Page 96 of Bullseye
“No!”
Turning sharply, he aims the gun at Seneca and moves to pull the trigger, but before he can fire the shot, I’ve landed one bullet to his temple.
Wearing an odd smile on his face, my father falls dead at my feet as my arm holding the gun lowers slowly.
“Avery!” Seneca runs to me and jumps into my arms.
Holding her tight, we sob together, falling into a heap, as around us, Harry and Seth pick up my father’s body and carry him away.
Epilogue
Bullseye
“Nice jacket,” I tease.
Standing outside the main gate of Sing Sing, Seneca and I are wearing matching Steel Knights jackets.
“I think so, thank you.” Bouncing on her toes on the cement ground, she looks like a kid on Christmas morning. “But mine is shiny and new. That was really nice of Nick to have mine waiting for me before we left for New York.”
“You sure as shit earned it, Sen. No one knows that better than I do.”
“Yeah.” She nods. “I did. And that’s true. You do understand. And always have. You always got that I wanted to be a member and not just your old lady.”
“Seems to me a women’s studies major from Columbia needs to be an equal in a relationship.”
Taking her hand and pulling her to me, she comes willingly and falls against my chest. Her soft breasts press against me, making me ready for her, again. Right now. “And you are an equal, in everything except… Just remember, I’m the one in charge of making you moan every night…”
“Mmm…” she purrs, “always…”
“So...” Holding her by her upper arms, I distance us and look into her eyes. “What are we going to do now?”
“Well, we’re waiting for Matt to come walking out of here a free man.”
“After.”
Tilting her head, she says, “Just like we planned. Since Don Bordono doesn’t want you in New York, we’re all heading back to Hoppa. Nick said he’d give Matt a job…”
Leaning down, I place my forehead against hers and slide my hands down her arms. Wrapping them around her waist, I pull her closer.
“I mean, what do we do when we get to Hoppa?”
“I would think the same thing we’ve done every night since that night at the range.” Lifting her head, her eyes glass over. She’s sad for me. “I’m sorry, Avery.”
“It’s okay, Sen. He chose his life. Yeah, I’m sorry it went down the way it did, but it was the way he chose. And for a man like him, it was maybe the best ending he could get. So much better than the options he could have faced.”
“Yeah.” She smiles.
“So...” I rock her in my arms, playfully. “By doing what we’ve done every single night since that night at the range, do you mean climbing into bed together? Naked…? And as I pull your tight, little body against mine, I kiss you from head to toe…?”
“Something like that, yeah…”
Closing her eyes, she gives in even more to my embrace, and my heart swells.
“Well, I think, if it’s okay by you, I’d like to make it a more permanent situation.”
Narrowing her eyes, she looks deeply into mine. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, Sen, that I don’t want to be away from you—ever again.”
