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"Meant nothing. Not to my father."
There was a shocked silence, then his face hardened. "Well, that doesn't matter any longer."
"It never mattered," I said, "Not to me."
Rook's throat worked and I saw a flash of softness in his eyes, but his gaze traveled down to my fingers, where I was gripping the flash drive. "And in there is the truth?"
"Yes," I said. "After my father died, I discovered the truth. Who wanted her dead."
"And why wouldn't I just kill you and take it from your dead body?"
"Because you need the eleven number key code." I tapped my temple. "Right here. You'll never get it open without me."
Rook eyed me skeptically. I could see the flush to his cheeks, hear his short breathing, the way his eyes kept going between me and the drive.
He wanted to kill me. Of that I was certain. And, to be honest, I didn't blame him.
I'd played a vital role in the worst day of his life, and I'd done it on purpose.
Not to hurt him, but because I was obligated to obey my father, a choice I'd regretted ever since I saw nana's dead body.
But I couldn't change the past.
And I didn't have a death wish. Now that Tatiana belonged to me, I wanted to show her, every day in every way, how much she meant to me. To this world.
She was the priceless star the world deserved, and I was going to prove that to her.
I needed him to want this more than he wanted to kill me.
"I think that you don't really want to kill me."
"No. I really do."
"What you want is retribution for Nana's death. And even though I did betray you, I didn't kill her. For my penance, and in exchange for my life, I'll give you the truth, so you can go after the people truly responsible for her death."
There was a long pause. Eyebrows furrowed, his face: pale and broody.
"You'll find that everything you believe in this world is wrong," I hinted. "You walk out of here and the information is gone forever. No one else knows this. You won't be able to get it from your secret network, I can promise that."
I didn't gloat.
Being cocky would only get me killed.
Plus, he deserved to know the truth, and I deserved to give it to him.
I'd pursued the truth as a way to make it up to him, for my part in it.
"Here." I held the drive towards him, deciding in that moment to hand it over.
I'd played a part in the death of his grandmother, the woman he loved like a mother, and the only person who ever loved him unconditionally. "Take it."
Within a second, he'd snatched the drive from my hand, then pointed the gun, clicking the trigger.
The gun went off.
* * *
My world didn't pass before my eyes, but faces did: all the people I loved.
