesn't watch her mouth and follow my rules. I come with a roar, releasing everything I have inside her.

Breathing heavily, I pull back and slowly lower her to her feet. I feel her legs shake, but she stays standing.

Bending to place a kiss on her lips, I'm not surprised when she turns her head away. I press a kiss to her temple instead.

"This doesn't have to be a battle between us."

"We're fighting for two different things Hudson, survival and surrender. There'll never be anything but war between us and if you can't see that, then you're an idiot."

I step back and tug the shirt she's wearing down, so it covers her. "Go get some sleep."

She turns her head to look at me, her eyes filled with betrayal. She might hate me now, but I wasn't kidding when I said it wouldn't last forever. I'm used to playing the long game, and I know how persistent I need to be to wear someone down.

She walks away, her shoulders stiff with tension. I watch as she leaves the kitchen, and she disappears from view.

Leaning against the counter, I take a minute to get myself together. That didn't go the way I'd planned, but I'm not sorry. At least now she knows where she stands—where we both do.

It's what she does next that I'm most interested in.

I clean up the kitchen and take her gift up to her room. I leave it on the empty bed before I head upstairs and take a shower. The cold water does nothing to stop the lust simmering beneath my skin. I had thought the need for her would ease after we fucked, but if anything, it's worse. She's a drug I just can't get enough of.

Climbing out, I dry off and get dressed in a pair of black tactical pants with a black sweatshirt. I know sleep isn't in the cards for me right now, so instead of lying here thinking about Starling in bed next to Abbot with my cum smeared between her thighs, I head out to check out Diamond's ex.

I drive on autopilot, my mind flashing to images of Starling spread out on the kitchen counter. I'm so consumed by her that I almost miss the turn. The Astley Estate is a gated community on the upper north side of the city. When I arrive, I keep driving and park a couple blocks away before heading back on foot.

There's no guardhouse, just a keypad for the residents. I scale the wall and jump over, wondering what good the gate is if it doesn't keep anyone out. I check the address again before shoving the Post-it back into my pocket.

Keeping to the shadows, I make my way to the large house at the end of the street. At this hour, everyone should be asleep, but I'm not taking any chances. When I reach the house, I head around back and use my lock pick to let myself in through the patio door, marveling at the house's lack of security. There were no visible alarms or cameras outside, but I thought there might be something set up inside. Apparently not.

The house is quiet, the only light coming in through the windows. I make sure there's no one downstairs before creeping upstairs to the bedrooms. I check out the rooms with names on them, glad it's a weekday. The bedrooms are empty, and the beds are made. If it had been the weekend, there might have been a chance the kids would be here, and I would have had to come back another day. Luckily, that's one thing I don't have to worry about.

I walk to the master bedroom and open the door as quietly as I can before stepping inside. Closing the door partway, I let my eyes adjust to the darkness in the room before making my way over to the bed where a woman lies fast asleep. A face mask covers her eyes as she breathes softly and evenly. The guy, who I assume is Diamond's ex, is lying on his back beside her. I tap my chin in thought before glancing at the clock on the bedside table.

It's going to be light soon, so I need to decide how I want to do this. Normally, I'd put a bullet between his eyes and leave. I try not to stay longer than needed and avoid adding casualties unless absolutely necessary, but in the mood I'm in right now, I just don't care.

I take my gun, twist on the silencer, and point it at the woman. Then pause. Hmm… Actually, I have a better idea.

I get down on my hands and knees and check under the bed. Finding it clear, I drop to my stomach and maneuver myself beneath it. Once I'm in position, I pull out my cell phone. I double-check that it's on silent before doing a Google search of the baby daddy. His photo pops up—he's shaking hands with a client after successfully getting him acquitted of sexual assault charges, according to the accompanying article.

Happy that the guy in the bed is the right target, I settle in for the wait, opening the camera app to check on Starling. I grip the phone when I see her lying beside Abbot, even though I knew that's where she'd be.

Abbot would ask questions if he woke up and found her sleeping somewhere else, but I don't care about logic. I don't want her sleeping next to him when she should be sleeping next to me. It takes me a few moments to work through my anger enough to realize she isn't asleep. She's moving around too much.

I had hoped I'd fucked the insomnia out of her, but apparently not. It's ironic that after everything we shared tonight, we somehow ended up awake and in someone else's bedroom. It's kind of poetic in a way. I'm here to end a life, and she's lying in the ruins of her relationship with my son.

I thought I'd be able to give her time, but I underestimated the hold she has on me. I stayed away from my boys to keep them safe, missing out on all the things that made us a family, with no regrets. Yet in two weeks, Starling has me considering taking my son out of the picture completely. If my willingness to commit murder just to have her doesn't show the depth of my need, then nothing will.

I'm not sure how long I lie there watching her, but when I hear the beep of an alarm, I slip my phone into my pocket and ready my gun. The alarm shuts off just before a pair of feet swing over the side of the bed. The girlfriend gets up and walks into the bathroom, closing the door behind her a moment before the shower turns on.

I roll out from under the bed, staying on the girlfriend's side. When I don't hear any movement from baby daddy, I get to my feet and walk around to his side of the bed. He's still fast asleep, so I don't waste any time.

I shove the gun in his mouth, and when his eyes snap open, I grab his hand and wrap it around the handle. His terror and shock have him frozen in place, probably knowing that one wrong move and his brains will go everywhere. Unfortunately for him, that was always the plan.

"Your ex says hi." I smile before pulling the trigger.

The silencer suppresses most of the noise but not all of it, so I'm not surprised when the shower shuts off and I hear the girlfriend call his name. I stalk to the bathroom, open the door, and shoot the woman once in the chest and once in the head. She drops like a rock, her body falling out of the shower and sprawling on the floor as blood pools around her.

I take the gun back to baby daddy and arrange it in his hand after removing the silencer. Thanks to the filed-off serial numbers, it can't be traced back to me. I always wear gloves on a job, so I'm not worried about my prints being found anywhere either.

I don't bother staging the place to look like a burglary gone wrong now that I've gone down the murder-suicide route. Cops always look for the obvious answers first. If they dig deeper, I'd be surprised. And even if they do, they won't find any trace of me left behind.

I pull my hood up and slip the silencer into my pocket before walking downstairs and out the backdoor. The door has a latch, which means it automatically locks itself once I close it behind me, making it look as though nobody entered. I leave the way I came, keeping to the shadows and out of sight of potential nosy neighbors as I head back to the car and swap out the plates for new ones.

Turning the radio on for the drive home, I whistle along to a country song that's almost as old as I am and allow myself to be distracted by thoughts of Starling.