Forever Hers by Walters, Ednah (top 50 books to read txt) 📕

“And my parents?”

“They’ll live with the pain of knowing you’re dead because of them.”

She jumped up, grabbed Nolan’s wrist with her right hand and the barrel with her left and pushed it in towards him, rolling it against his thumb, smoothly disarming him. She pointed the gun at him.

“How did you do that?” Nolan stammered.

“You think I’ve been sitting on my ass waiting for you to come after me again all these months? Please, Nolan. I’ll get the car keys and I promise to behave,” she said in the whiny voice she’d used earlier and stepped back toward the kitchen door. “Did you really think that was me?”

A sound came from behind her and Nolan’s eyes widened, but Amy didn’t dare look over her shoulder in case he was attempting to trick her. “Dad? Mom?”

“It’s me, baby,” Eddie said.

Relief washed over Amy. From the corner of her eye, she spied Rod walking around the car. He stopped behind Nolan and crossed his arms, a broad grin on his face.

“You bitch. You set me up.” Nolan rounded on her. He reached for the gun with his right hand and aimed a left hook at her face.

Amy ducked, shifted her weight and caught him on his left side with a roundhouse kick. The force slammed him against the body of the car. He turned and swung. Amy dropped to the floor and pressed the nozzle against his private parts, her grip firm on the barrel.

“One move, and I’ll pull the trigger,” she warned. She glanced up to find Eddie had moved too. His gun was pressed to Nolan’s temple.

“You’re lucky she ducked, asshole. If you had touched her, you’d be dead.” Eddie pulled out his cell phone, pressed numbers and brought it to his ear. “Come and get him, Agent Ross. Rod, open the garage door then check on the Kincaids.”

The garage door lifted as Rod disappeared inside the house. Nolan’s eyes were narrowed as he stared at Eddie then Amy. He tried to create some distance between him and Amy’s gun, but she wasn’t letting him.

“Amy—”

“Shut up, Nolan. Eddie?”

“Yes, baby.”

“How soon before the FBI gets here?”

“Two minutes. I left them at the gate.”

“I really want to shoot him. Just once. For Charles. I’ll say it was in self-defense.”

Nolan made a sound like a constipated pit bull.

***

Eddie knew she was deliberately torturing the man, and played along. “Go ahead. After what he put you through, the jury will know it was self-defense.”

“No, please,” Nolan begged.

“Is a groin wound fetal?” Amy asked as though Nolan hadn’t spoken.

“Depends on your precision and how close you are. From your position, it might be messy.” Cars pulled up behind him, but he didn’t glance away from Nolan’s face. The stench of urine filled the room. Eddie glanced down and saw why. A dark stain was spreading from Nolan’s crotch.

Within seconds, Agent Ross had Nolan in cuffs and in the back seat of her car. Her partner tried to take the gun from Amy, but she refused to relinquish it.

“I don’t think I can,” she whispered.

Eddie knelt by her side and wrapped his arms around her. She was shaking. “Yes, you can, baby. You did it.”

“We did it,” she corrected, her fingers relaxing around the gun.

“Yes, we did.” He took the gun and handed it to the agent. Then he helped her to her feet and pulled her into his arms. Tears rolled down her face and drenched his shirt, but he didn’t say anything. He just held her. Agents milled around the front of the house, an ambulance arrived along with several police cars. No one bothered them. When she was calm, he lifted her chin and kissed her.

“Ready to head back to the hotel?”

She nodded. “But first, I want you to meet my parents.” His reluctance must have shown because she added, “Forgive them, baby. For me.”

It was going to be tough. “Okay. What about you?”

She sighed. “They’re sorry for everything and I must find it in my heart to forgive them because I love them. I only hope things between us get better from here on out.”

“If they don’t, you have me. I’m forever yours,” he vowed.

Her eyes welled up again and she reached up and kissed him. “Just like I’m yours forever.” Together they entered the house.

The kitchen looked like a hurricane had swept through it. Most drawers and cupboards were open, broken glassware and utensils everywhere. The dining room and living rooms were in equally terrible shape, the contents of the china closet smashed, books thrown off the shelves, furniture overturned and broken, and pictures frames cracked and the pictures ripped. Nolan’s last attempt to fake another burglary was obvious. Sick bastard.

Amy’s parents—father with facial bruises and her mother in tears—appeared oblivious to the chaos as they rushed to her side.

“We’re so sorry…”

“Will you ever forgive us?”

“We love you so much.”

Eddie leaned against the wall, watched and waited for a distress signal from Amy. If she needed to be rescued, he was the man for the job. He didn’t know how she could forgive her parents so easily, but like she’d told him, she loved them and they were sorry. Just like his mother loved him and was sorry for the past.

“Mom, Dad, I want you to meet Eddie Fitzgerald. Without him, we would never have caught Nolan.” Amy extended a hand toward him. Eddie pushed against the wall and approached his future father and mother-in-law.

“Then we owe you a debt we can never repay,” her father said.

Actually, he planned to make them pay for all Amy’s pain and suffering. He’d make sure they doted on her, attending every book release event, never missing a birthday or an important event in Amy’s life. He hoped his expression didn’t give him away as he shook their hands.

EPILOGUE

“How was Saint-Noel?” Jade asked, taking the chair beside Amy.

“Amazing.” Amy glanced across the wide pool deck at her husband of three weeks.