Roman has destroyed him. I don’t know if there’s anything left to save.
“This dinner is over,” I say, breaking the silence.
Roman turns to look at me, surprised. Like he’d forgotten I was here.
“Over?” He laughs. “We’re just getting started. We still need to discuss your punishment. What I’m going to do to you and that little whore you brought into my house.”
“Don’t call her that.”
“I’ll call her whatever I want. She’s nothing. A witness who should’ve died weeks ago. The only reason she’s still breathing is because you developed a conscience at the worst possible time.”Roman moves toward the table again, reaching for the whiskey bottle. “That’s about to change.”
I stand, pulling Saint up with me. “We’re leaving.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Try to stop me.”
The words hang in the air. A challenge. A line drawn.
Roman goes very still. Then he smiles, and it’s the coldest thing I’ve ever seen. “You think you’re brave now, Calder? Because the FBI is listening? Because you’ve got your little insurance policy?” He taps his chest, right where my wire is hidden. “You think that’s going to save you?”
“I think you’re drunk and you’ve said enough to bury yourself ten times over. So yes. I think it’s going to save me.”
“Then you’re stupider than I thought.” Roman moves around the table, slow and deliberate. “The FBI can’t move without evidence. And evidence needs to be admissible. Needs to be obtained legally. You think they’re going to be able to use anything from tonight? A recording made without a warrant? In a private home? With a wire that you illegally placed?” He laughs. “Your agent friend should have explained the law better.”
My stomach drops.
Reese said it would be admissible. Said we had legal standing because?—
But I can see in Roman’s eyes that he’s thought this through. That maybe he’s known longer than I realized. Known and let me hang myself.
“So here’s what’s going to happen,” Roman continues, his voice casual now. Almost friendly. “You’re going to give me that wire. Your brothers are going to hold you down while I beat the location of every FBI contact out of you. And then we’re going to solve the problem of your wife once and for all.”
He pulls a gun from his waistband and points it at Saint.
“Or we can just start with her.”
Saint
The gun looks biggerthan it should.
Roman pulls it from his waistband with the casual ease of a man who’s done this a thousand times, and suddenly that black metal barrel is the only thing I can see. Everything else fades. The elegant dining room, the crystal chandelier, the brothers frozen around the table. All of it disappears except for that gun and the cold certainty in Roman’s eyes as he aims it at my chest.
“Or we can just start with her,” he says. His voice is almost pleasant like he’s discussing the weather. Like ending my life is just another item on his evening agenda.
My hand is still locked around Calder’s even though we are on our feet now. His fingers tighten, and the sudden tension strums through his entire body like a bow string pulled taut.
Then he’s moving.
One second, he’s standing beside me. The next, he’s shifted, positioning himself between me and the gun with a speed that shouldn’t be possible for someone his size. His body becomes a wall. A shield. The only thing between me and the bullet Roman wants to put in me.
“No.” The word comes out of Calder low and dangerous. Final. “You want to shoot someone, Roman, you shoot me. But you don’t touch her.”
Roman’s smile widens. “How noble. The prodigal son, willing to die for his whore.”
“She’s my wife.”
“She should’ve been dead weeks ago.” Roman’s finger moves to the trigger. “But don’t worry. You can join her. I’ll put you both in the ground tonight. Clean this mess up once and for all.”
