Page 91 of Venomous as a Snake

And I pull the trigger.

The end of his life also ends an old friendship, a forced engagement, and the contract that binds me to him.

Freedom is fucking messy.

Forrest takes a step back, and Clay’s body slides off the table, thumping against the floor. The rhino removes his shirt, using it to wipe the blood off his face, but I don’t bother.

My work isn’t done.

“Blondie?” Ali calls, sounding concerned. “Are you okay?”

I nod as I slip the safety into place on my gun. “Fine.”

“So, can you untie us now?” Walker wiggles in his chair. “Or do you need a few minutes to collect yourself?”

“Don’t be such an insensitive dick,” Drew chastises.

“What?” the croc defends. “It would be a lot easier to console her if we weren’t strapped to these chairs.”

Ali sighs. “Shut up for just a fucking minute.”

Forrest touches my arm, and when I do nothing, he turns me to look at my face. He wipes my cheeks with the edge of his shirt, then frowns like he was expecting tears, but got none.

“I’m okay,” I say, my voice stronger. “Let’s get them untied so we can leave.”

“All right,” Forrest agrees, though he doesn’t stop watching me.

I pull the pocket knife from my backpack and cut through Collin’s restraints. He’s being unusually quiet, and it’s bothering me.

“Your agreement—” Drew starts.

“Was what Fangs and I talked about when you took me to see him after my surgery,” I finish for him, moving to Ali’s restraints. “He didn’t want me repeating any of it.”

“But why didn’t you tell me?” he asks, rubbing his wrists.

“I did. The agreement was that after I found Walker, I would kill Clay, and Fangs would release me from the gang. That’s what I said.”

Drew shakes his head. “You told me you would deal with Clay after Walker.”

I shrug. “I told you the exact terms of the agreement without telling you there was one, because that was Fangs’s exact stipulation. No one was to know about our arrangement. I told you everything without using the word, agreement.”

“You were looking for me so you could kill Clay?” Walker inquires, his eyes narrowed.

“No,” I answer, appalled by his question. “I wanted to find you for me. That’s why you were part of the terms. Otherwise, Clay would have taken you months ago, and… Well… We would have been in the same boat, but we wouldn’t have spent any time together in two years—”

“And Clay would have made it sound like I had changed.” Walker nods in understanding. “He would have gotten you because he had me.”

I nod as I grab Clay’s ankle. “Something like that.”

“What are you doing?” Collin asks me.

“I’m dragging him to the door.”

He scratches his forehead as he observes me. “Why?”

“I want to see him when I throw the grenade in here.”

“Why? He’s dead dead. There’s no coming back from that. You have pieces of his brain on your shoulder.” Collin grimaces, then turns to Ali. “You should check her for worms.”