Benjamin.
Killed.
Violette.
My gut wrenched. “Why, Ben?”
My little brother finished his cigarette, dark amusement still forecasted over his expression. “I gave her everything. My time. My devotion. My love. I treated her like a queen and she left me in the dust. First, for her half-brother and then for myownbrother. The night she died, Violette dragged me to the rooftop of the party, saying she needed to confess something. I thought she’d finally admit her feelings for me. Except the fucking cunt tells me she’s in love with you!” Ben barked out a short scoff, shaking his head. “You, who barely has a lovable bone in your body. I told Violette to forget about you and move on, but she insisted I convince you to marry her…Because she was pregnant with your child.”
My heartbeats thudded in my chest like a flock of birds rushing into flight.
Violette was apparently pregnant with my child.
And he still killed her.
Horror scorched my veins. “You’re a monster, Benjamin.”
“I know.”
If his gun wasn’t out, I would have acted already. However, I couldn’t risk lurching for Ben. Not when I wasn’t wearing a Kevlar. The possibility of him shooting and not missing from this distance was ninety-nine percent accurate.
So I bid my time while trying to calculate the fastest way to fracture his skull with my bare fists. “Violette fell from the rooftop because she was intoxicated, but that’s not the entire truth, is it?”
“She was drunk and high as a goddamn kite, but no, she didn’t fall.” He smirked soullessly. “I pushed her myself and watched her body go down thirteen stories until she cracked like a fucking egg on the concrete.”
Bile rose in my throat.
“I didn’t want to hurt her, Zed.” He brought the gun to his temple and knocked twice. “But she got in my head and forced me, saying things like, ‘Ben, you’re going to become an uncle. We’re going to be one big happy family!’ and I thought, ‘Fuck that and fuck her’.” Ben spat on the ground and shuddered in revulsion. “Not only did she pickyouover me, but she was going to give birth to your dirty spawn. I couldn’t risk the De la Croix line being tarnished by your blood. So I had to kill her, Zeno. I had to push her off the rooftop.” His expression was suddenly devoid of any emotions. “I’m sad she’s gone. But no more Violette meant no more baby.” He brought his fingers together before mimicking an explosion. “Boom! Problem solved!”
Benjamin was truly sick in the head. He delivered the last tidbit like it was the punchline of a joke and not a horrifying confession of his coveted best friend’s death.
If he was so hell-bent on killing Violette due to jealousy and being pregnant with my child, then there was no doubt he hired the lackey for the drive-by shooting tonight.
He wanted to end me and my wife now that her pregnancy was announced to the family.
“What about the other men you killed?”
“Miles Moretti was greedy for money after being set free. Since he already had resentment towards you, he made for the perfect fall guy. I paid him a couple Gs to tip the MPD, but the dumb fuck used a credit card to buy a burner phone. Alas, I had to kill him.” He shrugged. “Gustave Melrose was too smart for his own good. He actually deciphered it was me. I also got rid of him before he revealed my secret. As for the photographer I hired? Well, you know how that ended. Really, all these people were simply a technicality when it came to my end goal.”
“What about St. Victoria?” That one bothered me the most. “What about all the innocent lives you put in danger by setting the fire?”
“Actually,Ididn’t set the fire. I hired people to do it. There’s a difference, Zed.” Benjamin said it like he actually believed his own bullshit. “Darla’s a sweet woman, but she was just another chess piece in our game. Taking her out of the picture would have sent you derailing and essentially made you weak, ergo easier to kill.”
The cavalier way he talked about my wife…
I tamed my rage and advanced towards Benjamin, imploring him with kindness that I did not feel. “You need help, Ben. Let me help you.”
His eyes cut to me sharply. He hiked his chin and his gun. “I know what you’re trying to do and it won’t work. There’s no way you’re leaving this place. You will burn alive, right after I tie you to the post and carve a cross into your chest.”
Burn alive?
My eyes chased around the stables and I finally spotted the slickened ground and the three fuel cans sitting in the corner of the room. That distinct scent plaguing me when I stepped inside was gasoline.
He was going to blow this entire place up.
“That was your plan all along? Lure me to the stables and set me on fire?” I could feel the knife tucked under my jacket’s sleeve. I wondered how fast I could launch it at his neck to disable him and yank his gun away.
In that exact moment, Darla entered the stables using the doors behind Benjamin.