Hanna tried again. “You needed the truth exposed. It has been.”
Always the naive peacemaker. I hated that about her. She was much more appealing when she lashed out.
Lukas eyed the knife and extended his arm just a fraction. “She’s the one—”
Jeremy pressed his hand harder against Lukas’s side. “You should shut up.”
Enough of this boredom.
I handed the gun to Stella. “Kill him.”
“Stella, no.”
If Lukas kept piping up like that I might take the gun back and shoot him. “Why are you still talking?”
Now. Back to Stella. “He cheated on you with a teenager. Talked about you. Joked about you being a shitty therapist who didn’t know anything about her husband or any other man.”
Lukas moved another inch. His body stayed still but he stretched. It was subtle. Smart. It wouldn’t work, but good try and all.
Tension snapped across his shoulders and in his tone. “Jesus. Stella. You know that’s not true.”
Stella frowned. “Do I?”
That’s my girl.
“Stella, don’t.” Hanna moved then. She slid on the floor. Got closer. “Aubrey wants you to do the dirty work so she can keep her hands clean.”
She needed to stop. “You’re annoying me, Hanna.”
She didn’t take the hint. “You’ve exposed Lukas. That’s enough.”
“Hardly.” Hanna acted like I wouldn’t kill her if she messed this up for me.I had no idea why she thought that.
“I called the police.” Jeremy rushed out the words. Looked at his mom as if asking her if he could grab the gun or the knife faster.
I admired his spirit. “Nice try but I set off the motion sensor on the far side of the pond. The police will be busy for a little while. We have time to get this done, but not much.”
They forgot I’d been planning this. I didn’t ride into town two weeks ago to wing it. They’d all been dancing and singing in an opera I designed.
Lukas sat up. “You’re insane.”
I guided my hand until it cradled Stella’s. Wrapped her fingers around the gun. She needed a tighter grip before she could pull the trigger or she’d shoot poor Jeremy’s head off.
I leaned in. Whispered in her ear. “He ended your marriage, then blamed you for it. Almost stole your ability to have a child.”
Hanna shifted to her knees. “Aubrey, back off.”
Nah, I was winning this round. I continued to work on Stella, forcing her control to stumble. “You’re a strong woman. He tried to make you weak. Fight back.”
“Stella, don’t. You do this and the spotlight shifts to you. You’ll have to defend yourself.” Hanna had her hands on the floor like she was going to do something ridiculous like stand up. “You could lose Everly.”
Stella’s love for that kid was a potential problem. I needed Stella’s focus here, not there. “Lukas deserves to die.”
He made his move. He jumped up, knocking Jeremy off-balance. I fired the gun as Stella rammed into me and Marni pushed my arm up higher. The shot went wide. The window behind Lukas’s head shattered.
He made it the whole way to his feet before Hanna stepped in front of him. She held the knife. Stood only inches away from him.
Stopped him cold with the blade she looked intent on using. “Don’t tempt me.”
