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“Shit, Max, he’s already here.” During the journey, Max called in reinforcements, but they aren’t here yet. I pull my gun out of its holster, silence it, and cock it. “He doesn’t leave with Shelby.”
“Eaton, don’t let what you’ve discovered about him cloud your judgment.”
“He killed my mother,” I spit out. “I won’t let him take Shelby.”
Max nods. “I agree, but keep your mind focused. You’re at your most lethal when you do.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve never been more focused.” It’s a lie. My mind is all over the place, but I won’t let my father have Shelby.
With stealth, we make our way into the house. Everything seems quiet until we near the bedrooms. One of my father’s men stands over Lena, his gun pointing at her head. Before I have a chance to react, he looks up at us and Max shoots him dead. A bullet to the forehead. Max goes straight to Lena. Blood covers the white t-shirt she’s wearing.
“Lena.” Max checks for a pulse when he gets to her side. “She’s alive.” He looks under her t-shirt at the wound. “It looks more superficial than life threatening, an inch either side, though, and it would’ve bee a different story.
Relief floods through me. I know how much she means to him.
“Get her out of here. She needs help.”
“Eaton,” he turns his head to look at me, “you can’t do this alone.”
“You love her. Make sure she’s safe.”
Max opens his mouth to protest, but I understand the feelings flooding through him right now. Lena’s safety is his priority.
“Thank you. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Max scoops Lena into his arms and makes his way back toward the front entrance.
I head deeper into the house, knowing Shelby was planning to work on her studies in my office today. As I approach the office, my father steps out. There’s a man at his side carrying an unconscious Shelby. Her left eye is swollen, and there’s blood on her lips.
I point my gun at my father.
“Put her down.”
My father laughs.
“Finally grown a pair of balls, son. What did it take for that to happen?”
“The truth. I witnessed everything that happened that night. It just took me a while to remember,” I spit out. My father doesn’t seem shocked by this revelation. “You killed my mother.”
“I killed a whore!” he shouts back at me, his face red with anger. “And now I’ll finally get back what’s mine.”
The floorboards creak as four of my father’s men appear from behind me, guns cocked. Two more men exit the office.
“Get out of my way,” my father orders.
I stand defiantly.
“Move!” he shouts again before pulling his own gun from his pocket and putting it against Shelby’s forehead. “I remember the hole I put in your mother’s head. I could always do the same to Shelby.”
“You need her alive to get the money. You’re bluffing.”
I know he won’t shoot her. She’s worth more to him alive than dead.
“Are you willing to test that theory, Eaton. You’ve seen what a cold-blooded killer I can be. Your mother was an inconvenience I had to endure. She was weak and feeble. She couldn’t even give birth without messing it up. I’m done with people fucking me around. I’m the power in Vegas. I always have been, and nothing can change that now. Move out of my way, Eaton. You’ve had your chance.”
He pushes the gun harder into Shelby’s forehead, and her eyelids flutter open. As she regains consciousness, she starts to look around, and her eyes widen when she sees what’s happening. She screams, and my father pushes the barrel of the gun into her mouth to silence her.
I’ve run out of options.
I can’t do this alone.
