However, it’s the sick, smug look of satisfaction in his father’s eyes as he watches his son fall apart at the seams that shreds my insides.

He might be the one tied up while his son wields a gun…but it’s evident he’s the one in control right now.

“Knox,” I remind him, trying to break through his fog. “We need to stick to the plan.”

“No.” His features twist as the inner turmoil he’s undergoing illuminates his face. “He doesn’t get to go peacefully.” His tone darkens. “He doesn’t get to escape his punishment.”

“You’re right.” A sense of doom wraps around my lungs and pulls tight, but I have to try to get through to him. “Because right now he’s winning.”

That only makes Knox angrier.

Fear trickles through my blood like poison. I don’t know how to pull someone back from the pits of hell, but I have to try.

“Look at his face,” I tell Knox. “He wants you to fuck this up and you’re playing right into his hand.”

My voice cracks as a tear makes its way down my cheek, he’s so far gone he won’t even spare a glance my way.

I’ve lost him.

I try a different tactic. “A neighbor could have heard the shots. The police could be on their way here right now. We’re running out of time.”

Nothing.

Another tear falls as my heart folds in on itself. “I’m not going to tell them it was you…I’m going to tell them it was me.”

He angles his head ever so slightly, enough to let me know I might actually be getting through to him after all.

“Because I choose you.”

And maybe that makes me crazy, but I don’t care.

His features contort as he breaks out of his haze. “Stray—”

“You wanted to protect me before, right? That’s why you tried to send me away on that bus. Well, this is me doing the same for you—” Out of the corner of my eye, I see his father take the gag out of his mouth with his free hand before he goes to unfasten the ties around his legs. “Knox—”

It all happens so fast, I barely have time to blink.

Knox lurches toward him. His father struggles as Knox pries his hand open and places the gun into it before forcing the tip into his mouth. However, he’s no match for his son’s strength…

Or his hatred.

“For every action there is a consequence,” Knox sneers, his voice filled with venom as he presses down on his father’s finger.

My ears ring for the third time that night as blood and bits of brain matter spray everywhere.

Knox’s bloody face splits into a chilling grin as he takes a step back, taking in his father’s corpse.

It might not have been what he wanted, and it sure as hell wasn’t what the bastard deserved

But in the end…

He chose me, too.

Chapter 50

Knox

The walk back to the motel took just over an hour, which means we have less than twenty-minutes until our four hours are up.

Aspen suggested we extend it, but I told her it wasn’t a good idea and we needed to be the ones to find our parents and call the police, because the other way around wouldn’t look good for us.

Grabbing her wrist, I make a beeline for the bathroom. We already wiped our faces and changed at the house in case someone spotted us on our way here, but we’re both in desperate need of a shower.

“What are you going to do with all the evidence?” Aspen asks as I pull her t-shirt over her head.

I buried everything in the woods on our hike over, but it can’t stay there forever.

I yank the dingy curtain back and turn the shower on. “I’ll go back and burn our clothes once the coast is clear.”

There’s a fifty-fifty chance of that coming to fruition.

It will all boil down to how well Aspen can hold up while being questioned by the police—because they will question us.

I can play the part of the devastated son who just lost his hero FBI father over some unfaithful, gold-digging slut he married, but I’m not so sure Aspen can play the inconsolable, confused teen whose mom got a bullet in her head because she cheated on her new husband with her dad’s old best friend.

It’s also incredibly important we keep our stories straight, because one minor slip up will fuck us.

Which is why I’m prepared to take the fall if things go south.

She’s not going down for this.

I peel her pants and underwear down her legs next. Splotches of blood that seeped through her old clothes mar her otherwise flawless flesh.

The sight probably shouldn’t turn me on so much, but I’m a sick fuck.

Unfortunately, I won’t get to indulge in my blood-stained reverie because she needs to wash up.

“Get in the shower.”

She looks down at the blood streaking her skin, almost like she still can’t believe the events that took place tonight. “Okay.”

After stripping off my clothes, I join her.

She’s quiet as I take the bar of soap and run it over her body. I’d use a washcloth, but it’s white—make that more yellow—and I don’t want to take any chances.

I wrap my arms around her waist as the water from the shower nozzle sprays over us and the blood from our bodies flows down the drain.

Flashes of my father’s corpse zip through my mind.

I wanted to torture him.

To make him feel every single ounce of fucking pain he inflicted on my mother.

On me.

And so help me fucking God I would have… My cock swells, pulsing against her curvy ass. After bending her forward, I spread her little cunt and sink my dick inside her.

But I only allow myself one thrust. Just enough to collect her wetness on my shaft and drive us both crazy.

Then I shut the shower off and yank open the curtain.

“What—”

I drag my teeth along her neck, sucking and biting the tender skin above her pulse point. “Get on your knees.”

She robbed me of the release I desperately needed back at the house, so she owes me this.

Aspen obeys, kneeling down on the filthy floor in front of me.

Whether it’s because she wants this too, or she realizes this might be our last night together, I’m not sure.

And right now, I don’t fucking care.