Chapter 30
WILLOW
Istare down the barrel of that gun.
It feels cold, impersonal, as if fate itself is trying to tell me it wasn’t supposed to end this way.
“Sheila, honey, come on,” Perry says, trying to reason with her. To my astonishment, he has more of a conscience than she ever will. “She’s pregnant. There’s a kid in there.”
“Another heir to the Morgan fortune,” Sheila replies, gripping the gun fiercely as she shakes her head and glares at me with boundless hate. “I refuse to share. I didn’t put up with Bill Morgan’s pasty old ass for all these years just to get a smaller slice of the fucking pie.”
Ah, there she is, the girl from the Bronx with questionable morals and nothing but a pretty face to show for it, the monster with red hair and green eyes that few ever see, the real Sheila.
“Please,” I say, trying one more time, my body going limp as it prepares for the cold embrace of death. I don’t think Perry is mentally strong enough to take over, to stop her. “Please, Sheila, my baby…”
“Fuck you and your—”
The front door blasts wide open with a terrifying bang. The noise startles Sheila so badly that she drops the gun on the floor and screams in genuine shock. Perry whirls around just in time to see the Morgan brothers as they storm into the room. Everything happens so fast.
All I can do is watch it unfold, one second at a time.
Cole lunges at Perry, just as he’s about to retrieve the gun. He knocks Perry down and starts landing punches—hard blows to his head and body. I hear bones cracking and Perry’s grunts of pain.
“Don’t move!” Toby snarls as Sheila tries to flee.
Asher reaches her in a matter of seconds and secures a zip-tie around her bony wrists, then rushes to where I’m still bound and helpless and crying from genuine relief. My entire body feels like it’s made of jelly.
“We’re here, baby, we’re here,” Asher says.
Toby helps Cole turn Perry over, then they tie him up, as well.
I hear the sirens wail as they race up the road, disturbing the entire neighborhood. I see the squad car lights flashing, red and blue, before I look up at my men. The ropes fall from my wrists, and I throw my arms around Asher.
“Oh God, I thought this was it,” I cry over and over in Asher’s embrace.
“You’re safe, baby,” he says.
Cole takes me in his arms, showering me with deep, wet kisses, while Toby gives me a quick once-over.
“Are you okay, my love?” Cole asks.
I nod enthusiastically. “By some miracle, yes. Oh God.”
“It’s okay,” Toby whispers as he plants a kiss on my temple. “You and the little one are going to be okay.”
“The little… oh…” I soften as I feel his hand resting on my lower belly.
They know.
They must’ve found Jamie. I breathe the heaviest sigh of relief, my whole body shuddering, as I lean into Cole, breathe him in, and hold onto him and his brothers for dear life.
Cradled in Cole’s arms, I give Detective Hornby my statement as his officers secure the scene and put Perry and Sheila in cuffs.
Lights flash outside—not just squad cars and ambulances, but also a plethora of cameras from a swarm of reporters.
I guess the neighbors were alerted by the sound of the door being busted down as the Morgan brothers stormed the Madison mansion.
“She told me all about how she and Perry orchestrated James Madison’s death, as well,” I say to the detective.
“I’m sure Willow can give you a full statement later,” Cole says. “She needs to be physically checked out.”
Hornby gives me a curious look. “You were smart to keep them talking, Miss Bennett. You bought yourself valuable time, except the Morgan fellas beat me to the punch by exactly two minutes.” He pauses and scowls at Cole, Asher, and Toby. “You called it in when you were already close, didn’t you?”
“We wanted first dibs,” Toby replies with a casual shrug.
“That was insanely reckless,” Hornby says.
Cole shrugs. “You forget what I used to do before I came back to work for my father.”
“Ah, yes, you were a Marine,” the detective mutters. “It was still reckless, in my book, but a clean takedown, I’ll give you that. He looks pretty banged up.”
We all look at the bloodied face of Perry Jackson as they take him out in cuffs, the white lights of cameras making him look even more washed out.
“He was resisting,” Cole mutters, prompting a dry chuckle from his brothers.
Even Hornby can’t stop himself from smiling.
“This is going to be a messy and highly publicized case, that’s all I can tell you right now.
It’ll be the trial of the century, I’m willing to bet: a sociopathic gold digger, her murderous boyfriend, James Madison’s accidental death turning out to be murder, the press is going to milk this for months. ”
“I don’t even care,” Cole replies and plants a kiss on the top of my head. “I’m just glad we have Willow back safe and sound.”
Safe and sound.