Forbidden (Blood Ties #7)

His hand was around my throat, his fingers curled as I finally dislodged that wad, feeling it hurt all the way down.

His body pressed against me, his head tilted down until he murmured against my ear. “The only question is…what do we do with you now?”

I knew.

Maybe I’d always known.

Maybe fate was a cruel fucking bitch that wanted to see me fucked.

I closed my eyes.

Maybe fate was me?

SIXTEEN

Riven

Thecrackof breaking crystal shattered the silence. I winced, standing in the doorway of Hale’s office, watching as the new asshole shoved the top shelf Scotch out of his way. Stacks of files took the decanter’s place and a nice array of weaponry.

“He won’t like this.” I warned as I stared at the once neat office now in ruins.

“Who?” Coulter never even looked up.

“Hale.”

Then the bastard stopped, slowly lifting his head. The tight curl of his lips said it all. “And what makes you think he’s still alive to give a shit?”

He knew.

Theyallfucking knew.

Hale was more than just alive.

He was probably orchestrating this entire fucking thing.

Still, Coulter went back to destroying Hale’s office with a kind of ferocity I almost admired.It wouldn’t stop me putting a bullet through his head, but it sure was fucking entertaining.

I took a step backwards. “So, if you don’t need me…”

It wasn’t a question. We were getting the fuck out of here before all this blew up in our faces.

“Don’tneed you?”Coulter stopped me, his lips curling as he met my stare. “See, that’s where you’re wrong. We wantyou, Riven. We want you and your blood right here. Where you’ve always been…to be the face of all this.” He splayed out his hand. “To the bitter fucking end.”

The world stopped turning.

The floor seemed to drop away beneath my feet.

I scowled, this wasn’t damage control, or a cover-up.

This was them flicking the kill switch and hanging us out to dry. I searched that glinting fucking stare as that chill moved deeper.

Theclickof unlocking doors sounded behind me. Heavy footsteps came closer. My shoulder was slammed from behind, forcing me to stumble before I caught myself.

I spun, rage burning inside as the guard smirked my way, casting the large bundle of rolled maps onto the desk. Maps I knew intimately. “What’s going on?”

No one answered. No one even fucking twitched, and that icy feeling wormed its way further inside.

This was more than going down with the goddamn ship, that I knew.