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“As my daughter, of course,” Titan coos, but I don’t for one second believe him, just like I didn’t before. He only wants me so Luca can’t have me. If my father had truly yearned for me, he’d have returned long before I got swept up in all this.
“I made a mistake before, not taking better care of you. I blame it on only having just found out your mother died.” He has the audacity to just now tear up. “She would have wanted us to be a family again. It’s all she ever talked about when we spoke.”
God, his lies make me want to throw up. There’s no fucking way he’s telling the truth or even gives a damn about my mother, but still, I indulge him.
“You kept in touch?” I blink at him with feigned sorrow. There’s no way they kept in touch. Not in recent years, at least. She rarely even uttered his name over the last five years, the pictures of him all removed from the house as if he never existed.
I’m rather sure she hated him.
He nods, stepping closer to me. “Even if I couldn’t be part of your life, Olivia, I never forgot about either of you.”
Yet, he hadn’t known she was dead when he first captured me. He’s lying. He’s using the love I hold for my mother against me. Fucking vile excuse of a human being.
Though, two can play that game.
“I always wondered why she never moved on,” I muse, my gaze flickering down to my feet. “She didn’t have to.”
“No, I was still her husband as much as I could be, and now I want to be your father again,” he says so lovingly that I nearly vomit. “Let me make up for our past.”
Like when you tried to kill me, I think but don’t utter.
Instead, I glance at Luca and see the life returning to him. His eyes are locked on me, and I ever so slightly nod at him. He’s in a better position to make a move than I am, even though I’m closer. He still has his gun, although he’s kept it lowered. He can shoot Titan. End this nightmare.
Except he shakes his head, his eyes moving briefly to the man behind me.
Luca doesn’t want me to get hurt.
Well, too fucking bad. He’s going to have to get over that fact or we’re both going to be dead, because I can’t pretend to even like Titan, let alone want to stand by his side, for much longer.
I turn to Titan, but I’m really speaking to Luca. “Why don’t you start by killing the man who made me bleed?”
The knife the man behind me wields hasn’t moved far from my ribs, ready to puncture a lung or kidney within a moment's notice. But if Luca shot him, even in the arm, it would allow me to back away instead of being a human shield.
Titan shakes his head. “Trust is a fickle thing, dear daughter. As much as I want us to be a family, you still have to earn your place. You did run away from me last time.”
“And you beat the shit out of me, so I’d say we’re even.” My words come out sweetly, and I even manage to smile at him. Though, a part of me hopes he can see the hate in my eyes and know that he’s nothing to me any longer and never will be. “But I can rebuild trust, Dad. Just as I know you can. If Mom still believed in you, then I’m sure we can find a way to work things out. To be a family.”
I circle the conversation back, needing Titan to feel as though he’s won. He needs to think he’s taken Luca’s company, infiltrated his family, and now taken the woman he cares most about. Only then will we see Titan’s true colors.
My stare goes back to Luca, and I glare at him, using the hate I have toward Titan to keep my ruse up. “Can we kill him now? He’s put my life in danger long enough.”
Titan’s fingers wrap around my shoulder, and he brings his face closer to mine. “We can, but are you sure you want to see this?”
Still looking at Luca, I nod. “More than anything else. Even if I have to hurt in the process. I just want this done. Now.”
Luca blinks twice, and I hope it’s in understanding of what I’m saying and that he doesn’t believe a single word spoken merely as a distraction for Titan.
Seconds tick by and I wait, my heart hammering in my chest and hands shaking. It’s now or never. We’re running out of time.
Finally, I see him move his arm behind his back, doing something with the gun I saw, and I hope like hell that I know what’s coming next. He has to fucking shootsomeone. I have no clue if it will be the man behind me or Titan. I’m not terribly concerned with which happens first, but either way, there’s a chance that I’m about to be shot or stabbed.
My body tenses for either one, and when the first bullet is fired, my eyes shoot open and I cry out. Not only is my arm grazed, but the blade cuts through my shirt, using the opening in the vest to stab me.
“Fuck!” I grip my side and drop to the ground, then everything happens too quickly for me to process. Nothing is thought through. Only actions spur my movements as I hear two more gunshots echo around us.
My adrenaline and will to survive keep me moving. I take the knife from my side, ripping it out of me, and just as Titan raises his gun at Luca, I slice at his wrist, rendering his shooting arm useless.
He howls in pain and tries to kick me, but I roll out of the way and get to my feet. Luca is beside me now, but I pay him no attention, not even when he reaches for my bleeding arm.
