Loyal by Default: Legacy of Carter Reed (Assassin's Heart #2)

by K.C. Mills

Tonight, the job was easy. The fourth name on his kill list.

Once the job was complete, he was a step closer to returning to the person who consumed his thoughts and fucked with his ability to focus.

McKenna had somehow managed to do what others before her couldn’t.

She gave Carter Reed hope that he could be happy; that he deserved something good regardless of all the bad he’d done.

“This was my trial run to see if I could be happy settling. To see if you had potential to make me happy and you don’t.”

“You say potential but what I hear is you’re settling for someone who can potentially fit the role you already have scripted in your head. The surgeon's wife who will show up to shit like tonight and smile and be pretty on your arm to make you look good. To make your peers believe you have all the pieces in place. That’s not what I want. I need more.”

Tevin couldn’t make her happy. The only person who could had walked out of her life, refused to be in it.

“Potential is not how I want to define my relationship to people.”

Why the hell would you choose to be alone when I’m offering you an alternative? I’m offering you a better life than you can have with anyone else.”

“She’s not alone and if you touch her, you will seriously regret that shit.”

“You told me my locks were shit, I agreed. There was no need for me to change anything in my life if you were no longer in it. You haven’t been.”

“You being safe doesn’t have a damn thing to do with you having access to me.”

“Is that what you want, for me to be here with you…”

“And not him?”

“It’s what I’ve always wanted, Carter. And don’t you fucking dare act like I haven’t made what I want from you abundantly clear. You said we couldn’t be together. You did that. So you don’t have the right to threaten anyone I choo...

“Are you moving on with your life? Because based on what I heard, you...

“Mind your fucking business. You left. What I’m doing is not your ...

“I made the choice that was be...

“No, Carter, you didn’t. You made the decision that ...

“He didn’t do anything. I’m just tired of dealing with men who feel the need to tell me what I want and what’s best for me when they don’t have a fucking clue about what I want or need.

“I’m going to bed. Stay, leave, I don’t care. If you leave, lock the door behind you.”

“I’ll stay to give you time to process that you’re leaving this house, with me. And for the record, Kenni, I know exactly what you want and need…”

“Because you’re mine.”

Because I couldn’t let her go when I knew I should have.

“Aight. I’ll see you when you get here.” Carter ended the call and clutched the device in his hand. He was getting what he wanted—McKenna—but not how he planned for it to happen.

One thing Carter thrived on was control, to move and navigate how he wanted and someone had just taken that away.

That someone had better count their days, time was o...

McKenna realized how little she knew about the man who had branded her in ways she’d never experienced before.

Those three days only scratched the surface. They hadn’t discussed his life or hers in depth. So seeing how Carter lived felt like peeling back a layer she hadn’t been exposed to.

“I knew I was right.”

“About?”

“Me not meeting your s...

This man was a lot.

“You seem different but the same.”

“I don’t know what the fuck that means, Kenni.”

“You feel the same but seeing you here is like experiencing a diffe...

“I’m the same man, and for the record, you haven’t felt me ...

“Are you nervous, Kenni?”

“No, are you?”

“No, I’m com...

That was when it hit. The only part of his life she had been exposed to was the one time things went wrong. The one time he fucked up.

Life is about choices. This is one I’m willing to make for her. You gonna be around?”

until a stray bullet meant to end Carter’s life had placed him in the position to extend his time lurking in the shadows, attached to the underworld.

“You accepted half a million dollars to kill someone I care about. I’d ask you if it was worth it, but considering this very moment, I already know the answer.”

She wasn’t happy with Tevin. It wouldn’t take much to see she wasn’t. If Carter knew and didn’t come for her, refusing to be a part of McKenna’s life, then she felt conflicted.

“Both of you barged into my life. He stayed. He made me care about him then he left.”

“Your life was complicated when you barged into my house, Carter. I missed you when I didn’t have to.

“You asked him to make sure I was good. I wasn’t. I wanted you there but I had no way to tell you. I wasn’t fucking good.”

“Only because you left and said this wouldn’t work. Having pieces of you wasn’t going to be enough. What else was I supposed to do?”

“I’m not angry, Kenni…” He glanced over his shoulder. “And I only had pieces of you. It damn sure wasn’t enough.”