Page 83 of Mase
I’m vaguely aware that Owen is now in the room, apprehending Hugh as I scan my beautiful girl for signs of injury, and I’m relieved not to find anything obvious.
“Ma-Mase. I need to tell you something.”
I shake my head. “Not now, Sum. We need to get you out of here.” When I glance over my shoulder, Owen is wrapping cable ties around Hugh’s wrists.
“Pl-please.” Her sweetness has always been my weakness, and I find myself nodding. “They were blackmailing me.”
I choke on a sardonic laugh; does she really think I wasn’t aware by now?
She shakes her head. “I drugged him.”
I still, and I’m pretty damn sure Owen has too. My eyes bounce over her face. “I’m sorry.” Her bottom lip wobbles, then she shakes her blonde locks. “I’m not sorry he’s dead. I’m sorry if I hurt you in the process.”
My eyebrows pinch together. “What the hell are you talking about, Summer?”
She whimpers, and I stroke her arms in a soothing motion.
“Shh, it’s okay, sweetheart.”
Her entire body rises as if she’s about to have a panic attack, and my first thoughts are the babies need checked over ASAP.
“I drugged your father. Hugh had the evidence on a flash drive; he was blackmailing me for the money. He and him”—she points to the scum on the floor—“they set the app up so I could get the money, the rest I was using for college. I’m sorry.”
My eyebrows shoot up, and I stare at her dumbfounded.
“I drugged him because he was horrible, Mase. H-He made my life miserable… He was going to sell me.” She’s becoming hysterical, and as her words settle inside me, I become acutely aware that my girl has sure as shit been harboring a secret. A big fucking secret.
From the corner of my eye, I watch Owen smirk in my direction with a look that saysYou’ve got your hands full there. And yet something akin to pride expands in my chest. There’s not a damn doubt in my mind that my father deserved to die. He was a sadistic prick, who I hated, but instead of tackling him head-on, I ran, creating my own life but never fully dealing with him. His cruelty led Summer to take matters into her own hands. The thoughts of what she could’ve been exposed to turn my stomach, and I’m only thankful she had the courage to do it.
“They were going to—” I can’t let her say the words. I know what they were going to do: sell her to Gareth for him to use and dispose of her.
My lips smash against hers. My brave, beautiful girl.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see another figure emerge from another room, Gareth. “She was meant to be mine!” he roars, and I turn just in time to cover her as he releases a shower of bullets in our direction; each one causes my body to jolt.
One.
The fear flashes on her face.
Two.
My muscles tense to take the hits as pain hits me.
Three.
As I suck in a sharp breath, I realize something profound.
Four.
I want to marry her.
Five.
I never got to tell her I love her.
She opens her mouth to scream, and a tear slips down her beautiful face as it twists in tortured silence.
FIFTY-ONE
