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Joe placed his gun in his holster. “I’ve managed to trace you back here. But I haven’t figured out your motive. Why did you try to kill me? That has remained a mystery to me.”
My eyes caught something in the periphery. Vanessa’s form appeared in the hallway, wearing the black lingerie I’d asked her to put on. I didn’t look directly at her to give her location away.
I wanted to tell her to hide.
I saw her image disappear a second later, knowing she’d run for it. This was the ideal situation for her. She couldn’t pull the trigger herself, but Joe would do the dirty work for her. She wouldn’t even have to watch. She would just hear the gunshot, wait for them to leave, and her freedom would be restored.
This would just be a bad dream.
I wished I could say something to her, apologize for the way I’d treated her. She was an innocent person who happened to be the daughter of the man I hated. She did nothing wrong, and as I got to know her, I recognized all of her wonderful qualities. She didn’t deserve what I’d done to her.
I actually felt remorse.
But that didn’t matter anymore.
I looked into Joe’s face. “You killed my mother.”
“Your mother, huh?” he asked. “I kill a lot of people, so you need to be more specific.”
“She was a prostitute. It was Christmas Eve. Her name was Lara. She had blond hair and blue eyes. She was beautiful. You fucked her, killed her, and then left her body in a dumpster. I was a small boy at the time, so there was nothing I could do about it. But once I became a man, I decided to punish you for what you did.”
“And how did that go?” Joe asked with a laugh. “Now you’ll be murdered in your own palace. I wonder how long it will take for someone to realize you’re missing…since you don’t have anyone.”
I felt the pain in my chest but ignored it. Vanessa said something similar to me once, that I only kept up my vendettas because I had nothing else to live for. No family and no friends…I was just alone. I had nothing to lose.
“I don’t feel bad for killing your mother. If she didn’t want to die, she shouldn’t have been a whore.”
If those restraints weren’t on my wrists, I’d take him down. It would be my last act, and at least I would be doing something productive with it.
“Any last words?” Joe asked.
I snorted until a wad of spit was in my mouth. Then I spat on his shoes. “Fuck off and pull the trigger.”
He stared at the top of his shoes, which were now covered in my spit. Anger came on to his face, but instead of telling me off, he nodded to one of his men. “Kill this asshole.”
I kept my eyes focused on Joe, knowing the bullet was coming any second. I would die the way I lived, strong and fearless. I was caught with my guard down and that was my fault, but I could still leave this earth with respect and dignity. I hoped Vanessa wasn’t watching. I didn’t want her to see this. My death would be the best thing for her, but I didn’t want it to haunt her for the rest of her life.
The gunshot went off.
Then another.
I closed my eyes, swallowed in darkness. It didn’t hurt the way I expected, didn’t feel numb either. I’d been shot many times, but not in the head. It didn’t feel like anything had happened at all.
Then I heard two bodies fall. One, and then two seconds later, another.
I opened my eyes and saw the commotion around me. Two of the four henchmen were dead, and the others were trying to identify where the shots were coming from.
A bullet hit one of the two in the left eye, sending them crumpling to the ground as their brains flew out the back of their skull. The man standing behind me on my left jerked when a bullet pierced his chest. He fell back, his body landing on the coffee table and shattering the platter that had once belonged to my mother.
Joe was all that was left.
He pulled his pistol out of his harness and aimed.
I pushed my body forward and knocked him over, making him hit the ground and drop the gun.
Vanessa pinned it under her bare foot and kicked it behind her. She stood in the black teddy and garters I’d asked her to wear, looking downright sexy while holding the shotgun in her hands.
Jesus Fucking Christ.
She marched over to Joe and pointed the barrel right in his face. “Move, asshole. I dare you.”
He lifted both hands into the air in surrender.
I got to my feet and found a knife in the kitchen. I slit the cable tie in half and let the knife drop to the floor before I walked back to the entryway, seeing Vanessa still standing on top of him.
