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Carter
I wait until Ernesto kicks the door in to throw the canister. It rolls across the floor, followed by a few loud coughs. Then there’s a cacophony of voices, a man’s and a woman’s, to be exact. After exchanging a quick look with Ernesto, we cover our mouths and step in. When the smoke clears, it reveals a small apartment with hardwood floors, a TV built into the wall, and a half-naked Lilian sprawled on the floor.
But that isn’t the thing that surprises me the most.
When more and more of the smoke clears, I see another body curled up on the floor. Stepping closer, I’m shocked to turn the man over and find myself looking at Rich Donahue himself.
The conniving bastard is skinnier than when I last saw him, and he’s lost a lot of the color around his face, but I’d recognize this vile being anywhere.
I don’t realize I’m laughing until I’ve hauled Rich up to his feet and thrown him onto a chair. He groans, and his head lolls to the side. Still laughing, I catch the rope Ernesto throws at me and use it to bind his hands and feet. Once my laughter trails off, I haul Lilian up to another chair and do the same so the two of them are side by side.
When I’m done, Ernesto comes to stand next to me, and the two of us exchange another look.
Holy shit.
I have no idea how Rich managed to fool Isabella into thinking she killed him, but I’m thrilled at the news. Because it means I can free Isabella from the demons tormenting her. And put a bullet through Rich myself.
After a long moment, Rich stirs awake first and tugs on his restraints. Once he realizes he’s been tied up, he pulls harder, and his eyes widen. When they settle on me, a look of pure horror is etched onto his face, followed quickly by fear.
“Of all the things I expected to find, this one takes the fucking cake.” I use my gun to gesture between the two of them. “I have to say the two of you really have outdone yourselves.”
Rich licks his dry lips. “There’s an explanation here. If you’ll just give me a chance—”
I point the gun at Rich’s foot and shoot, the sound reverberating inside my head. Rich cries out in pain as I kneel down on the floor and dig my fingers into his wounded flesh. “Did I tell you that you can talk? After what you did, you’re lucky I don’t drag you out of here and make an example of you in front of everyone.”
Rich’s face is white when he nods.
I rip off a piece of fabric and tie it around his foot. “You should really get this looked at.”
Rich presses his lips together, a thin sheen of sweat forming on his forehead.
“Carter, baby—”
I wheel around to face Lilian and press the gun to the side of her head. “Let me guess. You love me, and you were just using Rich to fill the hole inside your heart.”
Lilian nods slowly at first, matted hair clinging to her forehead. “Yes, that’s exactly right. I did what I had to do. Rich promised he’d help me take you down a peg or two, and he said he’d clear the path where that bitch is concerned—”
I slap Lilian across the face, and she winces. “Don’t ever say anything disrespectful about her to me again.”
Lilian twists her head back to look at me, and she has a wounded expression on her face. “But you and I were meant to be. Don’t you see? She’s never going to understand you the way I do.”
I make a low noise in the back of my throat. “So, you two have been working together all along, thinking that if you could just weaken me, you’d get me all to yourself, and your little boy toy was going to get Isabella.”
It’s devious, and I want to be surprised at the lengths they’re willing to go to, but I’m not.
Very little surprises me anymore.
Finding out that Lilian and Rich have been in bed together all along is just icing on the cake.
Lilian’s eyes fill with tears. “We only helped the Natoris and Philipses because we all had the same goal. I did this all for you, Carter.”
In silence, I pull out a chair from the dining room table and spin it around so the back is facing them. I drape one leg on either side and straddle the chair so I’m leaning forward in it. My mind races to sort through the information and understand what it all means.
Little by little, everything clicks into place. Except for one thing.
I use my gun to gesture between the two of them. “How far back does this go?”
Lilian swallows and glances over at Rich, who won’t answer. “A while.”
