My diversion works. Cruz smirks at me as he moves away, walking back to his wife. Relief surges through me, but it’s short-lived. We are far from out of the woods. “Anais fed Caleb intel when it suited us,” he explains, “and she was able to keep tabs on most of the key players while we plotted in the background.”
“Except it all went wrong,” Caleb clips out. “We got the upper hand in A.C., and Puccinelli washed his hands of you.”
“We didn’t need the Italian, and the Grecoes were fools.” Cruz puffs out his chest. “Anais begging you for protection wasall part of the plan because we needed those files to destroy The Commission and take control.”
“You ruined everything.” Anais jabs her finger in my face. “I couldn’t get close to him to gain access to the file room because of you, and Joshua practically threw me out the day I showed up at his office.”
“We know you placed cameras and audio and bugs in her apartment, and you have the building locked up like Fort Knox,” Cruz says to Caleb.
“That’s why you were masquerading as Giotto,” I surmise. Caleb jerks his head in surprise because he wasn’t aware of that.
“That was only a recent development when we had to revert to Plan B.” A thunderous look crosses over Cruz’s face, and he darts forward, punching Caleb in the face.
I scream, shouting at him to let him go. Anais slaps me in the face, and I use the commotion to work faster, feeling the ropes loosen further.
“Cruz has been in the city the entire time.” Anais peers at her husband with an adoring look. “We were meeting regularly at the salon.” She turns gloating eyes on me. “I was fucking Sebastien there too.”
Shock races through me. “He was a spy?”
“A distraction,” Cruz confirms. “We wanted to distract Caleb, and we knew a possessive boyfriend would work like a charm.”
“Not that it helped much in the end.” Anais scowls. “I still couldn’t get to that key, and then Seb fucked it all up by getting attached to your little virgin ass.” She rakes a derisory gaze over my body. “God knows why. You’re nothing special.” Her eyes linger on my chest. “A boob job would have done wonders for your sex appeal, Elisa, but you’re too timid to try anything bold.”
“Elisa has the perfect body, and she’s anything but timid in or out of the bedroom. She is worth a million of your lying whore ass,” Caleb says.
Both husband and wife attack him, and I use the opportunity he’s given me to loosen the ropes more. Not much further and I’ll be free. Ideas churn through my mind as I figure out how to play this to our advantage.
“You thwarted our plans to have you all sent down,” Cruz adds, straightening up and continuing speaking as if he and his wife aren’t two deranged lunatics who totally deserve one another. Anais kisses Caleb on the lips, and I shoot daggers at her back. She flips her middle finger at me as she moves over to her husband, sliding her hand down the back of his pants.
They make me sick, and I can’t wait for karma to finally get them.
“So you left us no choice but to kill everyone.” Cruz grins as he looks out the window in the direction of the airfield.
“You’re an idiot,” Caleb says. “You think you can blow up a plane and commit mass homicide and get away with it?”
“It wasn’t as neat as handing the files over anonymously to the authorities and letting them do my dirty work, but it’s a worthy Plan B. No one paid the price after the warehouse bombing.” He folds his arms. “They can’t pin anything on me because my planning was exemplary. I bought my own airline to understand the inner workings of the industry, make contacts, and devise a foolproof plan. This was always my backup strategy if I couldn’t get my hands on the files.”
“So why not kill Caleb on the plane?” I ask, just as the rope fully loosens, and I’m free. I don’t know if Caleb has managed to free himself too, but I can’t risk looking, so this is all on me.
“Because he deserves to suffer before he dies. It’s punishment for daring to taunt me for years.” Cruz strides toward me with evil written all over his face. I prepare myself, having decided what I’m going to do. “That’s where you come in, sweetheart.” He grabs my boob through my bra. “I’m going to fuck you every which way from Sunday while he watches.Then Anais will take what she wants from that cockroach while you watch your love get hard for another woman.” He leans in closer to my face. “Then, I’ll kill you slowly, making him watch the blood drain from your body. After, I’ll keep him alive for a while. A few weeks. A couple months.” He shrugs. “I’ll prolong the agony for as long as I can before he rots in this cell.”
“Fuck you,” I say before gathering saliva in my mouth and letting it loose. It lands on his cheek, and he’s instantly enraged. I use my body when he slaps me, letting it propel me backward with force. My chair slams to the hard ground, the weathered wood shattering upon impact like I hoped. Ignoring the rattling pain splintering up my back and Caleb’s panicked shouts, I wrap my free hand around one of the broken spokes of the chair, feeling the jagged end and smiling internally.
I wait for Cruz to lean down before making my move, praying like I have never prayed before. “Time to lose your virginity, little mouse,” he says, reaching for me.
“Time to go to hell.” Lifting my arm, I shove the jagged piece of wood into his neck with force. Blood spurts from the wound as I hit the artery, and I hammer the end with my palm, pushing it down and driving it deeper, using all my hatred to fuel my movements.
Cruz stumbles to the side, staring at me with fear-laden eyes as his fingers curl around my makeshift weapon.
Anais screams, reaching for her husband as blood bubbles in his mouth, and he crashes to the ground. I slide out from under him in time, dragging the base of the chair with me. Only one of my legs is free, but the wooden spoke is still tied around my calf. I scramble to untie the last knots so I can help Caleb.
“You fucking whore!” Anais screams, jumping on me just as I’ve freed my leg. Angry tears fill her eyes as her hands wrap around my throat, and she squeezes. I do the only thing I canthink of and punch her in the boobs. Then Caleb surges forward, curling his arm around her neck and yanking her off me.
“I told you not to touch my girl,” he snarls, dragging her back a little. “Follow your husband to hell, bitch, and align your goals for eternity.” Locking eyes with me, he twists her head and snaps her neck in a lightning-fast move. The light instantly dies from her eyes, and she slumps to the ground, joining her dead husband.
I climb awkwardly to my feet, stumbling toward Caleb, and we fall into one another.
“You’re okay. We’re okay,” he says, holding me close as I shiver all over from the pure adrenaline coursing through my veins.
