“You’re safe now, my little petal.”
He looked to my father, still kneeling on the floor, staring at the dead hitmen in his living room.
“You’ll live,”Anton said.“And more importantly...”He turned to me, expression morphing into sugary-sweet affection.“She’ll live. You just play along.”
Dad surged to his feet, shielding me with his body as if he hadn’t just witnessed the same execution I did.
“Uh-uh.”Anton tutted.“None of that. Move, or this ends badly.”He jerked his head, flicked his knife, and invisible hands forced my father aside.“I’ll clean up the mess.”He glanced at the bodies, then back at Dad, his voice steady.“I’ll get rid of the bodies. I’ll hide you somewhere Octavius won’t find you... but it’ll cost you.”His mouth curled, and he lifted a finger, pointing straight at me.“That sweet little thing... is mine now.”
“No!”
“Wrong answer.”Casually pulling a gun from the holster at his hip, Anton cracked his neck, leveling Dad with a pointed stare.“Nomeans you both die now.Yesmeans you both live. Ifyou run, she dies. If you talk, she dies.”He turned to me.“Same goes for you, sweetheart. Disobey me, he dies. Act out, he dies. Behave, and I’ll make sure you’re both always safe.”
My heart pounded a painful rhythm, drumming against my ribs. A whoosh of blood was all I could hear, and the crazed look on his face while he killed those men... his sick pleasure at taking their lives... replayed before my eyes.
I knew he wasn’t bluffing.
I knew we had no choice...
A choice between life and death isn’t a choice. People are survivalists. We’re wired to preserve life and thrive.
I remember being rational, calculating, pondering my next move. I remember weighing the pros and cons as I gauged his age. Early forties. Tall, broad, deranged.
“You were hysterical, petal,”he told me weeks later,slowly dragging a comb through my hair, working in the conditioner.“You begged me not to kill your father. Begged me to hide him. Said you’d do anything. Said you’d be perfect for me.”
Funny how our brains work in survival mode. How they fabricate moments to make us feel stronger, more capable. My brain fooled me into thinking I’d held it together, that I made a conscious, rational decision.
“So?”Anton’s gaze cut between my father and me.“What’s the correct answer?”
My throat locked. The word stopped behind my teeth, fighting to stay buried. I wanted to screamnoand claw my way out of there. I wanted to run until my legs gave out.
But I couldn’t.
Not with my father’s life balanced on the edge of Anton’s knife.
Not with mine dangling there too.
“Yes.”
One short word...
It flipped my life upside down. Tipped over the first domino and the series of unfortunate events began.
4
Koby
Soon isn’t soon enough.
It’s well past ten at night when the text finally comes through. My phone buzzes, and that single vibration jolts me out of my wait-induced stupor.
Carson: Hotel Vega. Room 514. He and the girl left fifteen minutes ago. They just walked into a casino downtown.
My lungs empty in a long exhale, relief, dread, and anticipation tangled together. I jump up and get as far as grabbing the door handle before I falter.
Despite my every muscle screaming for motion, begging me to put a bullet through Jax’s skull, grab Leilani, andrun,this isn’t the time for rash decisions.
I press my forehead against the cool wood of the door, breathing hard to contain the recklessness. I need to consider the consequences of killing him at the heart of a busy casino floor.
