This is the End, Baby (War & Peace Book 7) Read online

  Death is the only way out of her darkness.

  “Come on,” I tell her, changing the subject. “Let’s take the kids to the beach today. One last family day.”

  She tenses. “One last family day?”

  “Before all this wedding stuff takes over our lives starting this evening. Toto has to try on her flower girl dress. I have to pick up my tux. Brie wants me to come see the babies and have dinner with them before the rehearsal. Just a lot going on,” I tell her softly.

  “I wish Ren would just get over it and let me come,” she huffs.

  “It’s not Ren who has the problem, baby.”

  “It was an accident.” Her response to killing Alejandra is always the same. But since it isn’t true, nobody believes her. Especially not Brie.

  “I know,” I lie, indulging her. “They’ll come around eventually and I’ll make sure to get pictures for you.”

  Satisfied, she curls against me and kisses my cheek. “Let’s sleep for a little while longer. The beach will wait for us.”

  Toto squeals as Hannah chases her along the shore. Land sleeps sprawled next to me on our blanket under the umbrella. My attention never leaves my girls. All it would take is one second. My phone buzzes, and I quickly read the message.

  Ren: Done. All ready. All you have to do is get her here. Then this nightmare will be over.

  I bristle at his abrupt tone. His sister, my wife, is not a nightmare. She’s troubled. I hate that I have to do this to her. I scrub my face and scan the beach for her. Her eyes are on mine as she walks hand in hand with Toto. I grin and wave at her. She smiles back. Today she wears a skimpy black bikini that makes my cock hard. I’m going to miss moments like these after tomorrow.

  Me: I’ll take the kids to your parents tonight. Give me more time with her. Then, I’ll bring her.

  He responds right back.

  Ren: Fine, but I want it done before the wedding. Consider it your gift to your daughter.

  I grumble but type out my reply.

  Me: Done.

  After I delete all the messages, I tuck my phone away in the beach bag. Land wakes and starts squirming.

  “Hey, baby boy,” I coo and kiss his belly through his onesie. “Let’s go play with Mommy and your sister. Looks like our time is limited.”

  He grunts and waves his fist at me as if he’s trying to argue. If there were any other way, I’d be arguing too. But there’s not. This is it. This is the end, baby.

  I scoop him into my arms and stand. When Toto sees me, she squeals and runs for me. Hannah’s smile is brighter than the sun beaming down on us.

  Why can’t all days be like this one?

  “A date the night before the wedding?” Baylee grumbles as she rocks Land in her arms. “I still have to cut up all that fruit and a mountain of vegetables for the reception. How am I supposed to do that if I have to babysit?”

  Calder saunters in with his no-tongue girlfriend on his heels. That kid and I don’t like each other, but at least he loves my children. He takes Land from his mother while Luciana signs to her.

  “We can babysit,” Calder translates. “Or we can cut vegetables. It’s fine.”

  Hannah remains silent as she refuses to speak to her mother. They talk sometimes about the kids, but the conversation is usually strained. Sometimes, like tonight, they don’t speak at all. I pull her to my side and thank Calder. “We need this.”

  Our eyes meet, and he gives me a clipped nod. It makes me wonder if Ren’s confided in him about what we have planned. Wouldn’t surprise me. I am shocked, though, that he doesn’t try to stop me. The only one who would try would probably be Baylee. For Hannah’s biggest thorn, she’s always been the fiercest about protecting her.

  Not this time, Baylee.

  The plan is in motion, and your fucking boys are going to help me.

  “Let me tell Toto bye and then we’ll leave,” I grit out as I release Hannah to go hunt for my daughter. I find her in War’s office, sitting in his lap. He’s turned on a computer game for her and only winces a little bit when she beats on his keyboard.

  “We’re about to head out,” I tell him as I enter the office.

  Toto ignores me, so I ruffle her hair and kiss the top of her head. “Bye, baby girl.”

  “Bye, Daddy,” she chirps and bangs her fist again.

  “How are the new meds?” War questions.

  I meet his steely gaze and shrug. “Same as the others. Fucking worthless.”

  His lips press into a firm line. “I’ll keep trying.”

  “Soon it won’t matter.”

  Hard blue eyes dart to mine and his jaw clenches. “I told you I didn’t want the specifics.”

  I snort. “Well, neither do I but here we fucking are.”

  Toto is oblivious as she plays her game. Meanwhile, War pinches the bridge of his nose, and I pace his office.

  “It’s our only option,” I mutter. “If there were any other way, you know I’d be up for it.” I swallow and pat Toto’s head. “I can’t lose these kids.”

  Understanding washes over him and he nods. “I know. I just…” His jaw clenches again. “I just don’t want to know about it. It hurts too fucking much. Because in order to protect your kids, we have to hurt mine.”

  I place my hands on my hips and give him a hard stare. “This protects your other children as well, you know. You and Baylee too.”

  He closes his eyes, and a ragged breath escapes him. “I know, but I don’t like it.”

  “Neither will she.”

  “Where are we going?” Hannah asks from the passenger seat.

  Tonight, she looks killer in a pale blue summer dress that shows off her toned thighs. I’m dying to mark them up with my teeth. I reach over to squeeze her leg and then run my pinky under her dress and along the seam of her panties.

  “Somewhere special.”

  She smiles, and it’s so beautiful I almost change my mind. For a split second, I almost turn the car the fuck around. But when her blue eyes flicker with that ever-present darkness, I’m reminded that this ends tonight.

  “Would you ever kill me?” I ask as I tease her flesh while I drive.

  She’s quiet but manages to give me a shrug.

  I give her skin a little pop. “I asked you a yes or no question, baby.”

  Her glare snaps to mine. “If I had to, then yes.”

  “The things we do for love,” I say softly.

  The two-hour drive is intense. With every passing mile, I feel a part of my soul chipping away. And she must sense the foreboding because she’s tense. I glance over and catch her chewing on her fingernail.

  I need to calm her down.

  To ease her nerves.

  I drive until I find a road that’s lined with thick trees on either side. When I shut off the car, she stiffens.

  “Is this the part where you kill your wife?” she demands, her small hands fisted.

  “Don’t be fucking ridiculous,” I snap.

  “Then what?”

  I reach up and pinch her tit through her dress. “Get your skinny ass over here.”

  Her shoulders relax. “You just want to fuck?”

  “I always want to fuck you.”

  A small laugh escapes her as she climbs over the center console into my lap. Our mouths connect in a needy kiss as she scrambles to pull my hard cock from my jeans. I barely mange to pull her panties to the side before she’s guiding me inside her. Her body slides down my length and she pulls away to stare at me. I grip her hip with one hand to urge her body to move but use my other hand to stroke her soft blonde hair.

  She’s mine.

  Ever since the day I knew she existed in her mother’s belly.

  “I love you,” I tell her, my tone fierce. “No matter what.”

  She chews on her bottom lip and nods. Fat, genuine-as-fuck tears well in her pretty blue eyes. My girl is intuitive. Always has been. She knows that life as we’ve known it ends tonight.

  “I’m sorry,” she chokes
out as her lips attack mine. “I’m sorry I can’t be better for you.”

  I drown out her stupid words by kissing her deeply. Her seated on my cock with her tongue in my mouth is where she belongs. I slip my thumb to her front and rub it against her clit through her panties.

  “Gabe,” she moans as her head tilts back in pleasure.

  “That’s it, sweet girl,” I growl. “Come all over my big dick. Get me messy, baby.”

  I lean forward and bite her tit through her dress. She trembles as her fingers clutch my hair. All it takes is a moment more of me rubbing her needy pussy before she’s climaxing with my name on her lips as though it’s a curse.

  I’ve always been her curse.

  The black fucking plague.

  Hannah’s own little nightmare.

  I bury my face against her tits as my orgasm explodes from me. I’m in heaven when her body is wrapped around my cock. All the bad in our life feels good for just one moment. I can forget it all and pretend we’re okay. But as soon as my seed trickles back out of her body, awareness settles over me.

  No more putting this off.

  I have to drive her to the place that she’ll never leave.

  THE END IS near. I can feel it. Despite his denial, a sense of foreboding has washed over me. Finality. I’m perceptive enough to know when my husband’s behavior changes. He’s not the loving, doting husband he usually is.

  He’s hard.

  His jaw is clenched and he’s white-knuckling the steering wheel.

  Poised and ready to kill.

  I should be worried or panicking but I’m not. I know something is wrong with me. We both know this. If I keep barreling down this path called Life, I’m going to eventually crush the ones I love. The thought of hurting my children sickens me. I love them as much as I love Gabe. And if I were to hurt them, he’d never forgive me.

  It’s better this way.

  Tears swim in my vision, and I quickly blink them away.

  I’m a strong woman. I can handle this.

  My mind begins to wander. How will he kill me? With a rope around my throat? I’d rather it be his strong hand. With a knife tearing open my flesh like we cut up Esteban? I hope he does it slow so I can savor his beauty while my life bleeds out. Shot to the head? As long as he’s holding me when I go, I’m okay with that.

  A quiver shakes through me.

  I don’t want to die.

  I’m too young and I have too much love to give. Fighting my demons is a daily battle, but it’s always worth it because my prize is my family. Gabe and Toto and Land need me. Only I know how to cut up Toto’s apples the way she likes them. It’s only me who knows that when you brush your thumb along Land’s brow after he eats, he falls asleep quicker. And nobody but me knows that when you cradle Gabe against your breast, his breathing evens out and all the stress leaves his body—that he snores ever so softly, and that’s how you know he’s fully at peace.

  It’s the little things.

  They’re mine to love and take care of.

  I shouldn’t be taken away from them.

  “Almost there,” Gabe says in a husky tone. He won’t look at me, which crushes a deep piece of my soul.

  I squint in the darkness as we drive slowly down a winding road lined with trees. The speed limit said forty miles per hour, and yet he’s dipping way below. He doesn’t want to do this. I don’t want him to either.

  “Gabe,” I choke out, my tears falling freely now.

  “Shhh,” he murmurs and takes my hand. “It’ll all be over soon.”

  I start to sob. My chest feels as though it’s going to explode. The love is all inside. It’s locked up but it seeps out through my cracks. This love belongs to him and our babies. One drip at a time might be all they get, but it’s theirs. And there is so much more where that love came from. I just don’t know how to make the holes bigger.

  He turns down a gravel driveway that leads to a pretty house with many windows. On the side of the yard is a newly built swing set. It appears to be a perfect home for a family. The thought makes me cry harder. But when I see my brother Ren’s truck, my blood runs cold.

  That fucking traitor.

  Of course, Ren would want to help kill me. He’d do it himself if he had his way. Hell, that may be why he’s here. Maybe Gabe knew he wouldn’t be able to do it by himself.

  “Hannah,” Gabe mutters before turning his head to frown at me. “I love you.”

  I swallow. “I love you too.”

  “If there were any other way…” he trails off. His brows pinch together as pain flickers in his eyes. He tugs my hand to pull me closer. Then, his other hand is in my hair. I let out a sad moan when his lips press to mine. Soft and sweet. He deepens the kiss, and I try to memorize the taste of his tongue. His manly scent that comforts me. The way his love follows him around like a warm fog always blanketing me.

  “Promise me something,” I whisper against his lips. “Promise me you’ll do it. Don’t let Ren be the one to kill me. I want it to be you.”

  A growl rumbles from him. “Hannah…”

  “But first”—I whimper as I pull away to regard his handsome face. I free my hand from his and touch his wiry beard—“First, you have to catch me.”

  His brown eyes flare to life with need and desire and love and animalistic fury all swirled into one storm. A storm only I can create. I don’t give him time to react before I yank on the handle and throw myself out of the car. I abandon my flip-flops in the car as I take off running through the soft grass toward the tree line.

  “HANNAH!” he roars from behind me as he climbs out of the car.

  I don’t look back.

  I just run.

  He’s going to catch me.

  He always does.

  My hair flies out behind me as I bolt. The air is fairly warm tonight. It’s a beautiful night to die. His heavy footsteps thud behind me, so I pick up my pace. The moment I enter the woods, I know it by the bite of the underbrush on my bare feet. Twigs and pinecones and thorny plants tear at my soles, but they don’t stop me.

  I run and run and run.

  His heavy breathing grows closer. I bet if I were to turn around, he’d be just a few feet away. So I don’t turn around. I can’t afford one small mistake. My tears seem like a permanent fixation on my cheeks. I know that I’ll die with those tearstains on my cheeks. I just hope I also die with his face being the last thing I see. Fingers brush against the back of my dress, and I screech. I run faster.

  Just not fast enough.

  With a grunt from him, he tackles me to the forest floor. The crash and fall is brutal. Sticks poke at me and thorns seem to stab at me from every direction. His weight crushes me to the earth. My husband easily wrangles my wrists behind my back as he presses his hard body against me. We’re both breathing heavily, so neither of us speaks at first.

  This is it.

  All over now.

  “Why’d you run, sweet girl?”

  I swallow down my emotion. “So you’d catch me one last time.”

  His lips press to my cheek as he seeks my mouth from behind. I turn my head to steal one last kiss. But the kiss isn’t enough for either of us. He rips my dress up over my ass and yanks my panties down my thighs. Then, he struggles with his pants until his hot cock is freed and pressing against me. He works his knee between mine. When I try to move my wrists, he tightens the grip.

  “I’ll never get tired of fucking you, wild woman,” he says as he guides his cock to my opening. I’m slick and hot for him. When he pushes into my pussy, I cry out in need. With one hard thrust, he drives all the way into me.

  Pain assaults me from every direction, but the pleasure always supersedes the pain. I’d take all the pain as long as Gabe was the one doling it out. He fucks me hard against the brush. He utters beautiful words about love and family and destiny the whole time. I get lost in them—in him—and unravel with a scream. A grunt and then a growl escape him before he’s gushing inside of me. When we’re no lon
ger moving, but he’s still buried deep inside me, I let out the breath I’d been holding.

  “I’m ready,” I tell him, my voice quivering slightly.

  “Ready for what?”

  “This is the end, baby. Kill me, so I don’t kill them.” My voice cracks. “Or you.”

  He slides out of me and his cum leaks out. I’m then released as he pulls his pants back up. “Come here.”

  I’m unable to move, so he tugs my panties into place before hooking his arm around my waist to haul me to my feet. I lean my back against his chest in an effort to steal another moment with him. His palm slides up to grip my tit through my dress as his mouth finds my ear. A shiver ripples through me at having his hot breath there.

  Soon, I’ll never feel his hot breath again.

  It’ll be so cold without him.

  “I love you,” he assures me again.

  A crunch in the woods jerks my attention toward the direction we came from. Not even thirty feet away, a giant shadowy figure stalks toward us. Fear races down my spine until I catch a glimpse of the familiar face. More of my love seeps out through my stupid cracks.

  “Did you really have to do that when I’m within shouting distance?” Ren asks.

  My eyes fall to the hammer in his grip. I freeze in Gabe’s arms. A hammer? Fucking really?

  “J-Just shoot me,” I beg, tears once again hot in my eyes. “Don’t bludgeon me to death!”

  Ren snorts and shakes his head. “If it were my way, big sis, I’d have shot your ass a long time ago.” The hate in his eyes doesn’t mask the love he still harbors, though. I see it. A slight flicker of light amidst his dark rage.

  “I’m sorry,” I choke out. I truly am sorry for what became of my relationship with my brother.

  “Not sorry enough,” he snarls as he storms toward us. He has something in his other hand, but I’m not able to make out what it is because in the next second, everything turns black.

  Black.

  Black.

  Cold.

  “I love you, sweet girl.”

  And then nothing.

  MY DAUGHTER IS getting married. Again. The girl is barely twenty years old and she’s on her second marriage. I never knew the first guy, but this guy is okay. He’s a product of Baylee, so how could he not be?