Page 72 of Bed of Thorns

Pop! Pop!

Two shots were fired, the sound booming. I threw myself toward them, fighting the intruder, struggling to get the weapon out of his hand.

The attacker was strong, tossing me against the wall, the hard thud bursting through every cell and muscle. Then he went after my father, issuing several brutal punches. My father was stunned, unable to recover, his back sliding down the wall.

“No. Don’t do it!” I snarled as the bastard lifted his weapon, preparing to shoot my father. What in the hell was going on? I lunged forward, tossing the asshole against the wall, but he backhanded me with his weapon, pitching me to the floor.

“You fucked with the wrong people,” the asshole hissed.

I yanked out my knife, my hands shaking as I jerked the blade from the sheath, gasping for air as my father struggled to stand. I threw myself on the asshole, stabbing him twice in the back.

Pop! Pop!

Bam!

His shots went wild, slamming into the wall. The attacker dropped his weapon, and I pitched forward, falling to the floor, trying to grab it. We wrestled, rolling back and forth.

“Whoever you are, you’re going to die!” Fernando yelled.

A flash caught my attention and almost as if in slow motion, I turned my head, my eyes opening wide with horror.

“No!”

I jerked up, struggling to breathe, hissing as the adrenaline rush stifled my breathing. “Fuck. Fuck!”

“Edmond. What’s wrong?” Mercedes awakened, shifting the sheets as she sat up, instantly wrapping her arms around me.

I took several deep breaths, fighting to control the horrible thoughts and images remaining in my mind. “I’m fine. It was just a dream.”

“The same thing?”

Exhaling, I fisted my hand, still trying to focus. “No. It was different.”

“What? Tell me.”

“Stop worrying. We all have nightmares that don’t make any sense.”

She was there. She’d seen everything. I could almost smell the blood from the attack, the lingering stench remaining in my nostrils. I’d never been pulled this far into the events of that night. While I wanted to be elated from what I’d seen, the horror of going any further was too much for my system.

“It’s all because you want this job.”

I shifted my weight on the bed, easing my hand against the side of her face. “It’s a promotion, baby. Nothing more.”

“I don’t like it.”

“Why?”

“Because there’s something off about it. The timing is strange.”

“Have you ever stopped to consider I might be good at my job?”

“I didn’t mean it like that.” Sighing, she tried to pull away from me, but she should know better by now.

I slid my hand to the back of her neck, pressing my fingers against her soft skin and easing her forward. “You need to stop worrying. This is good for us.”

“I don’t think so, Edmond. I’m worried.”

I brushed my lips against her forehead, longing to be the man she really needed instead of the fucked-up variety of asshole I’d turned into. I had only myself to blame.

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