Chapter 62
Seth
Ikill the engine before I step out of the car.
The door slams behind me as I move toward the house, my focus already locked in. I take the steps fast, clear the entry in seconds, and shove the front door open.
I scan the room without breaking stride, clearing corners, checking the hallways, clocking anything that could be a threat.
A gun snaps up.
“Holy shit,” Travis blurts, lowering it a second later. “Dude. We thought you went off the rails. We weren’t sure if you were gonna come back.”
“I needed space,” I snap.
Travis lets out a breath and drags a hand over his face. “Well, you could’ve gave us a heads up, man, before going all rogue. Tell me you didn’t just walk into that gala blind.”
“I handled it.”
“Handled how?”
“I killed Victor and everyone there.”
Travis freezes for half a second, then blinks like his brain needs to catch up.
“Jesus Christ… Okay.”
A beat. Travis exhales through his nose, already pivoting.
“Fine. You said you had something.”
I reach into my jacket and toss the drive across the room. It slides across the table and stops near his laptop.
“That’s Victor’s,” I say. “Everything he had on the Collective is in there. Find Grant.”
Travis grabs the drive, still staring at me like he is recalibrating. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m on it.”
“Where is Grant’s family estate?”
Travis doesn’t hesitate this time.
“It’s three hours out,” he says. “And they’ve already been there.”
My head snaps toward him.
“What?”
“Brooke and Beau,” he says. “They’re already on their way back.”
Something hits my chest hard enough to make it difficult to breathe.
“Why did you let her leave?”
Travis lets out a short, humorless laugh. “You think I’m about to fight with Brooke? I’m just as scared of her now as I am of you.”
My jaw locks.
“What happened? What did she do?”
The door behind me opens.
Brooke steps inside first.
Her clothes are streaked with blood, dark and dried in some places, fresh in others. It marks her hands, her sleeves, the front of her shirt. She carries herself differently, like something inside her has settled into place and locked there.
Beau follows her in, steady as ever, the smell of smoke and gasoline clinging to him.
Travis goes quiet.
Everything in me locks onto her. She meets my eyes and doesn’t look away.
Relief hits so hard it makes my head spin. Rage follows right behind it.
I move straight for Beau.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” My fist already tight. “Why would you take her out there?”
He keeps his eyes on mine. “Would you have preferred she went alone?”
I stop, but my hands still want to swing.
Brooke steps between us and shoves both her hands against my chest, hard enough that I take a step back. “Enough.”
I keep my focus on her. “You want to explain what the fuck you just did?”
“What needed to be done,” she replies.
“What needed to be done?” I repeat. “You should’ve stayed here. You should’ve answered your phone.”
She looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “We’re on the run, Seth. I’m not answering a number that I don’t recognize in the middle of a manhunt.”
My mouth opens, but nothing comes out.
“You left,” she continues. “You walked out without saying where you were going. You left your phone. You could’ve been dead or in cuffs for all I know.”
Heat crawls under my skin. “You should have stayed here. And I’m not done with you, Beau, for letting this happen.”
Travis glances up from the table, trying very hard to look invisible. Beau exhales and shakes his head once.
“Your girl walked into that mansion and erased Grant’s bloodline for you and Samantha,” Beau scoffs. “Maybe you should calm the fuck down.”
The room goes quiet except for Travis pretending to type. Beau steps back and gives us space but keeps listening. I grab Brooke’s hand, turn away from both of them, and lead her upstairs without asking.
The office door shuts behind us with a solid click.
“You don’t make any more moves without me,” My voice comes out flat and hard.
Her glare sharpens instantly. “I’m sorry, Seth, but you don’t get to tell me what the fuck to do when you’re the one running around like you have a death wish.”
“You’re acting like you’re fucking invincible. You’re lucky you’re alive. He could’ve had squad cars ready to empty a clip in you. You’re the one acting impulsively.”
Her eyes narrow, heat flashing. “I’m acting like someone who’s done watching Grant stack bodies while we hide. I’m acting like someone who refuses to sit in a house while other people pay for the shit he started with us.”
“Here’s the problem, Brooke,” I step closer, keeping my eyes locked on hers. “I don’t want to add you to the list of people Grant wants to kill just to get inside my head.”
She steps closer, her voice rising. “You have no idea what he put me through taking me to that manor. He sent people to kill us. And now your mother is dead because of him.” Her voice cracks, then hardens again.
“Every time we hide, he hurts someone else. I’m done waiting around for him to finish us off. ”
“I’m trying to keep you alive,” My jaw tightens. “I’m trying to keep you out of a fucking morgue, and you’re walking yourself straight toward a body bag.”
She lets out a humorless laugh. “You keep saying that, like it gives you the right to decide everything. Stay here, Brooke. Wait here, Brooke. Hide here, Brooke. I’m done sitting still while you go play executioner alone. I don’t need your protection. I can protect myself just fine.”
“I don’t know what part of this you’re not getting.” A humorless scoff leaves me as I shake my head. “I’m a real killer, Brooke. I’m not new to this shit like you. I’m not doing this for play. I plan and I execute. I don’t act impulsively.”
Her head snaps toward me.
“Then what the fuck was that when you left?”
For a second I don’t answer.
Okay, maybe that was impulsive.
I was barely holding it together when I walked out. My head felt like it was packed with glass and noise. Half of what happened after that blurs together when I try to replay it.
I barely remember it.
“I don’t need a bodyguard, Seth.” She steps closer again, her eyes locked onto mine like she's trying to force me to understand. “I need a partner. I need you to trust me when I say I can walk into a room and do what needs to be done. I need you to stop treating me like I’ll shatter every time someone points a gun at me. I went to Grant’s family home and avenged Samantha for you. ”
“I didn’t need you to avenge shit!” I shout. “I needed you to stay here. I needed you to stop charging in like an impulsive, stubborn idiot who doesn’t think of the consequences.”
Her mouth trembles for a second before it hardens again. “Wow, Seth, you’re really a fucking hypocrite.”
I lean down until my face is inches from hers. “Listen carefully, Brooke, because I’m not repeating myself. You’re done running solo. You don’t leave this house without me beside you. You don’t move on anything unless I say we move.”
“If I keep waiting for you, he keeps breathing,” she fires back. “He keeps hunting. He keeps sending people after your family and everyone linked to us—”
“Brooke, shut the fuck up.” I step closer, close enough to feel her breath hit my mouth. “If you leave this house without me again, I’ll chain you to that bed and make damn sure you stay put.”
Her eyes flare. “Fuck you, Seth.”
Something in me shifts from anger into something darker with her name carved into it.
Her lip curls, disgust written all over her face. “You can bark orders all you want. I’m still going to kill him. I’m done running while the man who ruined our lives keeps breathing. I’ll finish this with or without you.”
She tries to push past me toward the door.
That tears through whatever restraint I had left.
I close the distance in one step, grab her by the throat, and slam her back against the wall. My hand wraps around her neck, squeezing just enough to hold her in place and remind her exactly who she's talking to. Her breath hitches, but her gaze doesn’t flicker.
“Brooke,” My voice edged with barely controlled rage. “You act like you forgot who the fuck I am and what I’m willing to do to keep you alive.”
Her fingers curl around my wrist, nails digging into my skin. Her eyes burn into mine, full of rage and something that looks too much like need for how hard we’re fighting.
She lifts her chin a fraction against my hand and holds my stare.
“Then prove it.”