He grasped my arms in a tight grip, his deadly eyes locking with mine. “You are my daughter. I had to do what was right for you.” He shook me then he sighed and let me go. “If you must know, I terminated that deal. I found another way to repay that promise to him. So, you won’t be marrying anyone.”
I held out my hands, frowning. “Let me go back to Gabriel then,” I pleaded.
“No. Because that man is not to be trusted.” Something in his words made me blink. “He used you to get to me, Gianna.”
“What?” My laugh was incredulous. “Doesn’t make sense. He doesn’t even know you.”
“How well do you know Gabriel?”
He’s a hired killer, I wanted to say but refrained. “Well enough to know I love him unconditionally.”
“Then you should’ve gotten to know him better. He’s a killer, an assassin for hire. Paid to take out anyone, at a price.”
I knew that. But I promised Zayne I wouldn’t say anything to anyone. Least of all to a man Zayne didn’t even know was my father. “Well, you’re a criminal. Don’t you kill people too?” I snapped.
“I don’t kill family, Gianna, especially the people you love.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I glowered at him. He merely stared at me, waiting. For what, I had no freaking clue and annoyance was beginning to pound at my temples. Then something clicked. “Wait...you’re not saying...” I trailed off, shaking my head. “That’s ridiculous. Gabriel loved Harsh and Bhavna, he wouldn’t harm them. Ishara became his closest ally to me.” I was still shaking my head, the suggestion sounding more bizarre by the second. “Anyway, why would he kill them. He loves me.”
“He had to get close to you, so he could get to me. And he had to get rid of the people that knew him, that could tie him to you.”
“Oh, my God.” I gripped my hair in both hands, pulling at the ends, frustration weighing me down. “You’re talking about them like they were no one. They were my family, people I lived with and loved for the last ten years,” I yelled. “What makes you so important to Gabriel that he would want to kill them. Who are you?” my voice grew louder with each word I uttered.
“Calm down, Gia—”
“Don’t tell me to calm down. I just lost my freaking mother,” I screamed. “Because of you. Now you’re telling me I lost the only other family I knew. On top of all of that, you’re accusing Gabriel of what? Murder?” My voice turned raspy from shouting. “So, don’t tell me to calm down.” I grasped my arms and rubbed my elbows, trying to stop my body from shaking so much, my head pounded, my heart turn uneven and I inhaled quick, deep breaths.
He stared at me for a full moment as if deciding what to tell me. “Fine. Maybe these will convince you.” He withdrew an envelope from his inside jacket pocket and held it out.
“What’s this,” I croaked, my throat sore.
“Open it and see for yourself.”
I took the envelope, opened it and pulled out three photos. They fell to the floor on my gasp. My knees buckled and my father grabbed my arms to keep me upright. “What...” I pushed out of his hold and staggered to the bed. Barely able to sit, I gripped the bedcovers to keep me anchored, my gaze riveted on two photos that lay face up. Harsh and Ishara laid flat out on the floor, their throats sliced in a neat cut from ear to ear. Blood painted their chest like a gruesome necklace. Their eyes wide open staring right back at me as if asking,why, Gianna?
I didn’t have to turn the other one around to know it was Bhavna. Tears cascaded down my cheeks. Three beautiful souls, I loved, now resting with my mother. Their last moments of anguish, I’d never no.
“This doesn’t tell me that Gabriel killed them,” I whispered, knowing I was lying to myself because I’d seen him kill, witnessed him slice those men’s throats in the same slick manner that night at Nathaniel’s home.
“Well, believe what you must, Gianna but the people you love are dead and the only other person you loved and trusted, isn’t dead, so do the math.”
I forced my gaze away from the photos and looked at my father, my eyes pleading. “Can I at least call him?”
He shook his head, his face a mask of rigidity. “You can’t because then he will be able to track your movements, know where you are.”
My stomach somersaulted. I was alone in a world gone dark, for me. “So, how do I verify that he did this?” I pointed to the photos.
My father picked them up and stuffed them back into the envelope. “You don’t. Starting today, you begin a new life. If you choose not to then you can wallow here to your heart's content.”
I shot to my feet, incredulity tightening my chest. “Are you serious right now? What are you going to do? Lock me up?”
“Yes.”
“You can’t do that. I’m eighteen—”
“And until you learn to understand the world you and I live in is different to what you know, you will stay locked up. His no-nonsense expression told me he wasn’t about to change his mind and I should quit trying.
“Whatever,” I muttered, turning my back on him.
