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“Your uncle knew I was coming to see him, and we’d agreed on him turning off the surveillance cameras.”
“I don’t believe he’d have done that. He was obsessed with security.”
He continues, ignoring me. “You having received that photo of me leaving the house, that’s problematic. It means the killer knew I’d be paying Jax a visit. And he or she also knew I wouldn’t fulfill the contract. So, they did, and they made sure to have footage of me arriving at the scene.”
“So, you want me to believe you were hired to kill my uncle, but weren’t going to, and someone else did, and they’re framing you?” I remember something else Odin told me then. “Did someone frame you of murder when you landed with the Commander too?”
There’s a moment when the tables turn and it’s Santos who is surprised. But it’s only for a moment before a shadow settles in his eyes. “What did you say?”
“You killed a man,” I push, knowing this is important, although not quite sure it’s safe for me to continue. But I’m betting on the fact that Santos won’t hurt me. He’s never hurt me—not after making our blood oath. “You killed him over his daughter.”
Santos clenches his jaw and stands. His hands fist at his sides as he turns his back to me, all the muscles in his shoulders and back going stiff, and I know this is important. This is a key to something. Santos Augustine is a man with a dark past. This is one of his secrets. I need to know it more than I need to know anything else.
“Who is she?” I ask, my heart a mere flutter of beats in my chest as I wait for his answer.
He doesn’t move. Doesn’t turn. Doesn’t speak.
“She’s important. Who is she?” I ask again, this time feeling a twinge of something I can only name as jealousy.
“Was,” he says after a long moment. “Not is.” He turns to me, hand still balled, jaw still tight. He doesn’t speak again, not right away, as if waiting for me to process.
Was.
Whoever she was is dead. That jealousy turns to guilt.
“Who told you about her?” he asks tightly.
A knock comes on the door before I have to answer, and I’m relieved. I know if Santos finds out it was Odin who told me, he will hurt my brother.
“Yes?” Santos barks.
Val opens the door and peers inside. “He’s here.”
Santos turns back to me, studies me, eyes narrowing. “Put him in the basement,” he tells Val in a low tone. I shudder at the order because I know for a fact nothing good will happen in that basement. With men like Santos Augustine, that’s a given.
He steps closer, and with a hand under my chin, tilts my head up. “Your brother is a wealth of information, isn’t he?”
My mouth falls open, and my heart drops to my stomach.
He grins, my expression the confirmation he needs. “I’m going to teach him to mind his own business.”
“No!” I leap up onto my knees and grab hold of him when he turns to leave, wrapping my arms around him and using all my power to keep him there because it’s Odin he’s sending to the basement.
“No?” He dislodges me easily and takes hold of my arms.
“No. Please. No!”
“Your brother told you a story and look what happened. You put a fucking letter opener in me. Then you almost got yourself killed at that damned lighthouse. Which, what the fuck were you thinking going out there? Huh? What did I tell you about hurting what is mine?”
He gives me a shake that has me clutching his shoulders as the room spins.
“Shit,” he mutters, that tight grip shifting into something else, something gentler until he’s simply holding me. I wonder if he realizes how much stronger than me he is. How easily he can hurt me. Break me. “Are you okay, Madelena?”
“I feel sick.”
He grits his teeth, eyes intent on me. I see hesitation in them. It’s all I need.
I reach to touch his face. “Please don’t hurt him. Please.”
