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Looking down, I see Cain, who groans, his lip split, his nose bleeding. He’s holding his ribs.
Abe shuffles over to Scott, not looking like he’s in any better shape. When I see a knife in Abe’s hand, I wonder if Cain’s wounds are worse.
“It was a genius plan, really. Cassandra worked her magic recruiting girls, and when that failed, they found comforting arms at the reject table. Kind of like you.” Abe laughs as Cain carefully climbs to his feet beside me.
I look Cain over briefly but see just a slash mark on his arm. Nothing too serious right now, thankfully.
“Usually, I offer them a shoulder to cry on and listen to their pathetic woes before offering them comfort. They trust me so blindly that I practically hand them over before they realize something is off.”
I shake my head in disgust.
“And how does Aslanov play into it all?”
They both shrug. “We don’t have anything to do with him when it comes to the operation. It all runs through Luke.”
“Well, that’s gonna be tricky, what with the man being dead and all that.”
“She’s lying,” Abe hisses.
“Am I? Tell me, did Luke come home last night?”
“How would I know? I wasn’t…” He laughs, remembering he told me differently.
“No, Luke didn’t come back. Only me and Aslanov did,” Cain replies, and I remember that both their beds had been rumpled but not Abe’s.
“What did you do to Luke?” Scott asks, but Abe doesn’t seem worried. He’s watching me closely.
“I killed him.” I shrug casually.
“Bullshit.”
“Call him then. See if he picks up.”
“You don’t want to piss off the Bratva. But in the end, it won’t matter if you’re dead.”
“You kill me, and the Bratva will be the least of your worries. What, you think I’m without my own connections?”
I reach into my back pocket and slide my knife out, flicking it open, using Cain’s body to hide the action.
“I think you talk too much. Little girls should only open their mouths to suck dick,” Scott snarls as he steps closer. A sound from inside the cave makes us all look that way. When nothing emerges, Scott hands the gun to Abe before taking Abe’s knife.
“If they move, kill Cain. I want her alive. She’ll fetch a pretty penny. If I’m right, that will be the collection team for her now.”
Scott heads toward the cave with the confidence of someone who has walked this route dozens of times before.
“I can’t believe you’d throw away your life like this. I thought you were better than our grandfather,” Cain growls at his brother, who steps toward us.
Cain and I back up a little more.
“You’re a fucking fool. You want to follow in Daddy’s footsteps, but where did that lead him? He’s dead. Now say what you want about Granddad, but the man has turned worshiping into an art form, and thanks to him, I’ll be a god.”
“Wow. Do you have to check your ego and pay extra for going over the weight limit when you fly?” I say, pulling his attention from Cain.
He swings the gun my way and time slows for a second. I realize Abe is not altogether sane. This is the reason Cain pretended he hated me. Abe’s issues with his brother have consumed him. If he had thought Cain had feelings for me, Abe would have targeted me just to hurt him.
Scott thinking Abe would listen to him was a mistake because Abe clearly isn’t in control of his faculties anymore.
His finger twitches. I throw the knife before he fires. My aim is true, hitting him in the eye with a thunk.
There’s no time for me to move out of the way, but Cain must have realized what Abe was going to do because he’s jumping in front of me, knocking me out of the way before it registers.
The bang of the gun echoes over the valley.
The force of the bullet spins Cain off trajectory. And I watch in horror as he tumbles over the side of the cliff.
