Cruz (Dark and Dirty Sinners' MC #5) - Serena Akeroyd Page 0,63

worse, shortsighted of me, not to realize that and act accordingly, yet neither was it exactly my fucking fault. I didn’t ask David to be obsessed with me. I didn’t want this level of attention aimed my way.

This was on him.

All of this was.

And the trouble was, what he knew, he could leak.

Would leak if I wasn’t careful.

He’d hurt them to get to Cruz, to get to me, which made him dangerous.

I’d known that for a while, but I’d thought I could handle him. Now, I learned I couldn’t.

He was out of control, and he’d taken things up a notch.

In the periphery of my line of sight, I registered that the streets outside were empty. It was past ten and the bars were at the other end, not near my storefront because I’d wanted to be away from the action. Close enough for the drunks to trickle in, but far away enough to avoid bar brawls.

The roads themselves were quiet too, and the only light in the vicinity burned from my building.

There’d be cameras somewhere. I knew Big Brother was always watching, but… Would it look suspicious if I shut the blinds?

Before I could say a word to mess things up, I strode away from the desk, away from David. He growled under his breath, demanding, “We’re not done, Indy.”

Oh, we were more than fucking done.

I ignored him, well aware that would agitate him further, and stalked deeper into my studio where there was no line of sight to the street.

With barely a few seconds to spare, I headed for my work station that was clean from my earlier appointment and ready for the one I’d canceled so I could be with Cruz, and ducked down to grab a pair of scissors from one of the drawers in the medical cabinet where I stored some basic First Aid.

Palming the handle, I twisted around when David snarled again, “We’re not done, Indy,” and compounded his foolishness with the cocking of a gun.

It’d have sounded overly loud in the charged atmosphere if not for the rushing in my head, the burning in my ears of my pulse as it surged like a geyser, deafening me to everything, including his shriek as I twisted around and threw the scissors at him.

My aim was true.

Exactly like Nyx had taught me years ago, and unfortunately for me, it wasn’t the first time I’d had to protect myself this way.

Somehow, knowing I was cursed, I knew this wouldn’t be the last time either.

The handle turned over in a straight line, folding over and over itself as the blade writhed around during its catapult across the way. The gun fired, but his inexperience with the weapon had the bullet shooting wide as he sank to his knees, the scissors sticking out of this throat.

I gulped, watching the blood bubble around the wound, before it started to trail out of his mouth, down the corners. The light in his eyes began to fade away as he started to sputter. He toppled forward, and I shoved my fist to my lips as he gurgled when the move had his chin tipping down, ramming the thin blades in further.

Expecting to see the tips of the scissors through his nape, I studied him a little too hard for comfort. Then, a shaky breath escaped me, because though I’d done many things in my life that I was ashamed of, I’d never stooped to murder. Self-defense, sure. Yet, here I was, killing for the Sinners.

Fuck.

Although, he’d waved a gun at me… Did that make this self-defense too? Even if, when I’d drawn him in here, I’d known exactly what I was going to do—eradicate a threat against the people I loved?

As I stared at David, at his stillness, where the only movement from him came from the blood pooling around him, trickling out into an ever-growing puddle, I wasn’t sure what I was feeling predominantly.

Was it fear?

Terror?

Rage?

Uncertainty?

I knew I should feel ashamed, but mostly, it was just relief. God, how horrible did that make me sound? I was relieved someone had died, and at my fucking hands.

Gulping, I flopped down against my stool, which skittered backward because I gave it no purchase. As I jolted into the client chair, the cabinet loaded with tools rattled, and I jumped like another bullet had gone wide.

My mouth trembled as reaction set in, but still, I felt no shame. No guilt.

David had always been a concern. Maybe not an active one, and he sure as