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“Is that why you killed him?” I coo, moving closer. “You didn’t just want to take him out of the picture, you wanted tobehim. But the sad truth is, you’re still trying. You couldn’t live up to him when he was alive, what made you think you could do it once he was dead? Everyone still compares you to him, and you fall short.” I add, mocking. “You always will. You’re not as smart, not as driven. Even Trudy probably imagines Patrick when you’re in bed together—”
SMACK.
Richard backhands me across the face, sending me stumbling with the force of the blow. “Shut up!” he yells, finally breaking. “Shut the fuck up!”
I press a palm to my stinging cheek. I taste blood, and my ears are ringing. But I can’t stop now.
“Is that why you cut his brakes?” I demand, straightening up again. “So you could step into his shoes and live the life you thought you deserved? What’s a little murder between brothers, I bet Patrick never even realized how much you loathed him. Never even noticed how you felt.”
“That self-satisfied idiot never noticed a damn thing,” Richard spits out, his voice ringing with rage. “He just sailed through life, like he was so much better than the rest of us. He never had to work for anything, it was all just handed to him on a silver platter. And meanwhile, I…” His fists clench at his sides. “I’m the one who deserved it! I was the one with the big ideas, even though Patrick got all the credit. He thought he was so fucking clever,” he adds with a bitter laugh. “But he never saw it coming, did he?”
“The crash,” I say, my heart pounding. “You cut the brakes on his car, and then covered it up, when Sebastian lost control of the vehicle.”
Richard smiles dangerously, an unhinged glint in his eye. “It was easy. Hell, I should have done it years ago, been free of him sooner.”
There it is. A confession. And even after everything, it still chills me to see him so unapologetic, reveling in his murder like it’s some kind of victory.
“But the other driver, Sebastian and his sister… They were only kids,” I find myself protesting. “Didn’t you care about them?”
“Collateral damage,” Richard shrugs. “Of course, it would have been better if they’d died too. Fewer heirs to squabble over the company. But Scarlett was in no shape to be a threat to me, especially not after her stay in Larkspur.” A cruel grin twists his face. “And as for your dear Sebastian… As long as he thought the crash was his fault, he wouldn’t challenge me, not when I was the one covering for him, out of the goodness of my heart.”
Richard gives a laugh, and I’m chilled to the core. He talks about killing children in the same tone as ordering champagne. I want to get the fuck away from him as soon as possible, but I can’t help lingering, driven to uncover the whole truth.
“And that’s why you staged the explosion on the jet?” I prompt, “And killed Brian Kendall? To stop me asking any more questions after exposing what I thought happened.”
“You outlived your use to me,” Richard replies. “As long as all signs pointed to my nephew being behind the wheel, I could let you play your little games with him. But having you digging around in the past wasn’t worth the risk. The trail needed to end with Sebastian. So the fact he joined you on that flight… Well, that was just a fortunate bonus to me.”
He pauses, narrowing his eyes. “Where is he, anyway?”
“You’ll see,” I reply, moving towards the door. It’s time to leave, and get back to the safety of the party, but before I make it even two steps, Richard grabs a golf club from the bag by the bookcase, and strikes me, hard across the back of the legs.
Pain slams through me and I crumple, my purse skittering across the floor as I hit the ground.
“Did you really think I would simply let you walk out that door, after everything I just told you?” Richard stands over me, wielding the gold club with a truly deranged smirk on his face. “Tsk, Avery, I’m surprised. I thought you were smarter than that.”
He swings it again, striking me hard in the stomach, and I wail in agony.
Oh God.
“I hit the links every weekend,” he remarks, almost conversational as I sob there on the ground. “Excellent handicap. Keeps a man in fighting shape.”
I curl in a ball, gasping for air. The pain is dizzying, radiating through my entire body, and I swear, he’s broken my ribs. But almost as bad as the pain is the fear that sweeps through me, as I realize in horror that he’s right.
I should have been smarter. I didn’t see this coming.
Somehow, I thought that Richard wouldn’t get his own hands dirty. That the public party would protect me.
That he wouldn’t beat me to death on his office floor with his wife and half of England’s elite sipping champagne just a few feet away.
I panic.
“Help!” I scream, struggling to crawl towards my purse. The panic button is just inside. I need to warn Sebastian. “Someone help me!”
“That won’t save you.” Richard kicks the bag away, out of reach. “This office was built to my specifications. It’s sound-proofed, with one-way glass.”
He raises the club again, and I let out a cry. “Don’t! Please!”
He smirks. “You know, since everyone already thinks you’re dead… Nobody will mind if I kill you twice.”
