Misguided Vows (Lethal Vows Book 5)
Misguided Vows: Chapter 46

He hasn’t gone far. In fact, he sits between two of his men at a bar, singing his praises. He’s a fucking moron, and it was my mistake not to take his threats seriously. I should’ve tied him up like a loose end the moment I decided to protect Alina and not hand her over to him.

Not many people are in the bar, but they make way for me when they notice my expression. The room goes quiet, and a waitress scurries out of my way.

“I said give us another fucking drink!” the man yells to the bartender.

I step up behind them and loom over them like a deadly god. I’m not thinking clearly—only seeing the tears streaming down Alina’s face—as I grab both of his men by the back of their heads and smash them forward into the bar.

The moment Jack Percy pulls out his gun, I smack it out of his hand and grab him by the collar.

“Whoa, man. Who the fuck are you?” he asks, putting his hands up. I drag him out of the bar by the collar into the back alleyway. I throw him into the dumpster as I pace, thinking of all the ways I’m going to dismantle this fucker. He trips over himself, trying to stand. He’s high on something, but his eyes widen as his gaze darts over my bloody and soot-stained shirt.

“I-I didn’t have anything to d-do with the fire,” he stutters.

“Really? Or the woman you left in there to die?” I snap. My woman! My Alina!

His eyes widen as the realization hits. “The tracker? You’re the fucking tracker I hired!” He’s on his feet. “You fucking cheated me out of the last of my money!” He raises a hand covered with a bloody bandage. “I lost a fucking finger because of you!”

Because he couldn’t pay back his debt in time, that has nothing to do with me.

He begins to laugh as if he’s in some theatrical play. He pulls out a knife and lunges for me. I dodge him with ease, twisting his arm and taking the knife out of his hand.

Fucking loser.

And he almost… He almost hurt her.

He’s too slow to react, and I’m already holding him by the shoulder as I plunge the knife into his stomach. He chokes, trying his best to laugh. I bet because of whatever he’s on, he hasn’t realized how fatal this wound will be.

I whisper into his ear, “You made a mistake thinking you could come after what’s mine.” He coughs, and the back door opens to reveal a set of blue eyes that take in the scene in a bored and unimpressed way.

Alek has his arms folded over his chest. “You’re daring to kill a man in broad daylight.”

I shove Jack out of the way, not in the slightest satisfied with the way he gurgles or his hands shake as he tries to pull the knife from his stomach. My arm is searing in pain from the burn, and I relish in the pain as if I deserve it because I wasn’t there soon enough to protect her.

“What are you doing here?” I growl at Alek, who raises an eyebrow.

“I got a call from Dawson to ensure you don’t do anything stupid. Your woman’s been taken to the hospital.”

I look back at the man who’s now coughing blood. His face blends in with the killers’ of my deceased wife. And it does nothing to satisfy this bloodthirsty side of me, reawakened for another woman.

“Go to her. I’ll clean up here,” Alek offers, adjusting his gloves. “I must confess, I prefer you as a tracker. You’re too messy of a killer.”

“Be careful, Alek, it almost sounds like you care,” I say, not moving from my spot until I watch this asshole gasp his final breath, hardly even satisfied by his death.

Too close. He’d been too close to taking her from me, and I want to watch him suffer and die alone. His greed had been his undoing, and I’ll be the one to send him to hell.

He rasps his last breath, and I watch, still nowhere near satisfied.

This raging storm inside me hasn’t been sated because I can’t undo the past.

Had I been able to trade places with her, I would have.

Alek says nothing more as he quietly stands behind me, and for some reason, I feel the same rage and mourning that I did standing at my own wife’s funeral. Everything begins to stir and come crashing in, and I realize no matter how hard I tried to push away the grief by busily working and acting aloof—it’s caught up with me now.

But there’s somewhere else I have to be. I need to rein it in and keep my shit together—for a woman I should’ve never tangled in this mess in the first place because she was hiding from her demon just fine until I got involved.