And suddenly, everything aligns.
Elliot panicking in the car, behavior feral. The way he tried to escape. Brodie was there in the back seat.
This whole time I blamed The Octopus, the monster who I thought was behind the curtain, but it was Brodie.
His path. His choices. His hands.
“I did what I had to do to silence him,” Brodie says, voice devoid of remorse.
“What do you mean?” Brax asks.
Ice floods my veins.
Brodie stares at me with an unreadable expression.
“You couldn’t have predicted the crash,” I say. “You couldn’t have known that he’d…”
“No,” Brodie agrees. “But after the crash, he was alive.”
The ground cracks beneath me.
“I crawled to him,” he says. “He saw my mark and knew what it meant. Or knew enough, anyway. I couldn’t risk him talking.”
“Brodie...” Erin chokes out.
“You can’t sleep after you feel someone’s last breath,” Brodie murmurs. “But eventually, you learn to be okay with the dark.”
“You killed my brother?” The words come out slow, heavy, and gritty.
“I didn’t have a choice.”
The words hit hard, rattling deep inside me. My mind races, a storm of anger, disbelief, and grief crashing all at once. Everything narrows down to one impossible, undeniable truth—he did it. My stomach twists violently, a surge of raw panic and rage consuming me, and I lunge. Rudy grabs me, holding me back. I thrash against his arms, desperate to close the distance.
“Chase, no!” Erin yells, her voice plunging into my head just enough to get me to stop.
I’m powerless. There’s nothing I can do in this moment to end this.
“If he hadn’t gone to the stadium, none of this would have happened,” Brodie mutters. “You should have taken him to the airport, instead of begging him to stay.”
“Don’t listen to him, Chase,” Erin cries.
“Shut up, Lucia!” Brodie jams the muzzle into her ribs. Rudy flinches beside me, his grip still on my arms. Erin steadies herself, shaking her head as if to tell me not to make a move again.
“You did this,” I spit out at the man I thought was my friend. “You’re responsible for it all.”
“You should have left it alone,” Brodie yells. “I tied up every loose end. After Laurel and Dante, I couldn’t afford mistakes. My club had to be a success, and now…” His arm digs into Erin’s throat as he holds her in place. She closes her eyes shut, preparing for the end. “Everything’s ruined. Because of you.” His gaze shifts to Erin. “Because of whoyouare.”
“I didn’t ask you to find me,” Erin forces out.
“No one regrets that more than me,” Brodie hisses. “Drop the gun, Brax, and I won’t hurt her.”
Without a word, Brax lowers his gun, eyes still trained on Brodie. He kicks it in the opposite direction where Rudy and I happen to be.
Brodie gives us this wicked grin, like he’s won. He lifts his gun, directing it at Brax, taking aim.
“STOP!” yells a feminine voice.
Brodie’s head jolts to the side, looking for the person in question.
