I only steal the briefest glance at her before turning my full attention to my father.
Iwantto tell her it’s going to be ok, that I’ll get her out of this…but that isn’t the right move in this moment.Focus. You have a plan. You prepared for this. Just stay focused and don’t let the fear overwhelm you.
I knew he’d be back. I knew he’d try something.
When Georgie asked me about it last night, I saw no reason to leave her in fear. But I knew.
“If you move, I put a bullet through her pretty little head,” Faiz warns me, stepping further into my office, pulling her along for the ride.
It’s easy to plan. It’s easy to prepare. But seeing her in his hands now, the danger that she’s in, I can barely control the fear. I’ve never felt anything like this before in my life. My heart feels dangerously close to imploding.
My body is rigid with adrenaline. I can barely move, barely pull my thoughts together.
My hands start to shake, and I lean against the desk, needing to hide it. I can’t let him see what he’s done to me by bringing her here like this.
I can’t give him that power.The power he clearly has.He could snuff her life out in a second, and being the man I know he is, he would feel nothing for it.
Don’t think like that. Fucking pull yourself together. Otherwise, you will lose her.
“I’ve been expecting you,” I say, casually, my voice not wavering or giving away the pulsing anger inside me.
“So, where was the red carpet to welcome me?” he sniffs.
“Sorry,” I laugh bitterly, standing up straight again, the shake in my hands under control. Stick to the plan. “So, what was your goal here, Faiz? Shoot up the place? Take over again?” I laugh, the same coldness in my voice as his. I hate sounding like him.
“You betrayed me, Kristopher. My own son,” he snaps bitterly.
“I don’t think I was ever a son to you, Faiz. You made that clear, day after day, year after year, over and over again. I can’t even count the number of times you told me you wished I’d never been born.”
“Stop deflecting from what you’ve done. Own your actions, Kristopher. You are the monster here. You betrayed your own father.”
I shove my hands into my pockets, my fingers brushing over my phone as I walk casually around my desk and lean against the front of it. While he’s talking, I press a button on the side of my phone, holding it in while I count to four. The emergency signal has been sent. Now all I have to do is keep him here long enough for backup to arrive. And to make sure he doesn’t hurt her.
I still haven’t looked at her. I can’t. The moment I do, I won’t be able to hide my emotions. My mask will slip, and he’ll know. He’ll know he holds all the cards.
“So, you came here to scold me? Or do you want to ground me? Take away my video games?” I laugh.
“Stop being such a fucking child,” he shouts, making Georgie flinch.
Don’t look at her.
“Alright, then you go ahead and explain your plan,Father,” I say calmly, trying to keep track of the time, calculating how long it would take them to get here from their hotels.
All of them stayed in the city. We were waiting for this, and we knew I’d need backup when it happened.
The five West Coast Pakhans are all here in Phoenix, and my father is about to face us all.
“You see, son, when you betrayed me, you proved what kind of a man you truly are. No one wants to ally with a man who doesn’t even respect his own blood. You might have them all on your side now, but it’s going to change in the blink of an eye. In fact…what if I killed her, right now? How would that affect you? Would you still be able to work?” he smiles.
I hide the rage inside me. “You always called me soft,” I sigh. “You never realized that I was just like you. I don’t have room in my life for emotions,” I bluff.
I see the flicker of annoyance across his face. He presses the gun harder into Georgie’s temple, eliciting no reaction from me. This annoys him.
“Maybe I wasn’t paying enough attention,” he snaps. “Your emotionless heart would explain why it was so easy for you to destroy your own father, the man who raised you, who gave you everything.”
Faiz launches into a monologue. He drones on, saying all the things he’s said before. About how I am nothing without him, how he created me. He made me the man I am today. He talks and talks and all I can think is,yes, keep going. Your time is running out.
When it happens, it happens fast.
