Deviant (Boys of Winter #3) - Sheridan Anne Page 0,2

and as they finally scan up past the blood pouring over Grayson’s hands, and he finds my gaze staring right back at his, he breaks.

An all-consuming guilt floods his dark eyes and devastation pours through me, watching as he falls to his knees, unable to come to terms with what he’s done. “Carver,” I whisper, desperately wishing I had the energy to run to him, to crash into his warm arms and tell him that everything is going to be alright.

The look in his eyes … fuck. He looks as though he just killed the love of his life. “Carver … I …”

He falls forward, his head dropping into his hands. “I missed,” he whispers in disbelief, his voice so soft and filled with an unbelievable guilt that tears right through my chest, grabbing hold of my heart and squeezing it until it shatters into a million pieces.

Pain tears through me, but not from the bullet that’s lodged somewhere deep inside of my stomach. Tears fill my eyes as I watch the guilt completely consume him, desperately wishing I could take it away, but how? What the hell can I do for him now? He’s right. He shot me. He raised his gun, and in a moment of panic, he squeezed the trigger and the bullet sailed straight through my stomach.

The great Dante Carver let his desperation claim him, and because of that, he missed his mark.

That split decision to squeeze the trigger is going to haunt him for the rest of his life and there’s not a damn thing I can say or do that will take that pain away. I’ll never have the words to ease his guilt, it’s something he’ll have to work out all on his own.

It was nothing but a horrendous accident. That bullet was meant for the woman who stood behind me with a knife pressed hard against my throat.

My twisted as fuck, dimwitted, bitch of a mother.

No wonder I’m so fucked up.

What did I do to deserve a mother who has a hard-on for trying to kill her daughter? Though, I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree because I certainly have a fondness for slitting throats, and I just now discovered what a kick I’d get out of slitting hers.

Fuck. I hate that bitch.

Knowing I won’t get anywhere with Carver, I shift my gaze back up to King’s before glancing out the open garage to where the door lay in a crumpled mess on my long-ass driveway. “She … she got away,” I whisper, my words coming in slower and slower. “I … I should have … done something. I could have …”

“Shhhhh,” King rumbles. “I promise you, babe. She may have gotten away for now, but I won’t fucking rest until I’ve fucked that bitch up. You did perfectly. You did everything you could do. She just has a gift for escaping, but not anymore. We know who she is now, and she better watch her back. We will hunt her down like the fucking dog that she is.”

I let out a heavy sigh and nod as the pain starts to fade to a distant hum. “Good,” I murmur, letting the heaviness of my eyelids win the battle. Maybe if the boys have my back and take her out for me, maybe I won’t have to. Maybe I can just let go now. “I … I can’t hold on anymore.”

My eyes close and Cruz instantly squeezes my leg in a panic, his grip tight enough to bruise. “Not today, babe. Wake up, let me see those pretty eyes.”

“Mmmm. I’m awake.”

Cruz gives me a gentle shake as we hear the ambulance wailing in the distance. “Winter? Fuck, Winter. Wake up. You’re not dying on me, hold on a minute longer. The ambulance is nearly here. I have too much to tell you. Come on, I fucking love you, you can’t go now. OPEN YOUR GODDAMN EYES, BABE. FIGHT IT. YOU’RE NOT GIVING UP YET. FIGHT FOR FUCKS SAKE.”

I nod, as my body grows heavy and Grayson starts pressing harder, but it’s fine. I don’t feel it now.

I just feel darkness. A hollowness that spreads through my body and takes all the pain away.

I get to be with my dad.

“FUCK, WE’RE LOSING HER,” Grayson roars, his usual cool, calm, and collected tone now completely gone and replaced with nothing but sheer terror, pain, and guilt. “HAVE YOUR FUCKING PITY PARTY LATER, CARVER. GET THE FUCK OVER HERE AND HELP BEFORE SHE