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37
Hawk
Butch’sphonerang.Hefinally unwrapped his hold off Lila’s throat. As he went to the bathroom to take the call, Fiona sidled up to Lila, running the tip of her blade along her cheek.
Lila, the bravest woman I’d ever met, didn’t recoil. Instead, she looked straight into Fiona’s eyes as if studying her. She took deep, raspy breaths as her body still struggled to regain her lost oxygen.
“Damn it, Fiona. Quit it. There’s no need to torment her. I told you I’d give you everything.”
“So, this is your type, huh? Fat and sickly sweet. No wonder you and I didn’t work out.”
Under normal circumstances, I’d have gotten in her face for insulting Lila, but I was kind of tied up. I twisted my wrists. The ropes were loosening but not enough.
Fiona walked over to the wall beside the television. “Hmmm…and brainy, I guess.” She looked over the row of certificates hanging in ornate gold frames. “How many degrees does a person need? Seriously, this is overkill.”
Lila was finally breathing normally again. I mouthed, “I’m sorry.”
What she did next was the last thing I expected. She smiled serenely and mouthed, “It’s okay.”
Okay?How was any of this okay? Why did she always do that? I’d have felt better if she’d scowled at me. Spat at me, refused to make eye contact. This was all my fault. I’d brought this on her, and she still wouldn’t blame me.
Fiona knocked a diploma off the wall, and it crashed to the floor, the frame breaking in half. “Oops. So much for that Bachelor of Biological Science.” She knocked the next one off. “There goes that medical degree.” And another. “So long specialization in psychiatry.” And then again. “Bye-bye, Ph.D. in Addiction Psychotherapy.”
She cocked her head to the side, scrutinizing the next one. “Well, this I was not expecting.” She pointed with the tip of her blade to the last diploma still on the wall. “What the fuck is this?”
I glanced over. If I’d seen that under normal circumstances, it would have made me smile. On Lila’s wall of proud achievements was a dog training certificate as ornately framed as her other degrees. “Dog tr—”
“I haven’t gone to university like you snobs, but I can read, you asshole. I meant, why is it up here with the others?”
“Because,” Lila said hoarsely, “it’s as important to me as the others.”
Fiona flicked her wrist, and the certificate crashed to the floor. “Oops.”
Cunt!
As Butch came back to the living room, he said, “It’s all set. The truck will be here soon. Get the bitch ready.”
No. Not yet. I couldn’t let them take her. I needed more time.
I had never kneeled before anyone in my life. Not even my father. But I’d do anything for Lila. I lurched forward and fell to my knees on the wood flooring with a clunk. I uttered the words I’d never spoken before. “Please.”
Fiona scoffed. “What are you begging for?”
Writhing my hands, the ties loosened slightly. Almost enough. “Let Lila and her grandmother go. I’ve already promised you everything.”
“Yeah, and the second we let them bitches go, you’ll go back on your word. I can’t believe the terrifying Hawk is begging on his knees like a pussy.” Fiona spat in my face. “I’m so glad I never married a weak, pathetic prick like you.”
“We’re taking them with us,” Butch said. “Once you’ve transferred legal ownership of the hedge fund company, we’ll let granny go.”
“And Lila.” My words came out as a threat.
“No way,” said Fiona with a laugh. “As long as I have her, you’re my puppet. I think it’ll be fun to see how long you’ll keep doing my bidding for some chick. Maybe I’ll send you little pieces of her every week so you don’t get lonely. But I bet you wouldn’t even last a week before you realize she isn’t worth it.”
Lila was worth an eternity of servitude, if that’s what was needed to save her life. But there was no way I’d let her go as a hostage with this psychotic bitch. Besides, Fiona and Butch were lying about letting them go. They never left witnesses. There was only one way to get Lila out of here alive. But the timing had to be right.
I’d kept tabs on everyone’s exact location and spotted every weapon. Fiona’s weapon of choice had always been knives. She didn’t like the weight of guns. Apart from the one in her hand, she had another blade in a holster around her ankle.
Butch loved his double-barrel gun named Myrtle. Right now, Myrtle was in Butch’s hand while her barrel rested on his shoulder.
