It was fine for Luc; he didn’t know them like I did. I thought they were my friends.
But then I guess I was kidding myself.
I didn’t know them at all.
Jefferson and Holloway. My God.
They were my enemies.
* * *
I swallowed hard, but I couldn’t get past the lump in my throat.
I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing before me, but really, why should I be so surprised?
Luc didn’t appear shocked at all. He’d known it was them. Surely, he must have known it was one of them.
But both?
Jefferson and Holloway came as a duo. They’d been friends as far back as I could remember and did everything together. They were the kind of friends who followed each other for good or bad. So, if one was a rat, the other was tainted too.
Didn’t make it any easier though. It didn’t. They were my friends. Guys I would have trusted with my life.
“Why…why?” The words fell from my lips straight from the wound of betrayal. I shook my head at them.
Jefferson had the audacity to smile at me. He had the audacity to look at me and smile, like this was nothing. It made me feel like throwing up.
“Nothing personal, Taylor, or should I say Rossi?” He smirked.
Holloway stood in that casual manner he usually exuded. They hadn’t pulled their guns yet. Why?
“Nothing personal? Really? We were friends. Sinclaire could have died.” When I thought of all that had happened, my soul ached, and I had to fight to keep from crumbling inside. I had to fight my emotions that tore at me the more it sunk in that they were involved.
“Sinclaire is a fool in love with you.” Holloway laughed.
Out the corner of my eye I noticed how Luc tensed at the mention of that. Looked like everyone could see how deeply Sinclaire cared for me long before I did.
“So, he deserved to die?”
“He was in the way.”
Luc raised his gun higher. “Cut the shit. How’d you get in the house? How’d you know to come in here?”
That was the important stuff, but I had so many questions I wanted to ask.
“Instructions from our boss,” Jefferson answered.
“What boss?” I had to ask. I had to know how this whole thing unraveled and led to me. It was vague in my mind, and maybe I didn’t need specifics, but I sure as fuck wanted to know how these people got to my friends and what price they put on my head to lure them to the dark side.
“Typical Amelia Taylor. She wants to know why.”
“Tell her,” Luc cut in, his voice taking on an edge I’d never heard.
Jefferson laughed. “Sure thing. Months ago, we were approached with an offer. We both got a phone call each. No name, just a muffled voice. The guy offered us ten grand each if we could give him access to our staff database. Of course, we did it, and they fixated on you. After that, we were offered a million each to work with them. An irrefusable offer. It took a while, but from some old hospital records they had on you, they were able to get access to your DNA files, but it was inconclusive. Inconclusive with a trail, though, because they noticed a glitch in your listing on the system. It was a dead giveaway that something had been changed. That was actually what highlighted you. This guy has friends in high places, but looks like Don Raphael has the same kinds of friends, too, because they couldn’t match out your identity. They tried to take you several times. It was actually me who suggested they do it the old-fashioned straightforward way and take your hairbrush and lipstick. That was all they needed to confirm their theory of you being the secret daughter of the head of the Chicago mafia. We were shocked to shit when we found out.”
So, that was it.
“Good, story over.” Luc spoke the minute Jefferson finished and without warning fired a shot straight into his arm.
