Page 151 of Bad Bishop
To run.
And yet the thought of my wife being in danger brought me to my knees.
What hit me the hardest was the regret.
The guilt of never acknowledging her pregnancy while it was still there.
How could I hate something she loved so much? I couldn’t. That was the truth of it.
If she loved this child, then I would learn to love him, too.
He wasn’t only the rapist’s. He was also hers.
Fifty percent of him was pure gold.
She wanted me to be the father.
And I failed her.
If she lost the baby, I’d never forgive myself.
Alex was right. I wasKoshchei. TheDeathless. Just like the Russian folklore villain, I, too, hid my death inside something to protect it.
That something was Lila.
She was tangled into my being, her messy, coarse vines gripping every fiber of my soul.
She had the power to destroy me.
And I would let her.
I’d gladly burn for this woman just so she could feel the warmth of my flame.
The more I tried to unlove her, the deeper she burrowed into my skin.
I was done fighting. She was now a part of the fabric of my godforsaken soul.
And it was time she knew that.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
TIERNAN
“The fuck you think you’re doing?”
Luca’s voice impaled my rage-fueled brain from behind my back.
I didn’t bother turning to face him. “What does it look like I’m doing?”
“Buying yourself a one-way ticket to prison. Five to seven years, I believe,” Luca said flatly.
“Pointing a gun to the pilot’s head and telling him to ‘go faster’ like it’s a roundabout ride at a zoo,” Achilles sighed. “Cunt move, even by your standards.”
I looked down to see the pilot trembling, his forehead slick with sweat. His crotch had a dark piss stain. Fucking amateur. I tucked my gun into my holster and kicked the pilot off his seat with the tip of my boot, taking his place.
Achilles popped his head into the cockpit. “What in the shit are you doing now?”
“He’s too slow. We’re not constrained by operational logistics of commercial airplanes. I don’t care if I burn through the fuel. We’re going at 700 mph.”
