Riley gritted his teeth as he came down the stairs and allowed David to see him.
He should have gotten Stephen out of dodge before doing this.
This was his own fucked-up mistake, and now he was paying for it.
“There, see, it wasn’t so bad.”
“Now let Stephen go,” he said.
He still held the gun.
“Drop the gun.”
“Not going to happen.”
“You really think you have any kind of leverage here? You really are fucking stupid.” David flicked his wrist and nicked Stephen’s neck, not taking out an artery but enough to make Stephen jerk.
“Just kill him, Riley. Do it.”
“You know, anyone getting a sense of déjà vu right now?” David asked.
Riley looked at Stephen. The nick David had made was leaking down his face, dripping onto the floor.
“You okay?” Riley asked. It was a sign of weakness, but he couldn’t allow Stephen to die. Not after everything he’d done for him. It wasn’t right.
“Yeah,” Stephen said. He was a mess, his face covered in bruises and blood dripping from cuts.
Riley had to get him out.
“This is so touching.” David snapped his fingers, and Riley heard the scream, the cry as one of the guards brought in Meghan.
Within seconds, the knife was gone, and David had a gun, which he aimed at her head.
Meghan had been crying.
He saw the tear tracks down her face, and anger flooded every single pore of his being at the fact she was hurting. There was a bruise on her face, a fresh one. All of the others had been close to fading.
This was new.
Anger, rage, and above all else, the need to hurt, to torture, washed over him.
“Now this reminds me of another time and place.”
“Riley, kill him,” she said.
“Now I seem to recall a certain wife of yours. You really can’t keep them in line.”
“I didn’t talk or leave the apartment, Riley. He came for me,” she said.
“Shut up.” David gripped her around the neck, silencing her.
Seeing her struggle for breath, Riley brought his weapon up, ready to take out David, but he lost his shot and his chance as he hid behind Meghan. The cowardly bastard was using her as a shield.
He couldn’t get to David unless he shot Meghan.
“Ah, this is so touching. He can’t do it.”
“Kill him, Riley,” Meghan said.
Dropping the gun to the floor, he rushed toward Meghan, cupping her face. “What the fuck happened?”
“He charged into the motel room. I didn’t know he was there until it was too late. I couldn’t stop him. I’m so sorry.”
“I love you,” he said. “I fucking love you, and there’s no way I would ever let anything happen to you.”
“You love me?”
“There’s no way I will ever kill you, Meghan. I don’t know what you did, but I don’t want to die. I want to spend my life with you.”