Page 24 of Pure Vengeance

“So, you still plan to kill me?” he questions.

My shoulders sag.

“If I couldn’t manage it with a gun, I doubt I’d be able to do it any other way.” I glance up at him. “But seeing you pay for what you did is still very much on my mind.”

He wipes his hand across his face.

“You won’t believe me that I had nothing to do with it.”

“Why should I believe you?” The fork clamors against my plate when I drop it. “You’ve kidnaped me, locked me away, and last night you… you…”

He leans toward me, his forearms pressed against the edge of the dining room table.

“I what, Claire? Gave you pleasure? Fucked you so hard you were begging me and screaming my name by the end of it?” The words he puts to the memory make my face flame.

I want him to be lying.

I wish he were exaggerating, but he’s not.

He made my body sing for him, and he knew every word of the song.

“You took advantage,” I barely manage the words past the ball of my own shame. I hadn’t fought him. It didn’t even occur to me.

“I took what belongs to me.” He tosses his napkin over his plate.

“And how long does that last? Me belonging to you?” I ask him. “Because I have a life. I have a job. And I have friends. I have…hada future.” I blink back tears that threaten to fall. I won’t give him the satisfaction of it.

The room falls silent.

Though his glare fills the space, making the air heavy.

“If you’re going to keep me locked up here forever, just kill me.” My words cut through the silence.

“You’d rather be dead than be mine?” he asks quietly.

“You killed my brother, Anton. I will never belong to you.” I shake my head. “Not really. Not in any way that matters.”

“Your brother was fired for helping a player cheat at his table. He’s not the first person to do it, and he won’t be the last. I don’t kill bad employees. I fire them with no reference. I do not send someone to kill them.” He reaches across the table and grabs my hand, squeezing it until I look up at him.

His brow scrunches as he stares at me.

“He said…” I suck in a breath, steadying my resolve. “He said he was going to visit Mr. DeMarci to get his job back.” I yank my hand from beneath his and push out of the chair, nearlyknocking it over in my haste. “He never came home from that meeting.”

His jaw sets.

“I never spoke to your brother, Claire.”

I roll my shoulders back.

“If you’d kill someone, anyone, not just my brother, why wouldn’t you also lie? I would think dishonesty would come easy to someone who can take the life of another human being.”

The doors behind me slide open and the same man I’d seen in the hall steps inside.

“Sorry, but Daniel Barton is here. You wanted to talk to him.”

Anton gives a hard nod.

“Put him in my office. We’ll be there in a minute.”

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