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My heart sinks.That was one of Oliver’s favorite vases.
As I run upstairs, I set the thought aside. We can get him a new vase, but right now, I need to focus on helping Finn.
I grab a couple bundles of rope from Elliot’s room and dash downstairs. Finn is still holding the man at gunpoint.
“Tie him up,” Finn tells me.
I start off cautiously, half-expecting him to attack me at any moment. But apparently, having a gun pointed at his head is enough of a deterrent. He doesn’t resist as I tie his feet together and then bind his hands behind his back.
“Look,” the guy says, “I’ll tell you everything I know. You don’t have to hurt me.”
Finn’s eyes narrow, and he doesn’t move to lower his weapon even though the guy is restrained now. “What’s Holloway’s plan?”
“All I know is that we were told to bring her back to his mansion.” He nods to me. “It was supposed to be an easy job. We thought you were alone.”
My stomach flips at the realization that I almostwasalone. What would’ve happened if—
Stop. Thinking like that won’t do any good.
“Is that where Ludo is keeping the guys?” I ask. “At the mansion?”
“I don’t know. I wouldn’t keep them in the place I sleep, but maybe that’s Ludo’s plan. He has the manpower to have them under lock and key.”
“What’s he planning on doing with Rhett’s brothers?”
The mention of Benny and Andrew causes an unbearable ache to bloom in my chest. Rhett got the closest he’s ever been to being united with his brothers, only for Ludo to tear them from his grasp.
Finn’s voice fades. We were all so close. With the hard drive in our hands, everything was supposed to go smoothly from here. But now, I don’t know anymore.
As tears prick my eyes, I take a step back. My heel hits the arm of the man I killed, unmoving yet still warm. I stumble away, and my stomach turns as I stare at the bodies. Blood pools from underneath them, seeping into the wooden flooring.
Two minutes of planning and one of action—now I’m a killer.
A shiver runs up my spine. Taking that man’s life was so . . .easy.
I’ve never thought of humans as fragile. A single person can accomplish so much and accrue so much power that they almost become invincible. But all it takes is one properly placed blade, and everything comes crashing to the ground.
My gaze drifts across the room to my knife. At some point I dropped it, although I don’t remember when.
“. . . please just let me go. I don’t know anything else. I’m just a low-level grunt, that’s all.”
My attention snaps back to the interrogation. I didn’t realize I zoned out. “You were going to kidnap me and bring me to a man who wants to torture and kill me, and you think we’re going tolet you go?”
“I . . .” His voice is weak, and his eyes turn pleading as he realizes he doesn’t have a good excuse. “Please—”
“Do you have any more questions for him?” I ask Finn without breaking eye contact.
“We’ve gotten everything out of him that we’re going to,” he replies.
A familiar feeling creeps through me. The first time I felt it, I’d just woken up in a hospital bed to find the man I feared most standing over me.
Back then, I dismissed it. Now, it’s so strong that I couldn’t ignore it if I wanted to.
I move across the room slowly, still not taking my eyes off my would-be kidnapper. He swallows audibly as I stoop down and retrieve my bloody knife.
Rhett once told me they’d burn the world to the ground if they ever lost me. At the time, I believed him. I still do. But what I didn’t realize then—or until right now, really—is that I’ll do the same to get them back to me, too.
I love them so much it hurts.
And nothing—fucking nothing—will get in the way of me bringing them home.
