I can feel a new, sharp sensation in my stomach for the first time as I stare at the pistol in the stranger’s hand.
Nausea.
That too, I keep hidden. Guarded.
I know what they want me to do, but…
What about Reuben?
I find myself looking towards Reuben, for what I don’t know, guidance? Help? Just moments ago, I would’ve done anything I needed to, to join his team.
Anything but this.
But Reuben has already joined his brother’s side. And now he only watches me. Waiting.
And there’s no way this could be my second home.
There’s no way because the moment I stop holding back I’m sure I’ll grab the gun and shoot him between the eyes right now.
Aside from Reuben and Aster, there are five more men in the space, two on each side of the kids, two behind me to block off my escape and the man before me right now holding out the small pistol.
I’d need seven bullets.
And my gut is telling me this gun isn’t hiding seven bullets.
Reuben’s brow raises, as if he can guess my thoughts, but I ignore him for now.
If I do manage to kill everyone here, what happens then? Do I take the kids and run? How far would I possibly get for killing the Don’s two sons?
And if I make that choice, I’ll be ruining Christian’s name…
And the name of every man on the Adler Squad.
That thought destroys every notion I have of running away.
It freezes me to the spot… reminds me why I’m here.
I’m not here to find a new home…
I’m not here to find a new Christian—I’m not here to save anyone at all.
I’m here to extend the Adler Squad’s legacy.
That thought is what makes me slide my palm over the gun. It drives me to hold the destructive thing in my hands and put my finger on the trigger.
The man who offered it steps back onto that invisible line, closing the wall around me as I hold the gun at my side.
I’m trying to convince myself it’ll be just like when I took that man’s life that night, the driver I’d forced to take me to Dahlia’s place. I’d threatened him by holding a gun to his head then, and to cover up the truth about myself I put a bullet in his head.
This is the same.
“If you hadn’t saved them we wouldn’t need to do this,” Aster offers quietly.
“If I hadn’t saved them, they’d be dead.” The words escape me before I can stop them.
“Exactly,” Aster’s smile makes my blood churn. “Now you’re just putting the world right again.”
“And this proves what?” I ask bravely, but the words sound hollow in my ears, “That I’d do whatever it takes to join the Taiga family?”
