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“Yes,” I reply without hesitation.
“Why?”
This time, I do break eye contact. My gaze darts down to Isabella as I reply, “Because I love her.”
A small gasp escapes her lips, and emotions flood her features.
I shift my gaze back to my grandfather, who heaves an exasperated sigh.
“Love makes fools of us all,” he says, almost wistfully. Then his expression hardens again and utter certainty creeps into his voice. “But this is not it. This is an illusion. A lie. She is a liar and a killer and she is only using you for her own survival.”
“Yes, she is a liar and a killer,” I reply. “But not with me.”
At last, Federico’s patience seems to snap. Fury flares up in his eyes. “Enough! Lower your gun and get out if you can’t stomach it, but I am going to torture all three of them to death right now.”
“You are making a mistake.”
“They are the reason my son is dead!” The words rip out of him, full of agony and rage.
It only ignites the anger inside me as well. Raising my other hand, I stab it towards the two men behind the glass walls. “Theyare the reason your son is dead.” I shift my hand, pointing down at Isabella. “Sheis the reason why your grandsonisn’t.”
“She’s one of them.”
“She spared my life.”
“Because she chickened out.”
“She didn’t chicken out. She made a choice. She chose to let me live even though she knew that she forfeited her own life in doing so. And she has saved my life two more times after that too.”
“She has you fooled.”
“Look at her!” I scream, stabbing my hand down at Isabella again. “Where do you think she got all of those injuries? All of those cuts and bruises?” With my eyes locked on Federico’s, I swing my arm around and motion towards Derek and Sebastian. “They tortured her to get her to tell them where I was. Theytorturedher. And still she didn’t sell me out.”
A brief hint of hesitation flickers in his eyes before he sets his jaw again. “It could’ve been to protect herself.”
“Protect herself? By getting tortured?”
“It’s—”
“Fine, then how about this? Do you know why she went to that parking lot to meet them today?”
My grandfather just looks back at me in silence.
“She went there because she had made a deal with them,” I begin. “A deal that involved Isabella publicly groveling before their fucking master, enduring two hundred days of torture, and then letting them execute her in exchange for them taking me off their hit list and letting me live.”
Surprise flits across Federico’s features, and he casts a glance down at Isabella.
I look down at her too, and find her staring at me in shock. She obviously didn’t expect me to know that.
“Kaden was in the house,” I explain to her softly. “He overheard you when you made that phone call.”
“She could’ve staged that,” Federico protests. But he sounds uncertain now. “She could’ve just said all of that into an empty phone because she knew that Kaden was listening.”
“Askthem.” I flick my wrist towards where Derek and Sebastian are shackled in the other rooms. “Ask them about the deal. And about the torture. They’ll confirm it.”
For a few seconds, he doesn’t move. Only stands there, watching me while thoughts swirl in his eyes. I just look back at him, keeping my gun pointed at his head.
At last, he jerks his chin.
