Page 39 of Conquer

My voice hadn’t gone above a whisper, but from the change in his expression, he saw how serious I was.

He tightened his grip on the gun and then lifted it halfway. “I could kill you, kill her, and walked out with this bag,” he said.

“You could kill me,” I replied.

I could see Sam from the corner of my eye, saw the slight frown on her face when I said that. But I kept her out of my thoughts, my mind completely focused on Gordon. He needed to understand the terms of this transaction, and I needed to keep focused.

“But you won’t touch Sam,” I finally said.

“I think you still don’t understand the situation. I’m the one holding the gun,” he said incredulously.

“No, Gordon, you’re mistaken.”

“If I kill you and then Sam, what will you be able to do about it?”

“There will be consequences even if I am dead,” I said.

Gordon laughed. “Consequences? Like what? You’re going to what, have someone kill my mother? My ex? You’d be doing me a fucking favor,” he said.

“I know. Which is why your mother and your ex will be fine. Melissa, though. Melissa won’t be fine.”

My words had their intended effect. All the color drained from his face.

“How and what do you know about her?”

“How I know isn’t important, but I know who she is, and I know exactly where she lives. If anything happens to Sam, Melissa won’t make it to the next sunrise,” I said.

Despite knowing better, I looked at Sam, saw that she was desperately trying to keep her expression unbothered, but it was clear that this conversation was appalling to her—that I was appalling to her.

That didn’t matter. I was serious, and needed Gordon to know it. And besides, I doubted Sam could hate me any more than she already did.

“Stay away from her,” Gordon said, his own voice going deep with rage.

“You do the same,” I said. “Now leave, Gordon.”

He lifted the bag and got into the car without another word.

And I was again, for probably the last time, alone with Sam.

I kept my gaze averted, at least at first.

I had contemplated how this moment would play out, but I hadn’t considered how different it would be when she looked at me.

Before, she had been suspicious, then amused, trusting—loving. But she wouldn’t be any of those things now.

Even if she didn’t know all the details, she knew enough to have killed any of the affection she might have held for me. So, when I looked at her this time, I wouldn’t see those emotions I had gotten accustomed to. No, all I would see was her scorn.

I waited for moment longer and took a deep breath.

But before I could look, a sound that I recognized instantly—the muffled blast of a gunshot—filled my ears.

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