I reached up and lightly touched the chin of his mask. “Well, I just beat the living shit out of my ex-boyfriend, so I really don’t have any room to judge.”
The love of my life flashed me a smile then. It wasn’t warm. It wasn’t filled with the love I usually saw from him. No, this smile was cold, wicked, and proud. “I saw.”
I looked over my shoulder, finding blood splattered all over the concrete floor, but no Gordon.
“You’re going to kill him, aren’t you?” I whispered, wrapping my arms around myself.
His hands came to my hair then, twisting a lock of it between his fingers as he answered. “I want to. Anyone who hurts you doesn’t have the right to breathe.” My stomach twisted. His warm hand cupped my jaw then, turning me to face him as his other arm gave me a squeeze. “But I also know the woman I love has certain feelings about that.”
I pressed my lips together, my eyes stinging. “You can’t kill for me.”
“I’d do anything for you,” he whispered after lifting his mask up. Scanning his face, I took in his tired eyes, his frown, and the scuff that had been covering his jaw since the night he kicked down my door.
“You haven’t shaved,” I muttered, eyes on his lips. “You used to shave.”
He was quiet for a moment. “Do you…do you want me to shave?”
“I don’t know yet.”
His lips twitched, humor painting his face. “You’re the strangest woman I’ve ever met.”
I gave him a tight, weak smile. “I know.”
A throat cleared behind me. I twisted in Hayes’ lap and tipped my head back, finding Grayson, Dominic, and Ash in the room.
“’Sup?” I called.
Grayson shook his head, a soft chuckle leaving him.
Ash lifted his chin to me. “You hear that explosion earlier?”
I shook my head, and his brows snapped together. He folded his arms over his chest and looked at his feet. “Government issued, my ass.”
Dominic tipped his head to me. “You good?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I’m good.”
“We’ll get a doctor to check out your hands at the hospital,” Grayson added.
“What?” I looked down, finding my knuckles split and bleeding. “Oh.”
“What are we doing about Gordon?” Ash asked, looking into the hall. “Cuffs or grave?”
A lump formed in my throat, my moral compass spinning out of control. “Is it that simple for you guys?”
Grayson moved, crouching down in front of Hayes and me. He looked over my shoulder for a moment and then back down to me. “It seems easy because it’s our job, but taking a life, no matter how corrupt, is never easy.”
The lump formed spikes, and I stopped trying to swallow. “Gordon is a bad man.”
Hayes said nothing, remaining still against my back.
“I can’t let Hayes or any of you kill him. I can’t have that on my conscience.” I told them all the truth.
A long, pain-filled groan came from the hall then. Dominic slowly turned his head to the side and down, staring as the groans turned into coughs. Dominic inhaled deeply, his chest rising and expanding as he looked over to us once more. “He needs to go to the hospital too.”
“What?” I blurted. “Why?”
“Judging by the sound of his breathing and the increase in coughs, he might have a broken rib.” He paused as Ash started chuckling. “Or three.”