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“So, I am going to ask you one final time. What have you planned to do with this supposed information you have on Luca?”
I stare at him for a long moment, watching his eyes become impatient.
“It is no longer just supposed information now, is it? You have had me up close and personal with the man himself for the last week. It fell right into my trap because I have learned more in this time than I could have ever found out otherwise. All of it being incriminating evidence about not just Luca, but you and your men. All that would destroy your entire syndicate.”
I hear Luca’s disappointed sigh behind me. I don’t care. Like it would have made a difference had I cooperated or not. The moment I told him I had lied and I knew nothing, I’d be dead. I may as well go down having the last laugh.
Nicolai slams his hands on the desk. I jump from the sound, not the action. I single-handedly just dug my own grave, and yet I don’t feel scared or sorry right now. All I feel is satisfaction.
“I am getting very frustrated with your careless attitude. Do you not have any regard for your life?” Nicolai barks at me, his control faltering with every passing second.
“Give your order, and let this be done,” I say numbly.
He looks behind me to Luca. I can’t see what Luca’s expression is, but Nicolai’s is furious. A curt nod seals my fate. One tiny action delivers the final sentence.
Abruptly pushing his chair out from the desk, he stands. The lion, the head of the pride, challenged by a rogue female lioness. His lips curl with aversion. Fist clench with irritation.
“So be it, Miss Reed. You have your wish.”
Thirty-Six
Luca
One single nod. No words were necessary. His order was clear. Scarlet is to die.
The drive back from Stonewood is silent, and for the first time, I want her noise. I want her to cry and beg. I want her to argue and rage—anything but her silence.
This time Joe drives. My head is too clouded with the impending sentence I am to deliver to concentrate on the road. I pull down the visor, looking through the mirror to see Scarlet in the backseat. She calmly looks out the window, taking in the scenery as the car takes her to her death.
I wonder what thoughts are going through her head right now. If she is frightened, she sure as hell is hiding it well. Is she wondering how I will end her? I mean, we all have an end date. It’s the how’s and when’s that tend to keep our thoughts busy. I always question who it will be that delivers my death. I know it’s coming. It’s only a matter of time before this lifestyle catches up to me.
The sun starts to set as we pull up outside an old, abandoned warehouse. It’s where we take most of our victims. If you call them that. Today though, the victim seems a fitting word for Scarlet. Her crimes do not fit the punishment in my eyes, but I question if I’d feel the same if it were anyone else.
Joe switches off the engine and leaves the car to do a quick sweep of the area. We are alone for the first time since last night. I try to think of something appropriate to say, but my mouth dries and words sour. What could I possibly say that would make any of this seem okay?
“If I tell you something, Luca, will you give me your word you will not tell Nicolai?”
“Why do you want me to know and not him?” I ask, not turning to look at her.
“Because I think the unanswered questions will haunt you otherwise when I am gone.”
I shake my head with astonishment. “I am about to kill you, and yet you're the one sitting here feeling guilty?”
“I know that after you kill me, you will think about me. You will question yourself and forever wonder what it is I know that could destroy you and when it will jump out and bite you.”
“And why do you care so much about my sanity?”
“It’s not your sanity I am concerned with. It’s your conscience. I know that it is the only thing that keeps you alive.”
“I don’t have a conscience,” I correct her quickly.
“Oh really?” she mocks. “Tell that to all the families you send money to.”
“You have it wrong, red. I don’t care about anybody.”
“Is that why you can’t look me in the eye? Is your hatred for me so strong that you can’t bear to look at me?”
I turn in my seat, looking her straight in the eye. “I don't care about them, and I certainly don’t care about you,” I tell her, but her face remains unscathed. She sees straight through me like she always has managed to do. Her beautiful hazel eyes pierce my heart and spill all my secrets.
