Joe's expression changes, he gives me a quick glance, and his mask drops completely, revealing something feral and dangerous underneath—gone is any trace of the casual, arrogant man from moments before.
In zero point five seconds, Joe pulls out a gun, and my heart stops when he lunges at Charles, shoving him against the wall with such force that the cabin seems to shake.
“That is, in fact,notthe price that you and I discussed.” Joe smiles, pressing the barrel against Charles's temple. “I discussed this price with whom I had an inkling was your boss.” Joe growls, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.
“And guess what?” he says with a somber laugh that promises empty surprises. “That’s the price that came back from the buyer—that's the exact price I had re-laid to your boss. Now I finally know who the fuck has been fucking with us. I only gave you another number because I wasn’t completely sure it was him running the show. So now I know,” Joe continues, pressing the barrel harder against Charles's temple.
“It all made sense. Lightbulbs fired. Pew, pew, pew.” He motions fireworks with his gun in the air. “The name of the company, the year theVelastrawas purchased, the name similar to stargazing which my mom loves, and other details…and do you know who has always been in love with my mom? My fucking uncle! Oh he wished he had shown her the fucking stars!” Joe moves his fingers in the air like a wave, whistling through his teeth. “I just wish—fuck, I wish—I had all the information sooner to figure it all out.
“I made a call, an old-time friend who’s a gee in spyware, he checked a few things for me and I had him text from an unknown number, your boss—my uncle, an offer for Sara and that price, then I called you and we discussed a different number. What are the fucking odds, right mate?” He enunciates mocking Charles’s speech.
I watch in stunned silence as Charles frantically looks past Joe toward the door, desperate for anyone to intervene, but Joe notices his wandering eyes and shoves the gun lower, pressing it hard against his crotch.
“You enjoyed that little ultimatum you gave me, didn’t you? To disappear, to leave everything behind, to fucking pretend I was dead! The deal Charles was that you’d leave Sara alone. And now you're also trying to cash out a deal behind your boss' back? Nah.”
Charles's eyes dart between Joe and me.
“I gave up everything!” Joe's voice cracks with emotion. “Everything to protect her! I gave her up!” His finger tightens on the trigger, and I can see the muscles in his forearm tensing.
“And you know what screams danger? A man who isn't afraid to lose anything more.”
My breath catches, his pain emanating from him. The sacrifice he’s been through to keep me safe. I see it all pouring out of him, as he had kept it all locked in and is now unleashing with no reason to look back.
“You took everything from me,” he hisses, pushing the gun harder.
I jump in fear when a thunderous noise erupts overhead, vibrating through the cabin walls. The unmistakable sound of helicopter blades slicing through the air.
Charles's eyes dart upward, trembling with relief flooding his face. “They’re here, show’s over. Say bye-bye to your little bird, Joe.”
Footsteps pound above us, followed by sharp cracks of gunfire that make me flinch against my restraints. Charles's lips twist into a grotesque smile. Shots are going crazy above us.
“Oh God, oh God, we're going to die, we're going to—” Mimi dissolves into desperate sobs beside me, her body rocking.
But Joe remains stoic, unmovable, unfazed as he’s possessed into something feral, something I barely recognize.
“You’re not dying today, Mimi, neither are you, Sara,” Joe calmly reiterates, looking back at us until his eyes fall on Charles again. “But you are, and Fred Laurent is too when we find him. You both can rot in hell.”
Joe roars and he slams the butt of his gun against Charles's skull. Blood sprays across the wall as he crumples sideways, screaming in agony. His mouth opens, but only a pathetic gurgle escapes.
The door explodes inward in a shower of splintered wood, and Mimi and I barely have time to shield ourselves. My heart lurches in my throat when I see Liam stepping through the threshold, gun raised, his movements fluid and precise, and the agony a moment ago appeases as I see him.
His eyes take in the scene unfolding before him. His gaze locks with mine for a split second, and I see relief flash in his eyes before they harden again.
Liam raises his gun and blurts out with a deathly calmness to him. “Is our uncle here?”
“He’s not, but this piece of shit is.” Joe points at Charles.
And suddenly there's a deafening explosion. I scream as a warm, sticky wetness jets and plasters across my face and chest, and the overwhelming scent of blood violates my senses.
When I open my eyes in shock, Charles's head—or at least what's left of it, is jerked back, blood and brain matter splattering the wall behind him. Liam slowly lowers his gun, smoke still curling from the barrel after shooting him. Joe flinches, looking at the mess before him and his twin with a smirk.
“Well, shit,” he mutters, crossing his arms as he bites the inside of his cheek, his voice barely audible over the persistent ringing in my ears.
Liam rushes to me, holsters his weapon, and takes a small knife out as he frees my wrists. The moment my hands are loose, he's already working on Mimi's bindings, his movements quick and precise.
When he turns back to me, his eyes darken at the sight of Charles's blood splattered across my face. Without hesitation, he pulls the sleeve of his shirt over his hand and wipes my mouth, my cheeks, my forehead. His touch rough yet careful, and then suddenly his hands are on either side of my face, gripping me hard. Liam violently crushes his mouth against mine with suchforce I gasp into him, putting my arms around his neck but before I can let my body soothe the way I crave, desperately needing him, he pulls back, unlocking and throwing my arms away from him by my elbows. My heart stings at the gesture, and his eyes are blazing with an intensity that makes my knees weak.
“You and I are going to fucking talk.” His voice is low and dangerous.
