Page 77 of Worth the Ruin
“I’ll deal with it.” I shrug and his eyes bulge, incredulous that I’m being so cavalier about everything I guess. “In case you forgot, I’m pretty capable of defending myself.”
“I know that. Christ, I know that, Melody, but come on. We can’t constantly have you looking over your shoulder, but it’s also not fair to you to be cooped up at FOS forever. Hell, even there there’s always a chance that someone could decide to have a go. Someone I took from another settlement or something, finally sick of being away from their families. I just…”
He swallows hard and reaches out to rest his palm against my cheek, the ends of his long fingers tunneling into my hair.
“I cannot lose you, Melody. I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone, in a whole different and new way that I didn’t even know existed. I am only myself when I’m with you. I don’t have to hide anything from you. Good, bad, ugly—you never flinch from any of it. I need you and I love you and Ican’tlose you.” His voice breaks at the end and so does my heart a little bit. This man. There is so much more to him than anyone could possibly understand. I lurch forward to press my lips to his, tears burning my eyes. I pour as much as I can into the kiss, needing him to understand how much I love him, how much he means to me.
Eventually we pull apart and he leans his forehead against mine, taking slow, deep breaths.
“We’ll figure something out,” I assure him.
“I think the only way we get a fresh start is with me in a body bag.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
AUSTIN
Three weeks later,it’s time. I’m still not sure how I feel about all of this, but…here goes nothing.
I drag Jonah out of the clubhouse at The Cove by the back of his shirt and toss him unceremoniously to the ground. He grunts in pain and rolls, and a collective gasp runs through the crowd waiting outside. A surprise, mandatory meeting of every member of The Cove had been announced just a few hours ago, and no one had any idea what was happening. We’d made sure that everyone understood that it was nothing good though.
Melody races out of the clubhouse doors behind us, screaming.
“Don’t you fucking dare!!” she screeches. “Leave him alone!!”
I don’t take my gaze from Jonah’s prone body, but I see Johnson grab Melody and drag her to my right. She kicks and flails, but he keeps a firm hold. Mulligan is dragged to the other side, restrained by Landry and Mendoza. He’s struggling, but in a more understated, terrified way than Melody, like he’s in shock. Melody is like a spitting, wild wolf caught in a trap.
“Everyone listen the fuck up!” I roar to the crowd in front of me. Most of them cower back at the furious authority resonating in my words. My heart is thundering in my ears, my pulse racing and my palms sweating. There are too many fucking emotions roiling through me right now, but I try to focus. Everyone exchanges worried glances, not understanding. “This piece of shit tried to have me killed.” I spit beside Jonah and I throw out a hand, pointing to Melody. I curl my lip in disgusted rage. “And thisbitchpretended to want to be with me to help him do it. Pretended to fuckingmarry mefor fuck’s sake.’ I bark out a humorless, hysterical laugh that makes a few people in the crowd flinch backward. “The long fucking con, I guess and I only have myself to blame for falling for it. But damn, quite the little pet you’ve got there, Jonah, slutting herself up real fucking good for this little plan of yours.” I hate the words. They taste like acid rolling off of my tongue, but I tell myself it’s what has to happen.
I pull my leg back and kick Jonah hard in the stomach, and Melody screams again. Jonah curls in on himself protectively, groaning.
“Stop!!” Melody shrieks again. “You fucking prick!!”
I turn to look at her finally, and she actually flinches back from my stare. My stomach churns at that flinch, at the way she’s looking at me. I push on.
“Go on, Mel. Tell them how you gave yourself to me like a good fucking whore, how you crawled and begged, how you screamed my name…” She doesn’t say a word, just grits her teeth and glares at me, not denying a thing. I smirk at her and huff out a mocking laugh. I turn back to the crowd. “Now, as you all might remember, I don’t take too kindly to having my life fucking threatened. So, we’re going to take care of this right now.”
I pull a hunting knife from my belt and hold it up, admiring it. The sun glints off of the blade in a strangely beautiful way.Mulligan bellows, the crowd gasps and whispers, some even cry out in alarm, and Melody’s struggles grow more frantic.
“Let me go!!” she screams, baring her teeth at Johnson.
I twirl the knife in my hands, smiling a cold smile, slipping on this mask that I’ve worn so fucking well over the years. I turn my gaze back to the crowd and throw my arms out wide dramatically. Might as well be theatrical, right?
“Should we make it quick and painless? Or slow and agonizing? What do you think?” The crowd remains silent, eyeing each other uneasily. “Oh come on, we’ll do it up Gladiator style: thumbs up for slow; thumbs down for quick.” I hold out my hand and alternate between the two. Up, down, up, down.
And then the wind is knocked out of my lungs as Jonah springs up and barrels into me. Melody cries out, and Jonah and I go down in a heap, rolling and scrambling and both trying to get the upper hand. Jonah lands a solid punch and I taste blood in my mouth.
“Jonah!” Mulligan yells. My guys keep the crowd back and under control, though I don’t think anyone would dare try to intervene right now, not with tensions roiling so high.
I land a kidney shot and when Jonah huffs out a pained breath, I take advantage and roll once more, pinning him beneath me. I turn my head to spit blood before wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. I grab up the knife again and raise it high…waiting…
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Melody go limp in Johnson’s arms. He stumbles trying to account for her now dead weight, and she takes the opportunity to slam her fist into his nose. She spins, jerking the pistol from his hip as she does. I turn to meet her gaze and she aims the barrel directly at my chest.
“Go to hell,” she sneers, gray eyes flashing with too many things to track.
And then she pulls the trigger.
Everything slows down, just like in a fucking movie. The force of the impact sends me flying backwards, and I watch as another shot rings out, this one from Landry. Jonah lets out a guttural, agonized scream that twists my heart. Melody stumbles backwards, hand flying to her stomach where a patch of red seeps from between her fingers, growing and growing…
