Hunting Her Box Set

He’s right, too.

The severe frown pulling at Hunter’s brow says he agrees.

“Okay.” I nod. “So I won’t tell him.” Despite the guilt already eating away at my stomach.

“Are you capable of keeping something this big from him?” Sarah asks.

I glare at her. “I’m not a child. I’ve kept things from him before.”

She holds up her hands in surrender. “I wasn’t being a bitch this time. I was only asking if it’s something you think you’re capable of. I know you two are close, even though you lead people to believe otherwise.”

The thinly veiled apology means nothing to me. Not when all her knives still linger in my back.

“She’s capable.” Sebastian grabs my hand in my lap, our fingers twining beneath the table. “You’ve got no idea what she’s kept from her brother.”

I plotted the murder of my uncle and kept it to myself. Pla

It should.

Only it already feels a million times worse.

“Keeping Cole out of this is obviously ideal, but how the fuck do we get Luther back in the country without him?” Hunter pushes from the wall and begins to pace. “No, Keira, but your old man hasn’t given a shit about you for years. He’s not going to drop everything and come ru

I steel myself against the brutal truth—my father doesn’t care. He never did. Not when I was a child. Not when I was a vulnerable teen. And definitely not now. “I know a way.”

I know possibly the one and only driving force to get my father back in the country.

“Which is?” Sarah asks.

“I’ll finish what I started weeks ago.”

Sebastian’s hand falls limp in my lap. He knows what I’m about to say, and there’s no comforting hold to reassure me I’m making the right decision.

“I’m going to kill my uncle.” I forge through the judgmental silence. “My father will return for the funeral. There’s no way he’d miss it, despite the authorities breathing down his neck.”

The quiet continues, the thickness expanding as all eyes turn to me.

“Finish what you started?” Hunter asks. “You’re the one who ran down Richard?”

This time Sebastian doesn’t answer the hard question for me. He straightens, his hand retreating.

“That’s a story for another day.” I swallow over the scratch in my throat. “Right now, we need to focus on the future, not the past.”

Nobody fills the silence. The tension thickens, their judgment weighing down on me.

“You’re not going anywhere near Richard,” Sebastian mutters. “I’ll take care of him.”

No, he won’t. But that’s a conversation for later, too.

“What’s this all about?” Sarah scrutinizes me. “Is there something else we need to know?”

“Only that I’m well aware of what my father and uncle are capable of. I’m not going to be lenient on either of them.”

Her chin slowly rises, her lips parting as understanding begins to flicker to the surface.

I don’t want her to delve into my past. I don’t want her to even contemplate what I’ve been through. “We need to stop moving in circles and make a goddamn plan.” I release a huff of frustration. “All any of you have done so far is poke at everything I say.”

There’s more silence. More judgment, too.

“What’s the end game here, Keira?” Sebastian reclaims my hand, the touch gentle. “Are you talking about putting Luther in prison or…” He looks at me, our eyes meeting across an emotional battlefield.

There’s a wealth of co

“No,” I whisper. “Prison isn’t an option. My father has the means to buy the best lawyers. Hell, he could grease the palms of an entire jury. Or pay a team to help him escape whatever cell they put him in.” The overbearing weight of my father’s power presses down on me. “He has men everywhere. There’s nobody who can withstand his threats or influence.”

“Which means?” Hunter asks.

I shuffle my ass back in my seat and sit at my full height. I raise my chin, straighten my shoulders, and become the warrior woman I’ve always considered myself to be. I think of my past. I contemplate Stella’s future. I picture all those helpless, fractured women. Then I resign myself to the only outcome possible. “Death is the solution. For both of them.”

Relief shadows my statement, but the underlying pain lingers.

He’s my dad, and I’m pla

He was my mother’s one and only love, and I vow to send him to his grave.

“First, I’ll take care of my uncle.” I clear my throat to dislodge the emotion roughening my words. “Then when my father returns for the funeral, we end this.”

“I said I’d deal with Richard,” Sebastian reaffirms. “Don’t even think about going near him. I’m not letting you get caught up in that again.”

“Caught up in what?” Sarah asks.

“I want to do this,” I demand. “I need to be the one who ends his life. I won’t fail this time.”

“You won’t get a chance.” He pushes from the table and stalks for the fridge, grabbing four cans of beer before returning to place them among the snacks.

He’s still trying to protect me, that much is clear, but I won’t let him this time. Not when it comes to Richard. “I’m capable, Sebastian.”

“Really?” The question is an accusation. “There’s a reason you didn’t go ahead with the hit in the first place. Killing someone isn’t a crime you want on your conscience.”

“Excuse me.” I shove from my chair. “That wasn’t the reason, and you know it. I told you I didn’t follow through because I didn’t want to make my family vulnerable.”

“Hold up.” Sarah flattens her hands on the table. “So, you did run Richard down?”

Sebastian’s jaw ticks, his nostrils flaring. He’s beautiful. An exquisite show of masculine dominance. “Do you think you’ll be helping your family’s situation when your dad and Richard are dead and you’re in prison? You don’t want to spend the rest of your life behind bars.”

“And you do?” I quip.

He doesn’t snap at my ridicule. Instead, he cracks a can of beer and takes a long pull. “We’re not arguing over this.”

“You’re right.” I shove my chair back into place and stalk around the table. “We’re not.”

“Why don’t we take a break?” Sarah glances between us. Back and forth. Over and over. “We can discuss this later.”

“There’s no need. Richard is mine to deal with.” I continue toward the back door. “I’ll never forgive anyone who gets in my way.”

I pull the porch door wide, escape outside, then slam the wood shut behind me. The bang reverberates through my bones, shaking my soul. The vibration spurs me to move faster, to skitter down the steps and stride toward the end of the yard.

I have to get out of here.

To go home.

More than anything, I want to speak to my siblings. I need to hear a familiar voice. A calming, strengthening voice that won’t have me questioning my every breath.

I keep pounding out the distance, not stopping when I reach the waist-high fence. I climb over the metal and keep walking along the dirt car track leading around the paddock, the pebbles and stones tormenting my feet.

It doesn’t take long for my anger to dissipate and for regret to take its place.

I get it. Sebastian wants to protect me. He always wants to protect me. It’s what endeared me to him in the first place. I can’t grow to hate it now. I just need to make him understand.

I have to do this.

And yes, maybe he’s right. Maybe I wasn’t strong enough before, and I couldn’t handle a hit marring my conscience. But things have changed.