Page 274 of Vicious Temptation

“You knew my mother. My family. My home. You knew them all before I ever let myself know you.” A bitter laugh slips out. “I thought I was letting a good man into my life, but I was delivering the enemy to their doorstep.”

“I’m sorry I betrayed what that meant to you.”

She raises the gun again, and this time, her hands are steady. “Your mission wasn’t just about me. It was about all of us.”

The barrel is level with my chest.

“That’s where you fucked up, Braga.” The tears gathering in her eyes don’t weaken the conviction in her voice. “Because if I have to choose between the man I love and my family...” Her lips tremble as she forces out the rest. “I’ll bury the man I love myself.”

All I hear is that one word. Love. She didn’t say she loved this time. She still loves me, and she’s going to pull the trigger anyway.

Her finger curls around it.

“If you love me, let me fix this.” I take a careful step toward her. “Let me tell you everything. No more lies or secrets. Just you and me.”

Fresh tears slip down her cheek.

“I wish I didn’t.”

I move closer.

“Remi, please.”

She flinches when I reach for her.

“You don’t want to do this. You won’t kill me.”

Her chest rises with a shaky breath as she stares at me over the barrel of the gun. I can see the fight happening in her expression, the fury warring with everything she just admitted she still feels for me.

“You killed me first,” she whispers.

The gun fires.

I close my eyes and brace for the impact, but it never comes. The shot rips across the terrace, followed by the violent splash as a bullet hits the pool behind me.

The Glock clatters to the concrete.

When I look at her again, Remi is staring at her empty hands as if she can’t believe what she’s done...or what she couldn’t do.

She chose not to shoot me.

A sob tears out of her as she wraps her arms around herself, and another tear slips down my face. I don’t bother wiping it away.

I move toward her, but she immediately backs away.

“Don’t.”

“Baby...”

“Don’t call me that.” She drags both hands through her wet hair and looks at me with an anguish I know I put there. “Please...just don’t.”

“I love you. You have to know that. I know that means nothing to you right now, but it’s true. It was true before I stepped onto this terrace, and it will still be true when you hate me tomorrow.”

“Get out.”

“Please, just let me explain.”

“Get out!” she screams. “Go. Right now.” She points toward the elevator. “Because if you stay...” She squeezes her eyes shut before continuing. “If you stay, I’m going to remember every reason I love you, every reason I trusted you, and every way you betrayed me.” Her hand falls back to her side. “And I can’t survive that.”