Page 66 of Wicked Oath
I place my foot on his chest and press down. Owen cries out, his teeth stained with blood. “Are you done?”
“Never.” He tries to push my foot away, but it doesn’t budge. “If you’re going to kill me, just kill me. Get it over with. Don’t be a bastard in my final moments.”
“It’s amazing how you still have time to be a self-righteous asshole with my foot on your chest.”
“I aim to please. Now, do it!”
“James,” Patrick calls out. “Think about this. Show my son mercy, and you’ll be forgiven for what you’ve done.”
I take a moment to stare down at Owen. It’s a satisfaction to see him in pain. The only problem is he and Olivia look so much alike that I don’t just see Owen beneath me—I see Olivia, too. I see our marriage. I see our future.
The one we won’t have if I kill her brother.
I lean closer and lower my voice so only Owen can hear me. “I have no desire to see you dead, Donovan. But if you continue to come after me, I’ll have to finish what I started today. You’re going to leave your sister and me alone from now on. I promise I won’t attack your father’s business any longer. Trust me on that. Let’s call this a truce.” I grind my foot down into his chest to make my point, and Owen cries out. “Can you do that?”
Owen looks up at me with anger in his eyes, but after a few seconds tick by, his expression shifts into relief. “All right,” he grits out. “I’ll back off if you promise never to hurt my family again.”
“I promise.”
Owen flicks his eyes toward his dad, who nods his head in encouragement. After what feels like forever, Owen finally nods. “Ok. Truce.”
I step back, lifting my foot from his chest. Owen sucks in a deep breath. “There. That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
“You’re still a fucking bastard,” he mutters as he rubs his chest.
“Same can be said of you.” My phone vibrates in my back pocket, and I check it. I have multiple missed calls from Zach that I must not have noticed in the heat of the fight with Owen. I call him back. “What’s going on?”
“You fucking tricked us, James. You took away something we wanted, and now, we’ve done the same to you. Come and get your wife.”
I pause. Owen and Patrick exchange a look. “Where is she?”
“You give yourself in place of her, and we get payback.”
“Where is she?” I demand louder. Patrick steps forward, a concerned look in his eye.
“Right outside. We’ll be waiting.”
My hand shakes as I lower the phone. “They have Olivia.”
“Who does?” Owen asks.
“My men. I don’t know all the details, but they took her. We need to get her back.”
Owen huffs. “It’s a good thing we just made a truce, isn’t it?”
I have to team up with Owen fucking Donovan. Talk about justice.
CHAPTER18
Olivia
There’s no way in hell I’m just going to sit back and watch my husband and brother kill each other without doing a thing about it.
So the minute they drive away, I get in my car and follow them. The entire drive there, I’m buzzing with anger. Anger at Owen for suggesting a fight to the death. Anger at James for agreeing to it. Anger at my dad for screwing over James’ dad and putting James in a position to hurt him to begin with. Anger at Lucy for spilling the beans to Owen and my dad before I could handle the situation.
And anger at myself for falling in love with a man who was keeping secrets.
Before James left, he told me he loved me, too. I know in my gut he means it, and it means the world to me. Which is why I can’t let him die despite being pissed at him.
