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“Have you heard yourself?”
“Loud and clear. You’re a miscreant that needs resolving, and I’ll make my son believe you ran all over again. The shame of being a sexual assault victim was just too much for you to cope with. You couldn’t love him knowing what had happened to you.”
“You’re still the culprit of that sexual assault.”
“After a while, I’ll make him believe you wanted it. By the time I’m done with him, he’ll know you came on to me, and you did it again… right here, right now, actually.”
I look from him and at the gun resting at his side.
“And if I don’trun? What’s the story then? You shoot me and you call it what? Self-defence in the presence of a whore? You and I both know full well the gunshots you just fired got attention. You either do it now or get caught in the act.”
“Oh, I know that, and I don’t want to use this on you. Not when I have something so much better planned for you.”
Without moving his attention from me, he sets the weapon down, showing how brazen he is. Pushing a hand into the grey suit jacket he’s wearing, he withdraws a hypodermic needle filled with a cloudy substance.
“Know what this is?”
“No, but I’m sure you’re going to take great delight in telling me.”
“Potassium chloride.” He shakes the needle at me, his grin gleaming with the prospect of what’s to come. “I’ve altered the dose for you because I imagine your stamina to be slightly better than your father’s. He didn’t need much. Plus, I want to draw this out. I want this to hurt.”
“So, you did kill him,” I mutter. The thought was bad enough, but the proof is far worse.
“He found me out. He learned about our little indiscretion.”
“You mean he learned that his best friend raped his daughter. You don’t know how happy I am knowing he died knowing the truth. You deserve to lose everything because of it.”
“Oh, Nicolas knew already. He knew so well that he wanted to bring you home. He was actually on his way to meet with Beckett to tell him the discovery, but I had to stop him.”
Knowing the truth, knowing my father was making moves to make amends changes nothing now. It’s too late for that reconciliation, and while he always maintained that once trust was gone there was no coming back, I know there are a few instances this doesn’t apply to. I’m at peace knowing he knew the truth about Alistair.
“See, he caught me and Andreas discussing my plan for it all. Once Beckett was head of The Company, I was going to have access to unlimited funds. The plan was to give Andreas enough money to get rid of his family woes and pay him for his time with you.” He suddenly shrugs his shoulders, narrowing his gaze directly at me. “But enough of this small talk. I have other more pressing matters. You’re not about to ruin anything else.” He gives a bright smile; the deranged look in his eyes is something I’ve never seen on him before. “Say hello to daddy dearest, won’t you? I’m sure you’ll reunite in hell.”
He comes at me, and I react by shoving the heel of my hand into his jaw. He stumbles backwards, and I knock the needle from his hand, eliminating that threat before it even became a problem. However, my victory is short-lived as he stops me mid-movement by plunging something, hard and fast, into my midriff. Coldness ripples through me with such a velocity it steals my breath.
“You didn’t think I would come without a backup plan now, did you?”
Dropping my gaze, I’m surprised to see his hand holding the handle of a knife, the hilt of which is pressing against my stomach. His knuckles are white with the tightness of the hold, showing every ounce of malice he has for me.
Bastard got me good this time, I guess.
“You never should’ve come back, Natalia. Our dirty little secret should’ve stayed that way. But at least now you can go to your grave with that bastard baby of yours.”
He withdraws, my body relaxing in the millisecond before he rams the blade straight back into my abdomen. I choke as pain erupts throughout me this time, and my hands come to his shoulders, my disbelief an uncontrollable emotion.
“Ali…”
The taste of copper hitting the back of my throat and my shock start to dissipate as I realise the severity of this situation.
“What did I tell you about you calling me that?” His question is accompanied by a slight twist of the blade, eliciting a grunt of pain from me. “When will you ever learn?”
He repeats the motion, and I can’t resist the urge to goad him. Grinning, fully aware of the blood starting to stain my teeth, I meet his gaze and summon every ounce of strength I have.
“You’re a dead man.”
“Ah, maybe,” he agrees, not at all perturbed by me. “But my son will see this as a helping hand to getting the entire empire he wanted.”
“Y-you’re delusional.” My words may be struggling, but I don’t lose my fight. I refuse to lose my fight right now. “He’ll n-never forgive you for this.”
