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He comes to a stand, reaching into his pocket for a knife. I brace for death, but it doesn’t come. Sean instead cuts the ropes binding me, granting me freedom.
This must be a trick, but when he stands in front of me, giving me a choice, I see this isn’t a trick; this is him surrendering.
His claim that everyone made a choice is correct. No one was forced into doing anything they didn’t want to. The brutal consequences were a result of their choices. And I hate that Sean is right.
“What do you want?” I ask, keeping my hands to myself—for now.
“I told ya. Let me leave with my life, and y’ll never see me again.”
“Are you thick? You double-crossed me—again. You made a deal with Annette! You lied to me—again. Shay is dead! You sacrificed yer own grandson for yer greed!”
But another fucking plot twist is about to be dropped.
“No, Punky, he’s not dead.”
Spinning, I see Babydoll and Cian enter the factory with Alek. Sean doesn’t seem surprised to see them. What the fuck is going on? Did he call them?
Babydoll throws her arms around me, hugging me tight. “Shay is all right.”
“How?” It’s all I can vocalize right now.
“Sean.”
Gently breaking our embrace, I put her out at arm’s distance, begging her to explain. “He was wearing a bulletproof vest. Sean made sure of it.”
“What?” I gasp, looking at Sean.
“It worked for me,” he says with regret. “I knew Annette wouldn’t let him live. I had to protect him. Grady knew what to do.”
Seansavedhim? No, I will not accept it.
“I don’t get it. You grew a conscience ’cause you knew ye’d lost?”
“I can’t explain it, just how you can’t explain why you can’t kill me.”
“Did he make a deal with you?” I ask Alek, who stands off to the side. I can’t wait to punch him in his fucking smug face.
“No, he didn’t. Annette was the one who did.”
This doesn’t make sense. Sean had the opportunity to finally have it all. He could have gone behind my back and made a deal with Alek, but he didn’t.
“Why was Shay there?”
“Because I needed Annette to think she’d won. This was the only way for you to assert yer control. The plan never changed. The players did, but in the end, y’ve showed the world who the real leader is. No one can win against you. No one will try.
“Not even me. Which is why I ask you to let me leave with my life. I saved yer son’s life, in good faith, and now I hope y’ll save mine.”
Sean reaches into the small of his back and offers me his gun. Is this supposed to be the equivalent to a white flag?
So many lives have been lost, and now Sean has had a change of heart because he knows he can’t win. This feels like a cop-out. All of this was for nothing.
“The choice is yours. Kill him, or let him go. What can you live with on your conscience for the rest of your life?” Alek questions with interest.
“This is a trick,” I state, but Sean shakes his head. “Yer men are waitin’ for yer command. Just like they were when blood was spilled on this very floor.”
“I have no men,” Sean confesses with sincerity. “Do you really think I’d be beggin’ for my life if I did? They don’t serve me. They never have. They serve you.”
And he is right. No one is loyal to him any longer because no one wants to follow a fallen king.
