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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 𝐌𝐄, the vibrations rattling through my bones, but my mind was louder.
I had killed someone.
And fuck—it felt good.
I let my head fall back against the seat, exhaling slowly, trying to find something—anything—that resembled guilt. It should have been there, buried deep beneath my skin, twisting in my gut like a parasite. But there was nothing. No regret. No weight pressing on my chest. Just... relief.
I looked down at my hands resting in my lap, my fingers still trembling slightly. Not from fear. Not from adrenaline. From something else. Satisfaction.
A small smile curled on my lips.
Through the rearview mirror, I saw Rafe, standing a few feet away, talking to the men we'd hired. They moved quickly, efficiently, already making Gustav disappear like he had never even existed. Blood washed away, tracks covered, the narrative rewritten.
It was too easy.
Money did that.
A few stacks of cash, and suddenly, reality was whatever I wanted it to be.
I watched as Rafe shook one of the men's hands before turning back toward the car. His movements were relaxed, unbothered, like he had just finished a business deal instead of orchestrating a murder clean-up. Before getting in, he popped open the trunk, grabbing something.
Then, finally, he slid into the driver's seat beside me, tossing a clean T-shirt onto the dashboard.
He pulled his own blood-stained one over his head, exposing the sharp lines of his stomach. His skin was spattered with dried blood, a few drops trailing down his collarbone. He wiped at it lazily before pulling on the fresh shirt.
I watched him, something dark twisting in my chest.
"You're quiet," he muttered, glancing at me.
I blinked, dragging my gaze away from him and back to the windshield. "I'm just thinking."
He snorted. "That's never good."
A small smirk tugged at my lips, but I didn't respond.
The silence stretched between us for a few beats before I finally spoke.
"I'm sorry that it got so messy," I said, voice softer than I intended.
Rafe let out a short laugh. "Yeah, maybe you should've given me a little warning before you blew his fucking head off."
The casual way he said it made something in me relax.
