Taking a steady breath, I lifted my hands from where I lay on the concrete. “Elliott—”
“You can just call me Dad, Evie. Gives this little reunion a personal touch. Lita would have liked that.”
I sneered. My mother hadn’t wanted me to know my father. In fact, she’d told me many times that it was better to not know him. He may be my biological father, but he’d never be my dad. But he was the one with the gun.
“Okay... Dad.” I nodded. The word was foreign and felt gross in my mouth. “Should we talk?”
“What’s there to talk about? You killed all my friends. Why shouldn’t I just kill you now?”
“You spent twenty-one years in hiding. Don’t you want to know your daughter,Dad?” I spat the last word.
He laughed. “Oh, you don’t believe me.” He nodded. “I see it on your face. Sorry to tell you, but that slut begged me to get her pregnant. She wanted the most beautiful child to have ever existed and didn’t think her boyfriend was up to the task.”
The bravery left my body as a flash of a memory hit me.
“You’re the most beautiful girl to have ever existed, Evelyn Reyes. I made sure of that.”
She’d said those words to me time and time again throughout my childhood. Back then, I thought it was just her boosting my confidence, making me feel loved, but now...
Had she been saying those words to brag?
“There are cameras everywhere,” I warned. “If you kill me, people will know.”
“You think a recording has ever stopped a damn thing in my life?” He scoffed and lifted his jacket, pulling out the gun he’d flashed earlier in the evening. He cocked it and pointed it at me. “I prefer an audience.”
Every muscle in my body was stiff and screaming. If I moved, there was a good chance he’d shoot. But I had to get out of here somehow.
“Aren’t you afraid Sebastian will be back soon? Killing me will be pointless if he kills you too.”
“I think we both know that none of this matters anymore. Come sit, Evie. Darling daughter of mine. Let’s catch up before I do this. I’d like to have something to reflect on later.” Using the gun, he pointed to a table, and slowly, keeping my hands up, I went over and sat. He joined me, setting the gun on the table, making sure to point it in my direction.
“Now, tell me about yourself. What is your favorite color? Favorite film? What do you like to eat? I hear you’re a YouTube star. How well does that pay?” He leaned in, putting his chin in his hands and smiling at me.
I studied him, searching harder for a version of myself in his face. Elliott Bradley was a strikingly handsome Hispanic man. He’d been on the cover of dozens of magazines as the world’s sexiest celebrity. It was understandable why, if my mother hadchosenwho would father her child, it had been him. It also helped hide the paternity. If I’d had a father with, say—green eyes, blond hair, or dark skin, my appearance may have reflected that. But with both my parents having brown eyes, black hair, and light-brown skin, he was able to hide in plain sight.
He stared at me, his dark eyes shining. This was just a game to him. I didn’t care to play, but if I wanted to stay living a little longer, so be it.
“Red.The Exorcist, 1973. Cereal—specifically corn flakes from Dollar General. My job has a lot of passive income, so it pays enough for me to live comfortably. What about yourself?”
“Maroon.The Fly, 1958. Red wine and a good steak. My job has made me wealthier than any man should ever be.”
His dark eyes reflected... excitement. He loved this back-and-forth. He was a cat, playing with the mouse before he ate it. The snake, encircling its owner, measuring it and getting ready to swallow.
“Why did you say yes to my mother? To...fathering me?” The very concept turned my stomach. Elliott was a bad man, and my mother should never have been subjugated to him.
Elliott grinned. “Ego. Lita knew how to play to a man’s need to be wanted. She used it often, and I was just one of her many pawns. She was on a mission, and I can clearly say it was successful.” He waved to me. “She’s the only one, you know, to have carried my seed. To my knowledge, you are my only child.”
Lucky me.
“Why are you killing us now?” he asked, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms. “I find it fascinating after all this time.”
“I was just a kid when you murdered her. I needed time to grow up and find out who you were.”
“Yes, but the plan was messy. You’d think with so much time, the deaths would have been cleaner, and yet, you allowed everyone to find the bodies. Why?”
“Because I don’t want to hide. I wanted you to know I was coming for you,” I answered truthfully.
“Interesting. There’s no self-preservation in you.”
