Branded (Fall of Angels #1)(77)

Is she trying to save me?

“Dad, stop it!” she says.

“No, that motherfucker needs to die,” Mr. Burrell growls. “Get out of my fucking way, Dixie.”

“No, stop, please,” she says. “He’s different. I’m different.”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass. That redskin killed my boys. He’s gonna pay for that.” He shoves her away, aiming his gun at me once again.

I duck for cover and roll away right before he shoots the workbench we were just banging on.

Fuck, things are getting heated.

“DAD!” Dixie screams.

I reach for my gun and get up on my feet, aiming it straight at his head.

We’re at an impasse. I don’t flinch and neither does he. Both of us are staking our lives. Neither of us is willing to give in.

Should I shoot to kill? End his misery once and for all?

Dixie’s eyes lure me in, forcing me to look at the pain inside her soul. The wound is too deep, still too fresh. I’m responsible for the death of her other family members. I can’t kill her last one too. It wouldn’t be right.

I suck in a breath, but my throat feels clamped.

If I don’t act now, this could be the end.

That man has always hated my guts, but his hatred turned to a death wish the moment he saw me kill his sons.

There’s no way he’s going to let me outta here alive.

So I unlock the safety of my gun.

“Don’t do this, Brandon,” Dixie says through gritted teeth. Then she turns to face her dad and says, “Dad, stop this shit. You’re better than this.”

“I don’t give a damn what you think. That motherfucker is not laying a hand on any of my children again.” He shoots the floor in front of my feet. It’s a threat, but I’m not budging. “Think I’m gonna stop and let you go? Tough luck, buddy. You’re not gettin’ outta here. Not on two legs yer not.”

“If you try, I’ll kill you,” I say.

It’s not a threat.

If I have to choose between my life and his, I choose mine.

“STOP!” Dixie screams, stomping her feet. Her body shakes violently as she stands between us. “For once, can’t you both stop the fuckin’ violence? No one needs to die.”

“Yeah, he does,” her dad spits. “Did ya fuckin’ forget he killed your brothers?”

“I didn’t forget, Dad,” she says. “I hate what he did as much as you do.” With tears in her eyes, she looks at me, the pain in her voice too real. “But I can’t let you kill him either.”

My knees buckle. I feel weak. Incapable of keeping my gun pointed at the man I’ve hated for so long just for denying me what I wanted the most.

“Brandon? What are you doing?” Her eyes widen when she looks at me giving up. “Get up.”

But I won’t. She was mine all along, all this time. Even through all the suffering, through all the turmoil. Every crushing inch of agony I laid onto her. She took it all and still holds her head high, knowing she can’t let me die. After all this, she still needs me. Just as much as I need her.

But none of this was about me.

It was about her all along.

And when I decided to fall for Dixie Burrell once more, I knew I signed my own death warrant.

I sink to my knees and wait for the barrel of his gun to release me from my anguish.

“Get up, Brandon,” Dixie commands, still holding strong between us. “Get up!”

“Fuck that. Let him have it. It’s what he wants, can’t you see?” her dad interjects with a vicious smile on his face. “He came here to die.”

“No, that’s not at all what this is about,” she yells back.

“What the fuck were you doing with him anyway, huh?” her dad barks.

“That’s none of your goddamn business, Dad,” she snaps back. “Leave us the fuck alone in here.”

“That motherfucker dared to step onto my property. I’m gonna kill him.”

“Dad, no, he’ll kill you before you get the chance,” she says, trying to push him away, but he won’t budge.

Instead, he laughs, shoving her aside again. “I don’t think so. He can’t. Look at him. He can’t even keep his gun steady.” Her eyes follow his, and with them, she begs me not to listen to him. But it’s already too late for that.

He snorts. “You made him weak.”

She knows. I can see it in her eyes.

It’s exactly what she was aiming for when I first took her from my uncle’s hotel.

She got her wish, but she doesn’t seem happy with it now.

Her father laughs again. “He can’t fucking kill anyone like that …”

He’s right. I can’t. Not because I don’t want to, but because I know there’s no other way.

If I kill him, she’ll never forgive me.

If I run, he’ll shoot my legs and then kill me. It’d be one bloody mess that she’d have to witness. She’d feel guilty, and I don’t want her to feel the way I felt all these years.

Only one option left … and that’s to be put out in silence.

“Look away, Dixie,” I say with a stern voice.

“No! Stop this!” she pleads, looking at both of us.