Page 70 of Riding Hard

I’m proud of her. I don’t know exactly what he put her through, but it doesn’t matter. What she did takes balls, and I am completely in awe of her and how she stood up for herself. She’s been running for a long fucking time from him, taking his abuse and hiding. No more. It’s done, and now she can heal.

She should be proud that she did this herself.

That she took care of him and protected herself from him. He’ll never hurt her or anyone else again. I know I’m proud as fuck of her, even if I gotta clean up the mess. It’s fucking worth every second.

“What are we going to do now?” Fantasy asks.

My lips curl in disgust because this guy is the biggest piece of shit I’ve ever laid eyes on. Being in the same room as him disgusts me. But then my lips curve up into a smile, because I get to spend some serious fucking time taking care of him, slowly.

“We’re going to destroy his body, we’re going to burn him, and then we’re going to put the body parts into hydrofluoric acid and check on them periodically to ensure that they’re eaten by the chemical.”

“You’ve really thought about this,” Fantasy mutters.

“In goddamn fucking detail. And once I find out exactly what he did here today to my woman, I’ll probably wish I could bring him back to life and start all over again. His death was too easy.”

Wrath appears a few moments later. I don’t look back to see if Officer Lee is still at the door. I will skin and fucking fillet this piece of shit in front of Lee and not give a single fucking second thought about it.

“Everything good?” I ask, my gaze still focused on the fuck in front of me.

What a complete fucking piece of shit.

I cannot believe that this asshole thought he was good enough for Juliette. Then I realize he wasn’t. He knew that, too. Which is why he tried to keep her down, why he tried to control her—why he hurt her.

“Lee is going to go for a ride. He’ll be back in two hours before his shift ends to make sure everything is good here,” Wrath explains.

It helps to have someone on the right side of the law on our side, too. Even though I know if push came to shove, he’d throw us under the bus to save himself. It’s still good to have him where we want him, though.

“Meaning we’d better get this shit cleaned up,” I state.

“Basically,” he says. “I’m going to call some prospects over to help.”

“I want his body. I’m going to take my time with him and then put him in acid,” I state. “I might stand around and watch him dissolve, too. I’m not sure yet.”

Wrath winces, but thankfully, he doesn’t tell me no or try to talk me out of anything. I’m going to do what I want to do, and nobody is going to fucking stop me. Juliette is my woman, and I’m the one who gets to deal with his ass.

“I’ll have them bring some bags, and we’ll put the body in the house,” Wrath says.

Alex takes a step out of the hallway. “I’m going to take her home in my car—to your place?” he asks.

I really like Alex, and right now, I could fucking tell him that I love him—but not before I tell Juliette that I love her. He’s been absolutely fucking amazing throughout this whole thing, from protecting my son to finding my woman, and then taking care of her the way he is. A goddamn fucking treasure of a man.

“My place. I don’t want Cade to see her yet.”

“Good call,” he murmurs.

CHAPTER

FIFTY-SEVEN

JULIETTE

Alex doesn’t take his eyes off me. Not when I shower, not when I scrub my body raw, not when I lotion, and not when I put on a pair of comfortable clothes… he watches me, and I should feel uncomfortable about it, but I don’t. Instead, I feel comfortable.

“Thank fuck you have some food in here. I’m making you my famous ramen,” he announces.

He starts to move around the kitchen. Slowly, I sink down on the barstool. He doesn’t say anything else, humming as he moves. I’m not sure if he’s staying quiet for himself or my benefit. Either way, it’s too quiet.

“I don’t remember everything that happened,” I announce.