“Hey.” Daniel jerks against the ropes, panic bleeding into his voice. “You don’t want to do this.”
Thomas straightens in his chair.
“You put that down.” His stare hardens on the knife in my hand. “This won’t end well for you.”
I ignore him. I start walking slowly behind the chairs.
“I learned a lot about your family recently.”
The knife rests loosely in my hand as I pace behind them.
“You’re old money. Generations built on stealing from people who never had a chance. You profit off poverty. You profit off people’s desperation. You destroy lives quietly so yours can stay clean and spotless.”
Thomas glares at me.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
I step closer to his chair.
The tip of the blade presses lightly against the center of his chest, right over his heart. I let it sit there for a moment, watching the shift in his breathing.
Then I move again.
“Your money helped build the manor. The one Elliot used. The one where innocent people were tortured and killed while your family signed checks, dined on elegant cuisine, and looked the other way.”
Evelyn starts shaking her head.
I stop behind Gina.
“Your father had the right titles and money.” My gaze drifts over her shoulder. “So you grew up untouchable.”
The knife lifts slowly.
“You learned early that no one was going to stop you. Not law enforcement. Not the courts. Not anyone who might have asked questions.”
The blade slides gently across the side of Gina’s neck. Her entire body stiffens as the cold steel presses against her skin.
Grant’s voice snaps through the speaker.
“You shut the fuck up!”
“That’s how you get to play detective.”
The edge of the knife traces a slow line just beneath Gina’s jaw before I pull it away.
“No training. No initiation. No consequences. Just nepotism.”
Daniel swallows hard.
“You were never there to help people,” I say. “You were never there to uphold the law. You helped other killers cover their tracks. That is what the Collective needed you for.”
Thomas’s composure cracks.
“You don’t know anything about us.”
I step behind him again.
“And Colin, you were the detective Samantha thought would help her. She thought you would help her get the boys away from Richard.”
