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I stare blankly at him, refusing to digest his sour words. They curdle and bubble-like acid in my mind, eating away everything I thought Logan ever was. I cradle my stomach, hoping to God I don’t vomit. I hear voices, deep voices, like an argument, but I can’t focus. My vision is blurry, distorted, smudged.
Everything goes black.
Thirty
Luca
“I am not finished with her. Wake her up!” Nicolai looks at Scarlet passed out on the floor. I don’t know if it’s from the whiskey or shock. Either way, she’s out cold.
“She has had all she can take for now,” I grunt at him, my anger just simmering, threatening to boil over.
“Since when have you cared so much?” He raises his brows with a smirk. “Do you have a thing for her, little brother?”
“Are you delusional?” I snap.
“Maybe, but I am definitely not blind. I see the way you look at her.”
I don’t answer him because there is something there. I don’t know what it is, but I sure as hell want it to stop. It’s a distraction I cannot afford.
“She didn’t know about her brother,” I inform him, trying to change the subject away from how I feel about Scarlet.
“So it appears. But the question remains. What is she hiding? What information does she have on us that she has threatened to expose?”
“I don’t believe she knows shit.” I shrug. “I think in a moment of desperation for her life, she made it up.”
He takes a long sip of his whiskey before placing the glass back on the table. “Well, I suggest you find a way to get her talking, or I will.” I follow his eyes as they narrow in on the cat. I know exactly what he is suggesting without him saying anything further.
“You know how this has to end, don’t you?” Nicolai glares back at me with indication.
“I am aware,” I bite out. “I have never questioned your orders. Ever.”
“Good,” he says. Standing from the sofa, he buttons his jacket. “Then bring her to me on Wednesday, and we will finish this once and for all.”
My heart rate doesn’t calm as the door clicks closed. It’s frantic, thumping hard and fast. We will finish this once and for all. Nicolai’s words scar me far more than they should. Far more than I thought they ever could.
I have never defied my brother's orders, not once. Scarlet is the first person ever to make me even question them. I have killed more men than I care to count. Most deserved it. Some got in the way of defending those I was after. Scarlet, though, I am starting to think she has the power to kill me without even realizing it.
Thirty-One
Scarlet
I wake to the smell of sandalwood and citrus. My sore, swollen eyes blink rapidly, adjusting to the light. A lamp on the bedside table illuminates the room. But it’s not my room. As I sit up in the bed, holding my aching head, looking around, I can see I am in Luca’s bedroom.
What happened? Why am I in here? It’s night-time now, meaning I have slept for hours. The last thing I remember is being questioned by Nicolai. Is he still here? Is he out there waiting for me so he can continue his brutal interrogation? I just wish he would stop drawing out this nightmare.
My thoughts drift to the photographs I saw of Logan earlier. All this time, all the digging, all the research I did, I knew that something wasn’t right with my brother. But I stupidly believed that he was just an innocent kid. That he was just in the wrong place, at the wrong time. How could I have missed this? How could I have been so blind? Why the hell didn’t I come back and live with him and take care of him when my parents died? This is all my fault!
Overwhelming, soul-shattering guilt trembles through my body. It pumps through my veins like vicious venom sucking me dry. It’s too much. It’s too much weight to carry.
I think back to the Logan I knew when we were young. He was such a quiet, carefree kid. He never got into any trouble, had decent grades, and he was a good person. That was not him in those photographs. Well, not the Logan I knew. Did his grief over my parent’s death do this? Did it send him into the arms of those who ultimately destroyed him?
Criminals such as Juna Kastrati pray on the weak. They manipulate them into doing things they wouldn’t ordinarily do, luring you into their world with false promises of loyalty and loot. It’s all business to them. They don’t care about the person, their families, or the damage they leave behind.
I can’t believe Luca knew all this time. He knew. Yet, he never said anything to me. Why? Why didn’t he tell me? Why did he let me find out this way? I feel like a fool. Like a stupid fool for sitting there accusing Nicolai of being a monster when the monster lies within my own blood.
What were Logan’s final moments like? Did he suffer? Was he in pain for long, or were his injuries instantly fatal? Did he bleed out on the floor in pain, reminiscing of better times when we were all together as a family? Maybe he welcomed it. It is the only logical conclusion I can summon. Perhaps he wanted death such as I wanted it. Chasing the peaceful thought of returning back to Mom and Dad just like me.
I can’t stop all the questions. All the what if’s, how comes, and why me’s. It’s unbearable. The improbabilities, they swallow me whole, making me crazy. I can’t switch them off.
