My mouth falls open as it starts to make more sense. Finn must have stabbed Gia, and deliberately wanted it to look the way it did. To make us believe she… no. I won’t feel bad for her when she betrayed Matteo. Bitch.
“And then there’s you.” His eyes lock with mine, and there’s something almost like fascination in his gaze. “When I saw Matteo dispose of two of my men after your little tryst—”
“You were there?” I gasp.
Finn—Salvador, whatever his name is—nods slowly. “Those were two of my best men. They were there to blow up the building. But when we saw you, I changed the plan. I thought you might be… I don’t know, useful. And even though Matteo killed them, you proved to be everything I’d hoped and more.”
Leaning forward, Finn grabs my hair and forces me to arch my neck to relieve the growing pressure.
“After pretending I was going to shoot you, I now know for certain you’re his weakness, Raven,” he says, sounding pleased with himself.
“You’re going to kill me,” I whisper. It’s not a question but more like a pathetic acknowledgment of what’s going to happen.
To my surprise, he shakes his head. “No. You can believe me or not, but I never meant to hurt you.”
Even though he sounds sincere, I scoff, “Yeah, no. I don’t believe you.” Jeez, I really should be quiet as a fucking church mouse instead of mouthing off.
“I know,” he simply says. “All I needed you for was information—”
“I’m not telling you shit,” I hiss, lifting my chin. “Not now. Not fucking ever.”
Finn chuckles darkly. “But you already have. All the times you and Adam talked and you casually mentioned what you’d been up to the night before, that your boyfriend brought you breakfast… you told me more than you probably realized.”
My stomach lurches as I understand what he’s saying. I sold out Matteo… I’m the… ahh, I’m the fucking leak, aren’t I? The unknowing second mole. Because obviously, I’m not the one he was looking for. But still… gah, I hate irony.
“He’ll come for me,” I hiss.
Instead of taking it like the warning it was intended as, Finn lets out a dark and chilling laugh. “Oh, I’m counting on it.”
He lets go of my hair and traces a line along my jaw that makes my skin crawl. His touch lingers on my cheek even after he stops touching me. I gather every ounce of hatred and defiance I have left and spit directly into his face.
The glob of saliva lands on his cheek, sliding down toward his mouth in a slow, insulting trail. For a moment, he doesn’t react, doesn’t even blink. Then something shifts in his eyes—emotion finally breaking through the cold façade.
His hand moves so fast I don’t see it coming. The backhand catches me across the face with enough force to snap my head to the side, and I taste blood as my lip splits open. Pain explodes across my cheek, vision blurring as stars dance at the edges of my sight.
“You’ll learn respect,” he says, his voice still terrifyingly calm despite the violence of his action. “Before this is over, you’ll beg me for mercy. And I’ll enjoy denying you. Just like your lover denied mercy to my family.”
I try to respond, to tell him exactly where he can shove his revenge fantasy, but the words won’t form. The room spins around me, darkness encroaching at the edges of my vision.
I think of Matteo, of his face. He’ll come for me, I know he will. But that’s exactly what Finn wants.
“He’ll kill you,” I manage to slur, blood dripping from my split lip.
Finn smiles, the expression reaching his eyes this time, lighting them with a fanatic’s gleam. “I truly fucking hope so.”
Chapter 40
Matteo
Beauty. Pure fucking beauty.
The flames dance skyward, oranges, and reds and yellows licking at the darkness like they’re trying to devour it whole.
I stand across the street from what used to be North Coast Effects’ headquarters, my hands still sticky with accelerant, watching as my masterpiece unfolds. This isn’t the first fire of the night. But it’s the prettiest.
The explosions were perfectly timed—first the back offices, then the main floor, and finally the storage area where they kept their precious chemicals. I want the bastards to know exactly who’s coming for them.
I want him to smell the smoke and know that I’m going to burn everything they own to the ground.
