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“That’s not what it looked like to me.” I grabbed the hem of his underwear, yanking it up over him to cover his privates so Aster didn’t have to look at it.
"I swear," he stammered again, “I was only getting a taste. This is my first time, I swear it," he repeated himself.
My eyebrows furrowed. "You're not lying to me, are you?"
He shook his head, and sweat began to glimmer on his bald top. "N-no."
It was strange to see the beefy, tattooed man sweat. James was a well trained, faithful guard. Someone I would love to have at my back. But unfortunately, he was too loyal to my father, and his weaknesses too easy to exploit. Brooke was one of them.
"Because if you're lying to me, if you're not as loyal as I thought you were, then Nero wouldn’t—“
"I'm not!" He squeaked out. "I swear, Coulter. You know me. You know I'm loyal."
He sounded genuinely fearful now, which was exactly where I wanted him to be. I stared him down, drawing out the moment, then leaned down to look directly into his eyes. "Then prove it."
"Anything."
"Tell me what my father did with the good doctor's notebook, and I'll believe you."
His eyes widened and his head violently jerked backwards in disbelief, confirming that he knew where it was. "You're crazy if you think I’m going to tell you that."
A cold calmness washed over me. I raised the gun and put it to his head. "Test me. See how crazy I am."
There was now true alarm in his eyes, but, as I stared him down, he hesitated. He’d known me for a long time, believed that I was much more willing to give him leniency than my father.
That was changing, but he didn’t know that.
“Give me an out.” Licking his lips, his eyes went to Aster, who was leaning over us, giving him her best menacing look. It was impressive. "I know you want to save her, otherwise she wouldn’t be here."
I dug the gun in harsher. “Are you fucking threatening her? Because if you are, I will blow your brains out.”
“No!” He threw his hands up in surrender. “That’s not what I meant, I swear.”
“You have three seconds to tell me where it is before you die, and Raven becomes an offering on the negotiating table with Nicholi.”
I would never, ever, in my life, put his young sister in that position, but, by the panic in his eyes, he didn’t know that. He was more afraid that I would hurt her than for his own life.
“Three, two…” I quickly begin the countdown.
“Fine," he growled, "but get that gun out of my head, and let me pull my pants up, for fucks sake.”
I lowered the gun, keeping it by my side, and took a step backwards, giving him room to dress. While he was pulling up his pants, I tugged Aster into my side protectively, keeping her close. I was taking the chance that James would grab her and use her as leverage against me.
When he was done dressing, he faced me with more confidence. “You know Nero will kill me when he finds out. It's only a matter of time."
"You knew it was risky to work with him."
His face darkened. "That wasn't even my choice."
I crooked an arrogant smile at him. “Funny. It wasn’t mine, either.”
His scowl deepened as we stared each other down.
"Fine," he barked when he saw that I wasn’t backing down, "but, like I said, I at least need a chance. Give me time to get Raven and myself out of here."
“You have three hours.”
“That’s not enough time!”
