Page 50 of Killian's Vengeance

“I think I’ve hit my weekly quota of things I share about my past. We should really save something for next week.”

She broke out in a wide grin, her beautiful blue eyes glittering with humor as she recognized me parroting her words back to her. Well, except my request had been about anal sex and hers was about my shitty childhood.

“Okay,” she said, then let out a jaw-cracking yawn.

“Let’s go to bed, Willa. God knows, things can only get better after we get a little sleep.”

I was pulled from deep sleep by a heavy knock on the door. Completely disoriented, I gently rolled Willa away from me. A smile hovered on my lips and my breath stalled in my chest when she protested our separation and reached for me. Christ, what was I going to do about her?

I pulled on a pair of jeans, not bothering to fasten them. I glanced at my phone and scowled. I’d only been asleep for about two hours. Only one person could be banging on my door and he was at least an hour early. Over eager asshole.

I pulled open the door, ready to tell Cullen to go the fuck away but his expression caused the words to die on my tongue.

“What happened?” I stepped into the hallway and pulled the door closed behind me. His lips were pressed together, but instead of looking ready for mayhem and violence, he looked disturbed and uneasy.

“I tried to sleep, and maybe even did for a while, but I was so fucking restless knowing that bitch was finally in our grasp. I just...I needed her to admit what happened, and if she wouldn’t talk, I needed her to suffer. More than needed it, craved it. I went in there prepared to get the information if I had to drain every drop of blood out of her fucking body. She was going to fucking talk.”

I sighed, still stunned at Cullen’s level of anger and grief. I looked him over. He definitely wasn't covered in blood. “Okay, so did you get the name?”

He sighed, that same uneasy expression flashing over his face. “No. Fuck, Kill, she was dead when I got there.”

I simply stared at him, unable to compute the words. “What? Dead? How?”

“I have no fucking idea. I went in there and she was out of the cuffs, but someone had strangled her and left her there.”

I looked at him for a moment, suspicion probably broadcasting from my expression like a neon sign.

Cullen rolled his eyes. “It wasn’t me, motherfucker. If only,” he grumbled.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing yet.”

“Let me see.” It sounded gruesome that I’d want to see a dead body, but there was a part of me that just couldn’t believe Lily was actually dead. Maybe seeing her dead body would push me to accept it.

Cullen simply turned and walked me back to the cell we’d been holding her in and opened the door. There on the floor was the woman who had been gloating and scathing by turns only hours ago, her blond hair in a golden cascade around her head. I reached down to check her pulse, more out of reflex than any belief that she was still alive.

Definitely dead.

Fuck. How were we going to get the information we needed? More importantly, what was I going to tell Willa?

I hadn’t had much time to ponder the last question, when I heard the door open and a loud, female scream pierce the air.

“Lily! What happened to her? Is she okay?” Willa asked, rushing to her sister’s side.

I reached out and cradled her jaw, dreading the words I knew I needed to say. Words that were all but irrelevant because Willa was quickly comprehending the situation by the horrified, grief-stricken look that entered her beautiful eyes. “I’m sorry, Willa. Your sister is dead.”

She shook her head, as if resisting my words. “How? What happened?”

“Strangled.” Cullen’s voice came from behind us, as he was still lounging against the wall near the door. I didn’t think Willa had even seen him, but the way fire leapt into her eyes and her mouth curled into a ferocious snarl, I knew exactly where her thoughts had gone.

She stood up and pointed her finger at Cullen. “It was you, wasn’t it? You killed my sister!”

Chapter 21

Willa

Iwoke up when Killian slid out of bed to answer the door, knowing it had to be related to Lily. I stood beside the bed and debated following them, not certain I wanted to know what they might be doing with her.

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