Into Temptation (Deliver Us from Evil Trilogy Book Two) Read online

“I thought that was the plan all along…but here I am, still standing…the same can’t be said for others, however.”

  I headbutt him but hold him up, and he sags like a ragdoll. “Yer bluffin’. Cian has Ethan and Eva, and Rory is keepin’ dick for me. Y’ve lost. They would have rung me if anythin’ was wrong.”

  But my bravado is fading by the second because this smells like a setup. Sean wanted me here, allowed me to fight him for a reason.

  “I killed yer ma and…yer da,” he confesses while I gasp as I never saw who shot Connor. This arsehole made sure I suffered in every possible way. “Don’tcha see? Ya can’t beat me, Puck. Join me, and I promise ye, everyone ye love will be saved.

  “The peelers work for me. Yer alone.”

  This is just a ploy. Cian and Rory would have alerted me if anything was wrong. But what Sean says next brings me to my knees.

  “He knew ye weren’t related, but he still chased her. Did ya know that? Did ya know he read my journal before any of youse? He was the one who made sure it remained hidden until Hannah found it.”

  “Ye’d say anythin’ to save yer arse,” I snarl, but a small part of me knows he’s telling the truth. This was too easy because I…trusted the wrong man.

  I thrust the knife out and press the blade to his throat. One simple stroke, and I can end this. But if I do that, I know I’ll regret it.

  “Fuck!” I scream, the blade trembling in my hand. “Fuck!”

  Sean smirks, and why wouldn’t he—he’s won. And I all but handed his victory over on a silver platter. “She was always the main prize.”

  Without thought, I punch him one final time, knocking him out cold. He collapses onto the ground, and it takes all my willpower not to kill him. But I can’t.

  My boots slip and slide on the spilled blood as I run out the door toward Cian’s truck. My fingers fumble as I flip down the visor, and the spare key falls into my lap. I tear off into the night, frantically dialing Rory.

  “He knew ye weren’t related, but he still chased her.”

  Sean’s words play over in my mind. He’s lying. He’s got to be. There’s no way he’s telling the truth. But when Rory doesn’t answer my call, the reality of what’s happening winds me.

  I dial Cian, who answers immediately. “Thank fuck, yer alive.”

  “Where are ya?” I ask, the panic in my voice clear.

  “Just ’bout to drop off Ethan and Eva at yer gaff. Why? Do ya want me to come there? Ron told me he’s keepin’ dick—even though ya told him to leave—and would phone if ya needed help. What’s happened?”

  “I need to speak to Rory, but he’s not answerin’ his phone.”

  The moment the words leave me, I realize he made a rookie mistake.

  “I’ve got to go. Go to my house and phone me when ye do.”

  “Puck!” Cian exclaims. “What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know! I need to hang up now.”

  Before he can protest, I disconnect the call and use the app, which gives me a lifeline to Rory. I’m not the praying type, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and I call on everything holy that Rory is where he said he would be—my gaff.

  But he’s not.

  He’s at his flat. Why?

  I almost hit an oncoming car as I pull a U-turn and speed down the road toward Rory’s.

  Nothing else matters but finding him so he can explain. So he can assure me that my father is once again playing with my emotions like only he knows how.

  I pull up at Rory’s, not even bothering to close the door as I race toward Rory’s flat. When I get to his door, I don’t knock. It’s locked, but that doesn’t stop me as I kick down the door.

  “Rory!” I shout, racing through the flat to find him. When I catch him frantically packing his bag, I realize my worst fears have come true.

  He desperately reaches for a gun on the nightstand and points it at me. But it’s going to take a lot more than that to stop me.

  “Where is she?” I snarl, walking toward him slowly as he backs away.

  “Away from you!” he replies. “Away from us both.”

  “So help me God, if ya don’t tell me where she is, I’m going to—”

  “To what?” he cuts me off, eyes narrowed. “Kill me? Go ahead. Y’ve already torn out my heart. Both of youse have.”

  “Just tell me where she is, Rory. I know ya. I know ya don’t want to do this.”

  “Ya know nothin’!” he shouts, spittle flying from his mouth. “If ya did, ya would have just stayed in prison. We could have been happy. But her love for ye always stood in the way! I fucking loved her, but it didn’t matter. I didn’t matter the moment you were free.”

  “What did ya do?” I ask, my heart in my throat.

  “I did everythin’ ya think I did,” he replies, siphoning the life from me.

  “Why?” I cry, not understanding any of this. “Ya hate me that much? Ye hate her that much?”

  “Aye,” he answers without missing a beat. “Ye destroy everythin’ ya touch. Ya both do.”

  “So ye handed her over to Sean, knowin’ he would use her to get me to do whatever he wants? She’s not fucking chattel ya can exploit! None of us are. Do ya have any idea what y’ve done?”

  I look into the eyes of a stranger because this man isn’t the boy I grew up with. The lad who had my back no matter what. This person has been poisoned by Sean Kelly as Sean preyed on his weakness.

  “What did he offer ye in exchange for her? A part in his business?”

  Rory scoffs, his red-rimmed eyes darting around the room. “I want none of it! I want to get out of this fucking country and start over. Northern Ireland is riddled with ghosts, ones I want to escape.”

  Lifting my chin, I stare at the ceiling as tears fill my eyes. “Y’ll be one them, so I suppose I’ll never be able to escape ye.”

  Rory sold out Babydoll for greed—Sean offered him money in exchange for her life. Rory wanted to hurt us in the worst possible way—just how we hurt him. And now, he must pay…with his life.

  The trigger squeaks as Rory’s finger dithers, but I’m a man hell-bent on revenge. I deliver a roundhouse kick, knocking the gun from Rory’s hands. He’s caught unaware, allowing me to punch him in the face.

  He staggers back, cupping his bleeding nose, but that doesn’t stop him as we charge for the other. He knows how to fight and is able to connect with my ribs and stomach, but I grip him by the collar and slam his head through the plaster.

  Yanking him back out, I knee him under the chin, sending him careering backward and into the hallway. He dives for me, but I kick out and break his kneecap, which has him collapsing to the carpeted floor, howling in pain.

  “Why, Rory? I don’t understand it. Ya knew she wasn’t my sister?”

  Rory crawls away from me, desperately searching for something to fend me off. “I knew. I wanted more time with her but proposed when I found out ye were gettin’ out of prison. I thought it would have been enough.

  “But the moment she saw ye, I knew it never would be enough. I loved her, Puck! Y’ve taken Darcy, Cami, everyone I’ve ever cared for away from me!”

  “And that’s my fault?” I question. “Stop actin’ like a pussy and grow the fuck up!”

  He continues moving away from me, but he’s not going anywhere ever again. I sensed an inside man was feeding Sean the information he needed—and that man was Rory.

  I don’t know how long he’s betrayed us, but it doesn’t matter. It won’t change what I have to do.

  “I trusted ya!” I scream, breaking his other kneecap as I stomp on it. “Ye betrayed me! Y’ve torn out my fucking heart!”

  “Hurts, does it not?” he wheezes in pain. “Havin’ the person ye love betray ya? Now ya know how I feel.”

  I don’t know where Babydoll is. I don’t know if she’s dead or alive. I don’t know if she’ll be used for ransom. Or did Sean have her killed, knowing I would have nothing worth fighting for, so the fight in me would wither an
d die, and I would eventually surrender to him?

  That was Sean’s plan this entire time—Ethan and Eva were just decoys. He was after Babydoll all along.

  I drop to my knees, a guttural sob spilling from me as I cup my face with bloody hands.

  So much blood has been spilled, I don’t know whose blood is whose anymore. This country has been painted red, and it’s because of me.

  In my quest for revenge for my ma, I have fucked things up beyond repair, and I don’t know how to fix it. I am broken, and the glue holding me together is now gone. She is gone…and so am I.

  Our pain drives us to act in certain ways, and this is Rory’s pain, spewed all over us. Our betrayal was enough for him to give up everything, and now, my pain is about to meet his.

  However, Cian’s warning sounds behind me, followed by an earsplitting boom, and it changes the course of where my pain flows as I duck and turn to see my worst nightmare before my eyes.

  Cian lies in a bloody heap, clutching at his chest, gasping for air. I don’t understand what I’m seeing as Cian has been shot, but when I turn to see Rory holding a gun, I realize fate won’t be satisfied until she takes everything from me.

  The gun Cian held lies near his feet, and without hesitation, I reach for it, walk over to Rory, who seems to be in shock that he shot Cian and not me, and aim it at him.

  “Puck, n-no!” Cian wheezes as Rory drops the gun and raises his trembling hands in surrender.

  “Puck, I fucked up, so I did. I’m s-sorry,” Rory begs, tears streaming down his face. “Please don’t kill me. I don’t want to die.”

  But it’s too late.

  He made his choice…and now, it’s time I made mine.

  I shoot Rory between the eyes, the last shred of humanity I held onto evaporating, making room for the monster I knew would always be born.

  Staring at my once friend, I feel absolutely nothing because I’m just as dead as he is. This is what they all wanted.

  I numbly walk over to Cian and drop to my knees as I assess his wound. Thankfully, Rory is a shite shot. “Y’ll live.”

  The whites of his eyes reveal he too sees the face of a monster I tried so hard to keep at bay.

  I take off my T-shirt and offer it to him to press over the wound. “We need to go. The peelers will be here soon. Can ya stand?”

  When I offer him my hand, he smacks it away. Good, he hates me too. It will be easier this way.

  “Fine, be a pussy. I’ll wait for ye outside then.”

  I leave my two best friends, one bloody and…one dead as I take the stairs, whistling a jolly tune as people run from the building, terrified thanks to the gunshots.

  Feelings make you weak, Connor said, and he’s right. It’s all because of feelings that I’m here once again. But no more.

  I tried to beat Sean. But I failed. I tried. I tried so fucking hard.

  Retrieving my phone, I shoulder open the foyer door and nick a feg off a passerby from his gaping mouth when he sees my bloody appearance.

  I continue on my journey, phone pressed to my ear, and when Sean answers, I seal our fate forevermore. “Keep her lit…ats us nai.”

  And just like that…I’ve sold my soul to the devil, and I don’t feel a fucking thing.

  Book Three Coming Soon!

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  Monica James spent her youth devouring the works of Anne Rice, William Shakespeare, and Emily Dickinson.

  When she is not writing, Monica is busy running her own business, but she always finds a balance between the two. She enjoys writing honest, heartfelt, and turbulent stories, hoping to leave an imprint on her readers. She draws her inspiration from life.

  She is a bestselling author in the U.S.A., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, and The U.K.

  Monica James resides in Melbourne, Australia, with her wonderful family, and menagerie of animals. She is slightly obsessed with cats, chucks, and lip gloss, and secretly wishes she was a ninja on the weekends.

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