Shock waves rolled through me, my jaw falling open at his stunning news.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” He waved the gun in my direction. “You had no clue. Aaron had no clue. And why didn’t you know?” His long legs ate the distance between us in two steps before he leaned into my face, his breath hot on my skin. “Because you two don’t fucking care about me.”
I shook my head. “That’s not true. We love you. We have always loved you. You’re our best friend. How could you think that we wouldn’t have done everything in our power to help you?”
Hopelessness washed over me as his lower lip quivered, the pain under his mask of anger making an appearance. For a split second, the insane man standing before me was just a scared and hurt teenage boy. He was the same Mark we’d met all those years ago hiding behind the gym.
It struck me that no matter what the outcome ended up being, there would be no winning. Someone was going to lose. And even though it broke my heart to think it, I hoped that it wouldn’t be me. With one final burst of optimism, I pushed up to my knees and grasped his face.
“Please, Mark, please. Let’s end this. I just want to go home.”
My heart shattered as the Mark I loved vanished and the monster returned. He pulled out of my grasp and aimed the barrel of the gun at my forehead.
“There’s only one way this is going to end, Remi. And I think you know it isn’t with us going home and living happily ever after.”
“No, no, no!” I lifted my arms as if I could somehow block a bullet. I squeezed my eyes shut, saying a silent prayer for a miracle.
And a miracle was exactly what I was given.
“Remi!”
Bowen’s voice echoed through the air and my eyes flew open.
Relief quickly turned to fear when Mark’s Cheshire cat grin grew twice as wide.
“Well, holy shit. This is going to be easier than I thought.”
Bowen
“Remi!” I shouted, my voice bouncing through the abandoned brewery as I desperately searched the empty space for any sign of her.
The Rusty Nail Two was set up like any typical bar: a large open area with the kitchen at the back of the building and a long bar along one side of the room. When there was no sign of Remi out front, I sprinted to the swinging doors that led to the kitchen.
A second wave of adrenaline exploded in my chest when I heard her yell, “Bowen, run! He has a gun!”
I all-too-willingly followed her advice. Except I wasn’t about to fucking run away from her. I barreled into the kitchen in time to see Mark emerge from the cooler, Remi’s voice muting as he slammed the door behind him. The metal of his gun shined under the few remaining fluorescent lights.
“I wouldn’t take another fucking step if I were you,” he said, leveling the gun in my direction, a sinister smile plastered across his face.
I wanted nothing more than to destroy that coward, even if it meant taking a bullet in the process. But not with Remi so close. Not with her needing me.
I commanded my legs to still and lifted my hands in surrender. “Mark,” I spit out, “I don’t know what you’re doing right now, but this isn’t the way.”
His head tipped back as he howled, “Fuck you, Bowen.”
The urge to return the sentiment rested on the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed it back. I had to disarm him—or at the very least get him away from the cooler door where he had Remi. Exchanging verbal blows wasn’t going to make her safe. My mind raced as I scanned the dilapidated kitchen, looking for anything I could use as a weapon. Aside from a couple of forgotten steel prep tables, there was nothing.
With my hands still raised, I took a step forward and tried again. “Come on, man. Just let Remi go.”
His gaze remained trained on me, his face nearly unrecognizable as it twisted with rage. “You mean the way you did? You fucking coward. The difference between me and you is that you claim to love her but I’ll stop at nothing to prove it.”
“Is that right?” I snarled through clenched teeth. Holding his gaze, I edged forward. Inch by inch, closing the distance between us. “Is that why I found blood in the driveway? Was that proof of your love?”
In one swift movement, he raised the gun, aiming it directly at my head. “Take one more step and I’ll put a bullet between your eyes.”
I halted, bile burning a hot trail up my throat.
He barked a laugh. “Always a fucking pussy. You don’t fucking deserve a woman like Remi.”
“And you think you deserve her?” Aaron asked, suddenly appearing in the kitchen.
