Page 110 of Secret Love

Mercer lunges for me and wraps his hand around my throat. He takes complete control of me and forces the gun next to my head with my own finger on the trigger.

“Dani—!” Fox freezes. “Mercer, don’t—!”

Mercer pulls me backward with him away from the others and drags me outside to the porch.

Fox bends over and grabs the rifle from Smith’s dead hands. “You’ve got nowhere to go, Mercer,” he says, following us outside. “Let her go.”

Mercer doesn’t stop. He digs the gun into my temple while leading me farther down the driveway. “Go ahead, Fox.” He chuckles. “You think you have a clear shot?”

Fox points the rifle at us and stares down the sights. “At this range, I don’t need one.”

Mercer laughs. “I doubt I’ll go down before I get off just one shot at her. You can spend the next few hours separating chunks of our brains.”

“Fox—” I cry.

“It’s okay, Dani.”

He reloads.

“Come on, Fox!” Mercer growls over my ear. “Take the shot. I dare you! You can end this now. Just shoot her through the heart and you’ll hit me, too!”

Fox blinks with hesitation.

I quiver with fear as his eyes fall on mine. “Fox…”

He exhales slowly. “Dani… close your eyes.”

Mercer’s arms go tense around me. “You shoot me, and the Boss will come after you, Fox! She’ll come after everyone you care for!”

“No,” Fox says. He rests his finger over the trigger. “I’m pretty sure I’m doing her a favor.”

I close my eyes as the shot rings out.

Pain rips me apart from the inside. I open my mouth to scream, but no sound comes out. My ears ring. I see nothing but red…

Until it all fades to black.