“And yet, you had no qualms about putting a bullet into the back of her head while she slept.” Shadow glared. “So what kind of person does that make you?”
His blue eyes turned her way, and he momentarily halted his steps. “From where I’m currently standing?” Stanton arched a cocky brow. “I’d say I’m the kind of person who wins.”
“No matter the cost, right?” Her father somehow managed to keep his cool.
Given that Stanton had shot and killed the woman her father had called his soulmate, Shadow wasn’t sure how her father could remain so calm.
If someone killed Slade, she’d go all scorched earth on their ass. And they’d only shared one magical night together, followed by one glorious morning.
And then I yelled at him right before he left, and all he’d been doing was trying to protect me.
Guilt assaulted her in waves, but she pushed it back. With the silent vow to do whatever was needed to make things right between her and the man she loved, Shadow stared up at the man who’d destroyed her family when she was only six years old.
“So what was it?” She demanded to know. “Did my mom catch you stealing money from one of the men you two took out?”
Stanton’s cold smile gave her chills.
“I’m a lot of things, dear Alice. But I am no thief. What your mother had the unfortunate luck to discover wasn’t what I stole, but rather what I’d sold.”
“Intel,” her father guessed from the chair beside her. “You were a double agent.”
“Do you have any idea how much money our country’s enemies are willing to pay for classified information? I’ll give you a hint.” Stanton paused dramatically before lowering his voice to a hushed, “It’s a lot.”
“So you killed my mom because she found out you were a traitor?”
“Amanda left me no choice!” He lost his cool composure. “The bitch gave me an ultimatum. Either I turn in my notice and cut all ties with my buyers or she was going to turn me in.”
“Call my wife a bitch again, Stanton, and see what happens.”
The other man simply laughed. “Oh, Rafe. I have missed you, my friend.”
“I’m not your fucking friend.”
“So you sold government secrets, and Mom threatened to expose you. That’s it?”
“That’s not enough?” His blue glare swung her way. Stepping toward her, he stopped inches from where she sat. “My life would have been over, Alice. You were too young to understand that, but I’m sure you can see now that I did what I had to do.”
“The only thing I see is a pathetic man who couldn’t make it on his own, so he had to cheat his way to the top. Bet your wife and son have no idea, do they? Wonder what your kid would say if he found out his dad was nothing but a greedy, lying, traitorous murdering son of a?—”
Stanton’s hand flew toward her with such speed, Shadow didn’t have time to even try to brace herself for the blow. Pain erupted across the right side of her jaw when the back of his hand struck hard, sending a flash of tiny, white dots twinkling before her watering eyes.
“You bastard!” Her father finally showed some real anger toward their captor. “Touch her again, and I swear to God, I will?—”
“What?” Stanton turned his way, pulling a pistol from his suit pocket and keeping it at his side. “What exactly are you going to do to me, Rafe? You going to shoot me? Oh, wait. You can’t. In fact, you can’t do much of anything can you? Not for your daughter now. And not for your bitch of a wife back then.”
Forcing her way through the pain, Shadow looked to where her father remained seated. Her chest tightened with the pain she found swimming in his grief-stricken eyes, but her fists curled when his expression soon turned into stone.
Her father stared the other man down, looking about as lethal as she’d ever seen him. A beat later, he slid his calculated gaze in her direction. And then he uttered one simple word.
“Now.”
It was the only thing he needed to say. The very cue she’d been waiting for her father to give. And now that he had, Shadow began the planned countdown in her head.
Three…two…
Both she and her father went straight into action in a simultaneous move to break themselves free. Just as he’d explained before Stanton came into the room, Shadow gave both her arms a hard jerk as if to bring her fist straight up to her chest.
Despite her father’s reassurance, she was still taken by surprise when the duct tape ripped with efficient ease. Shadow jumped to her feet, more than ready to finally take on the man she’d been hunting, but her father had literally beat her to the punch.
