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“She’s been gone for years.”
“With Archie, no doubt. I’d say that puts you as the chief candidate for the father.” Benedict smirks knowingly. “The kid looks around the right age.”
I arch a brow, feigning boredom. “You do have a habit of letting your imagination run wild, don’t you? But I can see why you’d want to believe that. It’d give you another bargaining chip.”
Benedict shrugs. “As far as I’m concerned, I have three chips. And I will play them all.” Then his scowl darkens. “My brother was my only friend in this world, you know.”
“I’d apologize, but it wouldn’t be sincere. You did it to him, anyway. I was just the messenger.”
“I have nothing anymore. No men, no money, no family, no hope of reviving the Bellasio mafia,” he croaks. “I’ll give you your women and the child. But I want something in return.”
“Of course you do.”
“Fifty million dollars and my freedom. That’s all I ask. Fifty million is nothing to you.”
“Maybe not. But your life means something to me. You forget, Benedict: you owe me, not the other way around. All I have to do is kill you. I’ll find them eventually.”
“No, you won’t. They’ll be long—"
He stops abruptly, his eyes going wide as they land on someone just behind me. I steal a glance and, in that split-second I let my guard down, Benedict has a gun aimed at my head.
Taylor freezes at the door, her eyes flicking between me and Benedict.
“What are you still doing here?” Benedict growls at her. “You dumb bitch.”
“I did think about leaving,” Taylor says, turning her gaze on me. “But I needed to look you in the eye first.” Her voice hitches with sorrow. “How could you?”
“Because he’s a fucking monster!” Benedict yells, jerking his gun upwards. “Now’s your chance to escape! I—"
“I saw…” Taylor says in a voice so small I almost miss it.
That’s when I realize that Benedict is not the one I should be facing. So I go against the grain and turn my back on Benedict and his gun. I take the risk of his bullet in my back and face Taylor.
Who seems very prepared to put a bullet in my front.
Her eyes are wide with disbelief, her shoulders tight with tension. “You killed my father,” she accuses. “After you promised to protect him.”
“That’s right,” Benedict chimes in. “He can’t be trusted.”
“Shut up!” Taylor yells. “I’m talking to Ilarion. I want to hear fromhim.”
“I did kill Archie,” I say, meeting her betrayed eyes. “I did it because he asked me to.”
She recoils. “Liar!”
I take a fraction of a step toward her, but she lunges backward, so I pause in my tracks. I engage the safety on my gun and slide it across the floor to her. Then I cock my second gun and hold it out to her, butt-first.
“What are you doing?” she gasps as I stride forward and press it into her hand.
I keep a firm grip on her wrist as I bring it up to my face, pressing the nose of the gun to my forehead. “Let me tell you what happened. If you still don’t believe me when I’m done, then shoot.”
There’s sweat edging in from the corners of her brow. The color drains from her face and she shakes her head. “No…”
“Yes,” I snarl. “The choice is in your hands, Taylor. As is my life. It’s your call now.”
64
TAYLOR
