Page 138 of Cruel Lies

"So your big plan was to kill me for the money, and now that you can’t get the money if I’m dead, you think you can convince me to marry you so you can have it?"

His grin widened. "I never said that. Harper, your imagination has grown almost as much as you have."

His attitude made me rage. "Fuck you, Blackwood," I spat, hating him and everything he stood for. Everything he was had brought me nothing but pain, sadness, and difficulties.

Thoseandthe ones I’d fallen in love with along the way.

That ended today.

I straightened my spine, refusing to give in to the urge to kowtow to the man who’d demanded such obedience when I was younger. The movement made my wounds ache, but I ignored the pulling, tensing pain instead of giving in to it, pretending it wasn’t there. The boys would kick my ass if I popped any stitches. "You are the kind of scum those sons of yours should be ridding the earth of, not me. And I’m here to make sure you’re served the justice you’ve earned."

He waved a hand in the air dismissively, rounding behind me as I struggled not to turn to keep him in my line of vision. "I don’t answer to you, girl. When my time comes, I will answer to the devil himself."

He was too ballsy to do anything when I couldn’t see it.

Predators like him wanted you to see it coming.

"Hell is too good foranyof you Blackwoods.Especiallyyou."

I spun in a circle, pulling the throwing knives from inside my jacket sleeve. Like magic, they hit their targets,one, two, three.His guards fell like dominos, one after the other, like a comical road show.

He watched them crumple, each with a matching blade protruding from their throats, with little interest or concern. It was as if he thought himself above death, like he had something that would guarantee nobody would ever touch him.

I doubted it. But he could try.

"You’ve learned a few party tricks," he mused, his hands coming together in a slow clap. "Unfortunately, that won’t save you. Where they came from, there are twenty more on the grounds, all ready to respond to a push of this button in my hand." He waved the strange square of plastic, reminiscent of agarage door opener, in my face mockingly. As if it would stop me from killing him where he stood. "Try me."

"They can’t respond if they’re already dead," I pointed out, showing him my bloodstained hands. "And you’d be hard-pressed to find a single one I didn’t already take out of commission."

His eyes narrowed dangerously as he stepped a foot or two away from me, wariness shuttering his features. For the first time since I arrived here tonight, he seemed to be registering that I wasn’t working with anyone, that I was far more dangerous than he suspected.

Still, he tried his last playing card, a desperate attempt by a man whose facade was cracking.

"If you kill me, Angel will never know what happened to his mother. Nash’s mother’s bills will go unpaid, and she’ll likely be taken off life support. And their devastation will wreck Rowan." His smile returned with a vengeance, thinking he’d won over me as my face fell.

In fact, I was just toying with him. I wanted him to feel comfortable enough to let his guard down. Wanted him to feel like he’d won, so that when I jammed the blade into his body and bled him dry, he could die with the feeling of betrayal, loss, and defeat my mother probably felt when she learned on her deathbed that her husband had poisoned her.

Fuck you, asshole. Every minute longer I let you breathe is a concession you don’t deserve.

"The boys would understand," I muttered, slipping the engraved blade out of my sleeve again. "Theywould."

"Are you confident enough to test that theory?"

"I’m doing this for them," I remarked, and like a cobra, I struck.

He moved faster than should be normal for a man in his condition, of his age, and instead of lodging the blade in his heart, instead, it sliced across his throat and chest, blood pouringout of him as he swore and launched himself over to his desk. With a single hand slapped over his throat, he reached under his desk with the other, and I had seconds to react before he fired off a shot or two in my direction, missing me by inches.

"Youbitch!"he screamed, holding the gun out at chest level as I ducked behind the couch. "You’ll pay for that with yourlife."

"You wish!" I tried to calm my racing heart as the adrenaline pumped through my veins. The room felt warm, too warm, my side aching with a renewed fierceness from all the strain of today. I shouldn’t have pulled a stunt like this so soon into my recovery, but it couldn’t wait any longer. I could feel the warmth of my cheeks as I steadied my hand and formed a plan on the fly.

Okay, so stabbing him head-on was now out. Time to improvise.

"When were you going to tell them all the secrets you hid from them?" I waited for him to pop off another shot, but he was patient, waiting for me to make a mistake. "Were you ever planning to do a big reveal, or were you just going to take those things to your grave with you?"

His laughter came from the wrong side of the room, telling me he’d managed to move silently while I was a sitting duck. A few more feet, and he might have an angle on me to take a shot. "I don’t even know what you’re talking about. You’ve deluded yourself into thinking you have something on me that you don’t."

"You killed Angel’s mom, just like you killed Ro’s."

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