Suddenly, a loud creak rises from behind us, followed by a clatter of wood against the wall and then the squeak of a door wobbling back on its hinges.
I spin around instantly and place one hand on Beatie's back when a shadowy figure emerges from the other door leading into the room.
I hadn't even noticed it.
Light pouring in from the window of the kitchen shrouds the man as he slowly walks forward, then he raises one hand and the light catches on the end of his gun.
"Look at that," Mathew drawls, and his voice cuts through me like a hot knife. "Family all fucking reunited."
"Mathew," I gasp.
Beatie whimpers and throws herself over Mom as I slowly climb to my feet and place myself in front of them.
"Rose…" Anger drips from his voice as he takes another step forward. "It was you, wasn't it?"
"What was me?" I ask cautiously, my eyes locked on the gun.
In hindsight, I probably should have taken Calvin's weapon from his body, but I was too focused on getting out of there.
"It was supposed to be simple." His voice grows quiet. "It was supposed to be fucking simple. You go in. You spread that tight cunt of yours and you come back with a baby. Then we all go our separate fucking ways. Simple." Tight fury inflates Mathew's words and he doesn't stay quiet for long. "How could you fuck it up? How could you fuck up something so infinitely simple? You just had to lie there. It required no fucking effort from you!"
"Effort?" Despite the terror making my arms tremble and my knees knock together, I can't keep the anger in me down. "You told me if I did that, then my family would be safe, and what do I find? You fucking drugged and sold my sister! That wasn't part of the deal!"
"The deal?" Mathew lifts the gun and presses the edge of the barrel against his temple, twisting it back and forth. "You forfeited the fucking deal when you got my brother killed!"
Mathew snorts and drags his fat tongue over his upper lip. "Daniil always was ambitious, I'll give him that. But you?" He points the gun at me and a pulse of static floods my chest. "You were the fucking cunt who dragged this out for months! Livingit up in that beautiful fucking house, having the life of your dreams!"
Every word he spits from me is what Beatie yelled at me in the kitchen, confirming it was his snake-like lies that twisted her away from me.
"Bullshit," I snap, shakily raising both hands. "I did what you asked of me. You put me in that life and I did it to save the people I love."
"The people you love?" Mathew's face twists suddenly and the low light glints off his eyes.
Are those… tears?
"What about the people I love, huh?" Mathew lowers the gun and taps his own chest. "What gives that bastard the right to come over here and just crush everything we worked toward? What makes him think he can just take our place with no pushback?"
I swallow down a scoff. If I've learned anything about Kon, it's that he's smart when it comes to his business, and he wouldn't have cornered the market if there was no corner left. Mathew truly is delusional enough to see himself on the same level as Kon.
Asshole.
"And then he comes and kills my fucking brothers and thinks he can get away with it?" A humorless, dry laugh escapes Mathew like air rushing from a plastic bag. "Nah. Nah. I won't fucking have it.”
Wait… brothers? Is Lev dead?
Mathew thrust the gun in my direction again. “Bye, cunt."
"Wait!" I throw my hands up higher as panic surges inside me, and suddenly everything becomes alarmingly clear. "Don't! I'm pregnant!"
Mathew's eyes narrow. "What?"
"I-I'm pregnant. I'm pregnant. Isn't that what you always wanted? I'm pregnant." The words tumble over themselves on my tongue to escape and I can barely catch my breath. This might be the only way I can save Beatie and my mom. If I can get Mathew to leave with me right now, then everyone I care about, Kon included, will be safe from this monster.
"You're pregnant?" His narrow eyes drift down my body. "Bullshit."
"It's true! I fucked with the test in the cafe so it would be negative because I… well, I thought I was being clever but I see now. I see I was wrong to lie to you. I was wrong to do anything but stick to our deal and I'm sorry. But it's true. I'm pregnant. And I'll leave with you right now, I swear I will. We can go and we can just… we can wait. The baby will come, and then you'll have Kon's baby, and you can do whatever the fuck you want to get revenge on him for killing your brothers. That's what you want, right? Revenge on Kon?"
I'm making this up as I go along but what choice do I have? Die here or die in nine months, it's all the same in the end.
