Fear—real fear—crosses Malcom’s face. It’s then the cold barrel of Clarence’s pistol touches my jaw.
“Well, fucking well.” Clarence laughs, the wretched sound vibrating through me. “Now, I have to admit. This is a surprise.”
“No one else has to die tonight. Let her go.” Malcom’s voice is murder, taut and barely controlled. His green eyes are infernos, and I love him then, I love him more than I ever thought possible. A man I should turn my back on and flee from. A man I should, by all reason, hate. But he is passion and power and understanding, and right now, he is giving up his very life to save me. “Let her go, Clarence.”
“Nah. See, that’s something I’ve always hated about you, little brother. You never know when you’re beat.” Clarence’s grip on my throat tightens. I gasp, sinking my nails futilely into his forearm. “I gave you a chance, man. I gave you three. I may hate your guts, but at the end of the day, Malcom, you’re family.”
Malcom’s face is pure torture, his jaw clenched tight, brow furrowed, eyes shadowed. Rain thrashes against the rooftop of the derelict villa. The wind howls and thunder rampages, and I’m sick with want. I want to be in the rose garden. I want to be in the library. Walking the fields, drinking tea by the castle. I want to be lying in Malcom’s arms. I want him to hold me, to kiss me, to stroke my hair and promise me the world though it costs him everything.
“Go,” I say softly. Everything in me breaks to say it. But what other way is there to guarantee we all make it out of this alive? “Malcom. It’s over. Go.”
His eyes widen. Clarence laughs again.
“See? Even she doesn’t want to be stuck with you. Walk away, Malcom. Know when you’re beat.”
Clarence’s arm around my neck loosens ever so slightly. I drop my hands. I stop fighting. “Please,” I say to Malcom. “No one else has to get hurt.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
Tears stream down my face. “Yes. You are.” What can I say? How can I make him leave? How can I save him? “I was going to run, Malcom. Today. Everything I said to you—I said it to save myself. I don’t love you. I don’t want a life or a world with you. I want to be free. You know you’re a bad man, Malcom. I could never love you.”
His face is utterly unreadable.
“Hear that? Come on, man. This is just pathetic. I’ll let her go as soon as your plane clears the runway.”
But I know that’s not true. I’ll be Clarence’s prisoner. But at least I’ll be alive. Alive to fight. Alive to escape.
“Go, Malcom,” I say, as firmly as I can.
“Go,” says Clarence, more sharply. And he lowers the pistol from my head, to my belly.
Every cell in my body turns to ice.
“Go, Malcom,” he says. “Or your precious, unborn child dies too.”
20
Malcom
My knees go weak. The world tilts beneath me.
Doubt hits me second—but it’s short-lived. Emma’s eyes go round, white haloing her irises, confirming the impossible truth of what my brother has just said.
All the blood drains from her face as the barrel of Clarence’s pistol touches her belly.
My child?“You’re…”
“Pregnant. Yep. You heard right, little brother.” Clarence says this with a low, impressed whistle. “I mean, you guys really got lucky, didn’t you? And I’m happy for you. Really, I am. But this is getting a little old, Malcom. I can let you both go. Or you can stay, and I can blow a hole in your little girlfriend’s gut.”
I immediately lay down my pistol. There is no playing with this. No bargaining. No winning. I raise my palms in surrender. I’ll go now. And I will find my way back to her. I will save her.
I take a step back, and Clarence’s expression changes completely. The smugness there deepens, and a smile cuts into his face.
“No. Wait.” His arm around Emma’s shoulder is lazy now, draped instead of choking. He knows he’s in control. “I like the look of you giving in. Don’t you, Em?” He brings her close, pressing his lips to her cheek.
The rage that awakens in me is black. A paralytic. For a second, the world feels suspended in time.
“We were talking, Emma and I, right before you got here. The kid baking in there—they’re the Walker line. Lately I find myself in need of an heir.” His smile is cruel and wicked as a blade. “You violated the rules of negotiation, Malcom. So now the stakes are changing. I let you and your girlfriend live. And you leave the country. But I think I’m gonna keep this one for myself. I was trying to get to the bottom of it, but she’s such a lady. So you’ll just have to tell me. Is she a good fuck?”
