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

shot my ex and all I want to do is jump his entire ass again.

“Can I still babysit?” Blue suddenly presses, all traces of playfulness gone from her voice.

I steal a quick glimpse at her, finding her shifting uneasily at my side.

I don’t have to repeat how her and I don’t get along. She allows, and I discourage—mostly when the boys want to be idiots—we couldn’t be more different.

“You kidding, right?” Her pretty hazel eyes narrow. “Why the hell am I going to turn down a free babysitter?”

Her face breaks out in a smile but I don’t have time to take it in.

No, I mom-arm her ass to the side so I can see my man take his shot.

Bishop releases a second later and a blood-curdling scream escapes Alexander.

With an arrow sticking right from between his legs.

The boys are howling in laughter and chuckles, and Blue has the balls to pat my head like a child even though I just told her she could watch my kids, the bitch.

She moves for Bishop to reclaim his spot, a satisfied smirk playing off his face.

“I heard you talking about dick,” he muses, rounding my body to stand behind it again. “Thought it was fitting—“ He bows closer to whisper, “—since that’s all you’re going to be getting tonight.”

My body breaks out in a cool chill as he hands over the large bow.

“Your turn.”

Alexander is arched back in his chair, clearly beside himself in agony as Bishop guides me to my next attempt. We lock eyes and my brain rummages through everything Alexander and I have done.

The annoyingly charming way he picked me up when Bishop bailed.

How effortlessly thoughtful he was.

The fearless way he expressed his feelings.

The confidence he oozed.

The knife he took that pierced and almost murdered our children.

The faint scars that I will always wear because of him.

I don’t wait for Bishop’s help on the next, lining myself up like the last time but a little to the left. With my two fingers holding the firm string of the bow along with my held breath, I let go. Time slowly enters the room, but I regret nothing.

An ear-splitting wail then echos off my condo walls, and my vision becomes clear.

Alexander with my arrow in his chest, near his heart. His mouth is opening to let me have it again, but he’s losing the fight.

“You stupid…fucking—“ The loud crack of a gunshot startles me back against Bishop’s body and everyone else in the room. And out steps a man from my kitchen.

Ledger.

“I told you boys to stop playing so long with your prey,” he chides, pocketing his gun behind his gray suit jacket.

I watch him stride deeper into the living room, but my eyes flick to Alexander. His head slumped to the side—dead.

The shaky exhale of my next breath is caught by Bishop, and he encases me in his arms like a cocoon.

“Mills, go check out the neighbors,” Ledger orders with a jerk of his head. He runs off while our commander stops in front of the rest of us. “Blue, happy to see you here.”

“Wouldn’t miss it, commander.”

His eyes flick to Marty, then Kyson before those dark greens rest upon me. “Emmy Lou, are you okay?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Come have breakfast with me tomorrow.” He glances at Marty. “You too. We have some things to go over.”

Stepping forward, he shakes Bishop’s hand and tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear, giving me a weak smile.

“She stays with you tonight.” His eyes never leave mine even though he’s talking to the man I’m currently kept safe in. “And give me a break for a while, yeah?”

I nod, and he takes off when Marty shows up at my left.

“Now what did we do?” he emits, annoyed.

I’m not quite sure, but I have a funny feeling it’s gonna suck.

“It’s been almost a year,” Ledger conveys, sitting spine-straight behind his desk. “That you’ve both had…your own issues.” His frown deepens, clearly upset with the both of our antics that haven’t been non-work related. “Now, you both have children and significant others…” He flicks his gaze to me. “I think.”

Marty and I remain seated next to each other in his office, silent and waiting impatiently for him to stop speaking.

He loathes being interrupted. Do it, and he’ll give you the shittest assignment just to show you how much. His level of petty, however, keeps us in line.

Sorta.

“I’m offering an out.” He leans back in his brown leather chair, large hands folded over his navy suit. “A retirement, if you will. I never expected both of you to stay here forever.”

Marty shakes his head, clearly not happy with the idea.

“Go ahead, son,” our commander cajoles.

“I don’t want to leave,” my teammate bites out. “I need it.”

Ledger sighs. The wrinkles around his eyes alluding to how times he’s had to squint, glare, or used them on one of us or all of us. “You don’t need the job, and the danger entwined with it, just the family. You found it—here.”

“It…” Marty readjusts himself in his chair. He doesn’t like talking about his needs and wants. He just deals. This job is his way of doing it, and I know him and Stormi have spoken about it before. “It keeps the dark at bay.”

“And Stormi? Does she not worry about you when you’re out here now saving Emmy?”

Ugh. Is it possible to feel more like an asshole? 

“She is, but—“

“What about when you’re in your fifties like I am,” Ledger retorts. “Are you going to go around taking people out? People that are decades younger and stronger than you.”

“Maybe,” Marty leers. “It’s called a gun.”

“Marty, your children will grow. What will you tell them you do when they go off to school? What kind of job do you have, and why do you come home with blood on you that’s not yours? This was always supposed to be temporary. A way to find yourself.” Ledger leans forward and places his elbows on the desk. “I’m not firing you, though, I should.