It irks me the way he says “this girl” like he didn’t practically watch me grow up and suffer so much abuse at my father’s hand. Yet another example of the “mind your own business” boys club that did nothing to help me for years.
The councilwoman sighs heavily like she’s really put out by all the talking she has to listen to today instead of all the bloodshed. “Fine, very well. We have a deal.”
I shake my head. “In writing. Signed, of course.”
Oh, by the look on her face, I’m pushing it now. She wants to rip me apart for daring to interrupt her proceedings like this.
Adrian lets out a loud noise to try to grab my attention, but I keep ignoring him, even as my body is vibrating with the need to touch him, to help him. The man who spoke before pulls a notepad from his jacket pocket and scribbles out a note, then hands it to the councilwoman.
She locks eyes with me as she slashes her name across the page. “This better be fucking good.”
I take a deep breath and cup my belly low in the front. “You agreed, so thank you, that you won’t kill me before my child is due.”
The room goes silent. So quiet, yet so weighted with anger and hostility. Most of it seething off Adrian right now between Andrea and me ruining his plans, and now the council knowing our child exists.
“Very well,” the councilwoman says, impatience crackling under every syllable. “Your confession then…”
“I killed them both. My father was a mean old bastard who did his best to make my life hell. Sal, who was my fiancé, brutally raped and murdered my cousin before he tried to murder me. So because of those things, I killed him too.” I say this all deadpan like my insides aren’t shaking apart piece by vital piece.
“You killed them. Two grown men? With no other help?” the older man asks. But it’s not a question. It’s all derision. He doesn’t believe a word I’ve said.
I shrug, still trying to seem calm and at ease. “It’s easy enough for a small woman to kill a man with a gun. My father tried to drug me and force an abortion, so I shot him in the gut and left him for dead.”
The room goes quiet again, and for the first time in several minutes, I risk a glance at Adrian. Hoping he can see in my eyes that I’m doing this for him.
“And you,” the councilwoman says, her attention also turning to Adrian. The guard steps away to remove his gag. He still can’t stand, but he squares his shoulders and looks every inch the broken king, blood dripping off his chin like he’s already taken a bite out of the world and plans to devour the rest.
I swallow against the wave of need and love that threatens to drag me down and make me take back everything I’ve said here.
“She is the last Novak, and she is carrying the heir to the Doubeck family line. She can’t be killed, and you know it. I think the only person here who doesn’t is her.” He shoots me a look of contempt and pity that feels like a kick to the face.
The councilwoman scowls heavily at all of us and settles back in her chair. “It seems I have some considering to do. She confessed. The only people here who know she’s the last Novak are in this room. I think killing you all and being done with this entire affair seems like the most prudent choice. Especially given the fact that you have a penchant for staying alive when people want you dead,” she adds, her eyes grazing down Adrian’s body.
I’m about five seconds from breaking Andrea’s grasp, climbing over the table, and slamming this bitch’s face into the mahogany if she keeps looking at my husband that way.
“Anything else to add?” She lets her eyes dip down to Adrian’s thighs, where they stretch the seams of his suit pants in his restrained position. “Maybe we should talk privately, and we could come up with something.”
“Don’t you fucking dare,” I whisper to him.
He cuts me a look. “That’s rich coming from you. I told you I could take care of this, and you chose to disobey me and come here. You chose to endanger our child and ruin everything.”
“Everything?” I counter, no longer trying to hide the hurt in my voice. “Your entire plan of getting captured and murdered? Because to me and Kai, that didn’t seem like much of a plan.”
“Kai is my employee. I don’t pay him for his opinions on my behavior. You are my wife, and I didn’t ask for yours either.” He spits at the floor, blood spraying across the shiny concrete.
I grind my teeth and flick a look toward Kai, who is still slumped to his side, clutching his ribs. They must be broken. Andrea has a gun, but the guards have bigger ones. The small plan of creating a distraction and making a break for it won’t work, not while we are all injured.