Page 3 of Deadly Sins: Envy

She shook her head. “Are you?”

“I met a woman about a month ago. We went out a couple times. It had the potential of going somewhere, I guess, but there was something missing. After the second date, I didn’t ask her out again. What about you?”

“I’ve talked to a few guys here and there on tour. It was just talk. Nothing happened. I found myself comparing them to you. It wasn’t fair to them, but I couldn’t help it. No matter how sweet they were, they weren’t you.”

“Have you ever thought about trying again, giving us a second chance?”

It was what she hoped he’d say tonight. Her voice cracked as she looked at him and said, “Yes.”

The front door blew open, and a man stepped inside. He was tall and brawny, dressed in jeans and a tattered T-shirt with a large skull on the front. A black bandana covered a majority of his face.

Dean threw himself in front of Willow.

“Get out of my house,” Dean said. “Now.”

The man pointed a gun at Dean.

Stunned, Willow stared at the gun, noticing it was equipped with a silencer.

“Step away from her,” the man said.

“No,” Dean said. “I won’t.”

A loud commotion boomed through the hallway. Blake came barreling into the living room wielding a large, cast-iron frying pan. She leapt toward the man, who stared at Blake like she’d startled him. He aimed the gun at her and squeezed the trigger. The frying pan soared through the air like a weighted Frisbee, and Blake collapsed to the ground.

The man stared at Blake for a moment and then focused the gun back on Dean. “Move or you’re next.”

Willow slipped out from behind Dean and crawled toward Blake. Blood pooled from the back of Blake’s head, and she wasn’t breathing. Willow opened her mouth to scream, and the man said, “Don’t. Keep quiet.”

He wrapped a hand around Willow’s arm, jerked her off the floor, and said, “Let’s go.”

“What?” Willow asked. “Go where?”

Dean lunged at the man and shouted, “You’re not going anywhere with her!”

The man kicked Dean backward and fired off a couple of shots. One ripped through Dean’s thigh, and the other pierced his chest. Dean glanced at Willow and tried to say something, then dropped to the ground.

Willow wrestled with the man, trying to break free from his grip, but it was no use—he was much too strong compared to her.

“Now,” the man said, “let me tell you what’s going to happen. We’re going to walk out the door, and you’re not going to make a sound. Got it?”

Terrified and numb, Willow stared down at Dean and said nothing.

The man grunted something under his breath and then bent down, checking Dean’s neck for a pulse.

“Come with me now and don’t resist ... and I’ll let him live,” he said.

She opened her mouth and tried to respond. The words were there, but she couldn’t bring herself to say them. Tears streamed down her face as her eyes fixated on Dean, the love of her life. There was no choice to be made. After he was shot, she’d already made it. She would lay down her own life for even the slightest chance of sparing his.

CHAPTER 2

Three hours later

“Your phone’s ringin,’ honey,” Cade said.

I remained still, hoping it would stop and I could return to my peaceful slumber.

“Sloane,” Cade said. “You hear me?”