DECEIT (B723) by Hazel Grace (ebook reader for surface pro .TXT) 📕

the twins that I reacted and didn’t listen to Mills—several times.

“You fucked up,” he reprimands out loud as if he’s confirming everything going through my head.

“I know.” I open my mouth to continue but it locks so that the sob that wants to break free from my throat can’t leave. I have no one to blame but myself here. And I just took Mills down with me. “Marty…”

He wags his head back and forth. “I mourned you. I lost my Ems.”

“I’m so—“ Mills’s heavy grunt interrupts my thought as I pivot around to find Bishop leaning over my best friend, and enough is enough. I move when Marty’s hand grasps my bicep and I snatch it away. “Don’t fucking touch me.” With Bishop’s back to me, I lightly tap on his shoulder. He turns, glowers at me again as if I’m ruining his fun. “If you wanna know everything, untie him or I won’t say shit.”

“Then he’s dead,” he quickly counters back.

“Marty.” My voice changes into ice as if I don’t miss my friends. “Do you follow his sentiment?”

“He lied, Emmy.”

“Do both of you fuckheads remember that I’m the one who faked my own death?”

“And he helped.” Bishop advances closer and I immediately counter. “I know it’s hard to say no to you…but this affected all of us.”

Lifting my chin, I force my features to stay stale. “Do you wanna know the story of why or not?”

Bishop stares at me, long and hard, before I feel Marty at my side.

It doesn’t deter either of us from breaking our concentration on each other. The silent challenge that we’ve ensued. We’re poison and stubborn together, but when we work along each others’ side, we’re unstoppable.

“Fine.” I pull out my cell phone and deal the only card I have left to play.

The most rational one of all—Kyson.

Marty and Bishop together are the fuse and explosive.

“Hello?”

“Kyson—“ Bishop snatches the cell out of my hands and tosses it to Marty before his hand rakes through my hair and yanks, hard.

“If you’re so impatient of what I have planned for you, Emmy Lou, all you had to say was ‘me next’.”

“You can punish and bitch at me all you want,” I offer. “But I’m trained for torture…all kinds.” Bishop’s eyes glaze over in a mixture of something that passes too quickly to nail so I continue. “Let him go…you get what you need.”

“I’m not done with him yet,” he stresses, pulling on my hair harder to the point where he’s going to have strands between his fingers.

“He hits like a bitch, Lou Boo,” Mills interjects to keep his pride and manly bullshit intact. “Don’t worry about me.”

Oh, but I am.

Very much so.

“I didn’t fuck him,” I say as calmly as I can, noticing that Bishop isn’t holding his knife anymore. “He’s my best friend. He covered for me after explaining that he didn’t want to do it over and over again. I brought him into this situation. And he was faithful to me.”

Bishop’s jaw ticks once before he abruptly releases his hold on me.

“He’s pissed,” Marty claims at our side then not bothering to hand my phone back to me.

“Does he know everything?” Bishop asks.

“Yeah, he’s on his way over. Let dickhead go, we’ll deal with him later as a group. Ky might want to take a few hits on him afterward.”

Bishop jerks his head. “Go ahead.”

Marty goes to release my best friend, and I take a wide and deliberate step back from my husband. He watches me as I hear the clink of cuffs begin to be severed from the locks.

I have so much ass-kissing and payback to do with Mills it’ll take me a lifetime to make it up to him. But he’s worth it for what he did for me.

“Where are my kids?” I ask Bishop, clutching my hands at my sides.

“Sleeping.”

I see movement from behind him and Mills rubs at his wrists, his gray eyes latching onto mine but they’re not as pissed as I thought they’d be. Instead, he actually looks worried.

“You might want a drink for this,” I tell the room as Mills and I stare at each other.

“I’m fine,” Bishop deadpans.

Mills flicks his gaze to the rear of Bishop’s head, looking for my permission.

He wants to punch him back.

And fuck…I blow out a steady exhale then nod before I change my mind.

Bishop crossed a line tonight and the day he tried to kill Mills when he didn’t know anything but that he was the alleged father of my children.

If he would have succeeded, I would’ve lost a friend for nothing.

Mills plows his fist somewhere into Bishop’s neck or head and my husband immediately reacts, pivoting around and swinging back.

He must miss Mills because I see him duck and deliver another blow to Bishop’s torso.

Two shots for two attempts of killing him.

Gripping onto the back of Bishop’s shirt, I yank him back at the same time his elbow does. He connects with my right cheek and on instinct I release him, not expecting to get hit.

“Fuck,” Bishop roars before spinning around and placing his hands on my biceps.

My fingers mindlessly brush where I was hit, feeling the sharp discomfort of a bruise forming when Bishop plucks my fingers away. His thumb replacing my touch and lightly grazing down the side of my face.

“You’re just making bad decisions left and right, woman,” he growls out before glancing at Marty. “Get him the fuck out of here before I change my mind.”

“Fuck you,” Mills retorts behind him. “I’m not leaving her alone with your fucking psycho ass.”

One of Bishop’s hands disappears off my face as he reaches around him and pulls out his black Glock. “She can have this.”

“Emmy,” Mills quips. “Kick him out and we’ll…shit, I’m not leaving the building. The babies need to be fed soon.”

My lips quirk in a weak grin that he knows and cares so much about my twins that he’ll stay in the same room with two assholes.

I’m extremely lucky to have him. Especially when he’s been such