Her hand shakes as she takes the phone back."He's trying to scare me."
"It's working."
"What do we do?"
This is it.The moment where I either tell her the truth or keep lying to protect her from what's coming.
"We handle it," I say carefully.
"How?"
"Let me worry about that."
"Hades, this isn't just about me anymore.He's taking pictures of the children.What if he does something crazy?"
"He won't get the chance."
"How can you promise that?"
"Because I'm going to take him out."
The words slip out before I can stop them, raw and honest and absolutely damning.Evangeline's eyes widen, and I watch comprehension dawn across her face.
"Take him out," she repeats slowly."You mean..."
"I mean he won't be a problem anymore."
"You're going to kill him."
It's not a question, but I answer anyway."Yes."
The silence that follows is deafening.She's staring at me like she's never seen me before, like I've just revealed myself to be a monster instead of a protector.
"That's not how normal people solve problems," she says finally.
"I'm not normal people.And this isn't a normal problem."
"There are other ways.Police, restraining orders, legal channels?—"
"That won't work.Morrison has connections, money, the kind of influence that makes evidence disappear and witnesses have accidents."
"So your solution is murder?"
"My solution is eliminating a threat to my family."
"By becoming a murderer yourself?"
The accusation hits harder than it should, probably because part of me agrees with her.There's a difference between violence in self-defense and premeditated killing, and I'm about to cross that line.
"He killed your brother," I say quietly."Had Calla murdered because she found out what he was doing.You think he's going to stop with harassment and intimidation?You think he won't escalate until someone else dies?"
"You don't know that he killed Marcus and Calla."
"Yeah, I do.I've seen the evidence."
"What evidence?"
This is where I should stop, should deflect and change the subject.But looking at her bruised face, thinking about those kids upstairs who trust me to keep them safe, I can't bring myself to keep lying.
