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Crack!
The blast was deafening, making me cry out and stumble backwards, cradling Ali as I gripped the drive. In the blink of an eye, our father dropped to the floor where he lay with a gunshot wound in his skull.
Roars followed. I stumbled backwards and clutched Ali even closer. Helene was there, lunging in front of me as the server room filled with men…and one woman.
A woman I’d seen before.
Riven’s sister.
“You-” CRACK! “Fucking bitch!”
Crack!
Crack!
CRACK!
The roar of gunfire was all I could hear. Helene fired her gun, taking down one of the men as they skirted the servers and came for us. Tobias and Nick disappeared, leaving Caleb to stand guard alongside my sister.
Choked sounds of death and roars of rage filled the room.
“You bitch!” Riven bellowed. Crack! “You fucking die, you goddamn bitch.”
I trembled with rage as I lowered my head and kissed my son’s cheek. This is all there was for us…this is all?—
Until suddenly there was silence.
Cold, empty silence.
I lifted my head, to find Caleb and Helene standing side by side, watching for movement.
“Is it over?” I asked.
Footsteps sounded, heavy and hard. They were followed by another and another…until Tobias rounded the towering metal shelves. There was blood all over him. Blood that splattered over his face and ran down his hands. Nick was the same…as was Riven and his brothers who followed closely behind them.
“Baby,” Riven croaked, but Helene was already moving, lunging into his arms.
Tobias wrapped his around me, pulling me close. “It’s over,” he said, his face buried against my neck. “It’s over.”
I hugged him back, sobs tearing free as I shifted my gaze to our father. “He’s gone.”
There was pain in Tobias’ eyes as he met mine. “Yes.”
Still, I needed to see. I let him go and stepped around him, making my way to where my father lay. His wide eyes were fixed and empty. Whoever he was or had hoped to be was no more. So many questions remained unanswered, but I guess there wasn’t an answer to them. I could ask why forever and still feel pain.
My fingers clenched around the device. I opened it and turned, finding the slew of bodies between us and the door. The soldiers had paid well…and so had Riven’s sister, lying with her arms open, on top of the men she’d used.
But none of them were Hale.
He was still out there.
Until he was dead, this wouldn’t be done.
“We need to find him,” I whispered. “And kill the sonofabitch.”
THIRTY-SEVEN
Vivienne
