Devil's Due [h.s.]

Chapter 54

Chapter 54

Everything after the warehouse was a blur. Stumbling into the car, managing to turn on the engine, throwing the gun into the passenger seat and high-tailing it out of the parking lot. I couldn't remember driving on the actual roads, couldn't remember if I'd even stopped for any red lights, only that I returned back to Harry's place a miraculous 20 minutes later incessantly shaking and barely even able to see straight.

What the fuck just happened?

By the time I'd finally gathered all of my things from Harry's car, weapon included, and half-sprinted back into his house, I still wasn't entirely sure. Only knew that the first thing I was greeted with upon the elevator doors sliding open before me was a very livid-looking, tired Morgan who came rushing toward me.

"What the fuck, River?" she shouted, eyes wide and arms thrown out to her sides. "Where the hell were you? What's going on?"

"Morgan, oh my god," I mumbled, dropping all of my things the moment I stepped into the foyer. My feet worked without thinking, carrying me forward to the kitchen, past the angry-looking girl awaiting an answer, where I stopped dead in front of the sink and emptied the contents of my stomach into the stainless steel – the only image in mind being the man whom I'd just watched get shot and killed.

"Jesus," Morgan was at my side in an instant, gathering all of my hair behind my head. She ran a reassuring hand up and down my neck. "Are you okay? Fuck, what happened?"

"I shot someone," I whispered, shaking my head. "I shot two people."

This happened to catch Morgan's attention a little further because she perked up, hand stilling on my back, and responded, "Yeah?"

Bracing an elbow on the corner of the sink, I turned to look at her with wide eyes. "No. Morgan, I shot someone."

Her expression faltered and she immediately grimaced, nodding vigorously. "Shit. Right. Bad thing for you. You shot two people in Italy though, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but..." I drew in a deep breath, reaching over to turn the sink on, squirting a bit of soap over the mess I'd made. "I watched someone actually get killed tonight. Shot in the head right in front of me."

"Jesus, you shot them in the head?"

"No," I blurted. "Not me."

"Then–" Morgan looked really confused now. She shook her head, closing her eyes briefly. "What's going on, Riv? You need to talk to me. What happened?"

My ears were ringing again when I finally managed the admission that I wasn't sure I had wanted to come to terms with. "I went to meet with Damien tonight."

For a few long seconds, Morgan only stared. Then her expression morphed into one that nearly had me wanting to run and hide as she forcefully removed her hand from me and took a step back. With lethal calmness, she asked, "You did what?"

I wasn't sure if she was trembling or if my eyes were still playing tricks on me. "I wasn't thinking–"

"You most certainly were not."

"–he texted me and I just–"

"He texted you?"

"He threatened Harry's life," my voice came out so quiet that I wasn't even sure if she'd heard me. "He threatened to kill him if I didn't go and meet with him."

"What the fuck, River?" she half-shouted, bracing a hand on the counter to keep herself steady. "And you went alone?"

"He told me that I had to," I hastily replied, now realizing with each passing second that I really hadn't thought any of this through. "He told me I had to or else he'd kill Harry and..." The ringing in my ears grew, as did the mounting pressure in the back of my eyes. "And I just panicked. I freaked out because I couldn't even think about putting his life on the line again because of me and then when I even considered telling you about it, I freaked out again thinking about putting you at risk too." I met her gaze with eyes that were wide and wild. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Morgan. I wasn't thinking, I was being stupid but I just–"