Page 88 of Forbidden Hearts

“I don’t believe you!” Jacob says. “Ben would never sell me out!”

“Well, he did.”

“Bullshit!” His face sours. “Even if it’s true, I’m sure the rest of the reapers will come soon. They’re more loyal to me than to Ben. I’m the one they see every night at The Den.”

“I guess you were too stupid to realize how many reapers Ben has recruited in the past couple of years. They’re more loyal to him than to you.”

“I don’t believe that,” he says.

“I don’t care what you believe,” I say. “But it’s true. It’s just you and me now. Only one of us is walking out of here alive.”

“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, you fucking beaner,” he says. “You came to save Alex? And for what? She doesn’t even like you. She was just using you!”

Here it is. I’m about to learn whatever Alex and Jacob have been hiding from me.

“What do you say, sweetheart? Should I tell him the truth?” Jacob whispers into Alex’s ear. She recoils.

Sweetheart. Is Jacob the reason Alex hates that word?

“Alonzo…” Alex sobs.

“She was working you to win your trust and rob you blind. She knows about your former life, who you worked for, and the kind of man you are. Do you honestly think someone like her can love someone likeyou?”

“Is that true?” I glance at Alex.

Her gaze drops.It is. Then she looks up at me.

“It started like that,” she says. “But I changed my mind because…because I love you.”

Jacob laughs behind her. “She’s playing you again. Can’t you see? You were protecting this rat, but you’re nothing to her, noth—”

Alex startles at the sound of the gunshot. Behind her, Jacob collapses to the ground with a bullet between his eyes.

If he had known me better, he would have known how fast and accurate my aim is. That’s what made me great at my job and kept me alive all these years. Poor bastard was dead the moment I stepped outside.

Alex puts her hands to her eyes. Tears flow down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” she says, taking a step back and almost tripping over Jacob’s body. “I didn’t know you back then. I thought you were a bad person. But when I got to know you, I changed my mind. I decided I didn’t want to rob you. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“You don’t have to explain anything to me,” I say, stepping forward. She takes two steps back. “I’m not going to hurt you, Alex. I came to save you because I love you.”

Her face brightens at my words.

“I never thought I could love anybody after Esmeralda was taken from me. I didn’t trust myself after I failed to protect her. But you proved me wrong.”

The muscles around her eyes relax, and she runs into my arms.

I hug her tightly. Her tears coat my shirt, leaving stains behind. “I’m so sorry,” she says. “I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“You don’t have to say another word,” I say. I’m not letting her go. Not now, not ever.

“I do,” she says, pulling away. “When I changed my mind about robbing you, Jacob sent reapers to my mom’s house. He threatened to kill her if I didn’t return to The Den.”

So that’s the reason she went back to that fucking place.And here I was, thinking the worst…

Remembering how I spoke to her that Sunday night hits me like a punch to the heart. She must have been under so much stress having Jacob and me pulling her in opposite directions.

“What I told Jacob is true. Ben is now the leader of the reapers. The only reason he’s still alive is because he wasn’t aware of what Jacob was up to. Ben owes me his life, so as soon as we return to The Den, I’ll have him call off the reapers threatening your mom. Okay?”

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