Marcus’s jaw sets. “I figured you’d want to end it and live happily ever after,” he scoffs.
I stop in front of him, letting the words hang between us. Then I nod. “Yeah. That would be smart . . . but no one has ever called me smart.”
“Nope. They haven’t.” Matteo’s voice slips in.
I let the tubing tap lightly against my palm.
“Every time Victoria jumped at a knock.”Tap. “Every time she couldn’t sleep.”Tap.“Every time she smiled, and I saw fear behind it . . .”Tap.
“She was safe. You had her well-guarded, apparently.”
“Safe,” I repeat, tasting the word. “You think safe means living?”
Marcus’s gaze drops, just for a second. That second is the only mercy he gets.
I swing the tubing.
Marcus grunts.
“Here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to kill you slowly, and you’re going to enjoy it.”
His gaze flicks back to me. “Where did you hide Victoria?”
The question comes out of nowhere, like a slap. Matteo’s posture goes rigid.
“Don’t say her name with your mouth,” I hiss. “You haven’t earned that privilege.”
“Was just wondering how you kept her alive so long.”
I know what he’s doing.
He wants me to kill him faster.
He wants me to snap.
I won’t.
“How about instead of you asking me a question, I ask you one . . .? How does it feel? Being the final loose thread in a noose I’ve been tightening for years?”
Marcus smiles. It’s faint and bitter. “Your revenge turned you into a monster.”
I tilt my head, considering. “Yes. It did.”
Marcus breathes out, a sound like resignation. “We called you the Shadow.”
I still.
Matteo’s brows lift. “A nickname. Cute. Can’t wait to tell the boys.”
Marcus’s gaze stays on me. “Because you didn’t hit us fast. You stalked. You watched.”
My grip tightens on the tubing in my hands.
Marcus’s gaze flicks down briefly, then up. “You made it collapse from the inside.”
“Good.”
He braces, shoulders tensing.
