Page 73 of Final Vendetta

“Ruined?” The man sounded genuinely perplexed. “I did no such thing. I gave you clarity. Stripped away the pretense, the delusions of morality, and showed you who you really are. Then I released you back into society as one last experiment. How would the killer I forged fare in the real world? Would youthrive? Or would you crumble under the weight of what you’d become?”

The room spun, and I gripped the edge of the table to steady myself as his words sunk in. All this time, I thought I was just a pawn in a twisted game for the wealthy elite’s amusement. Instead, I was part of an experiment. What I thought was my escape wasn’t an escape at all. It was planned.

Had this man been watching me all along?

“I killed because it was the only way to survive,” I bit out harshly.

“Really? How much of your life lately has been about survival? How many of the lives you’ve taken since I released you have been about survival? Or have they been about something else?”

I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. Because not a single life I’d taken in the past year had been about survival. They were because of a hunger for blood, pure and simple.

“I planted the seed,” the man continued, “but you watered it.”

“I’m not that man anymore,” I protested, but I could hear the doubt in my words.

“You’ve always been that man,” he countered coolly. “I just gave you the appropriate environment in which to indulge your killer instincts.”

I clenched and unclenched my fist, every word out of his mouth making me angrier and angrier. A part of me wondered if he was right. If I truly was a monster.

“But as you may or may not recall, I’m not an unreasonable man. I’m willing to make a deal.”

“What kind of deal?” I asked hesitantly.

“You for her. Surrender yourself, and I’ll let her go. No harm will come to her. You have my word.”

A bitter laugh escaped my lips. “Your word doesn’t mean shit.”

“I guess you’ll just have to take a leap of faith then.”

Every instinct inside me screamed that this was a bad idea. To never trust this man who’d used and manipulated me in ways I couldn’t even begin to fully wrap my head around.

But did I really have a choice?

I didn’t see how. Worse, this asshole knew it. Knew Imogene was my weakness.

For years, I’d learned to show no weakness, as it could be used against me. I foolishly thought I was free, only for him to reappear and use my biggest weakness against me.

The bastard had planned everything. Every hellish fight, every scar, every sleepless night — he’d orchestrated it all. And now he had Imogene.

I needed to do everything I could to save her from the same fate I endured… Even if it meant sacrificing myself.

“Where?” I demanded.

The man chuckled softly. “That’s the spirit. I’ll send you the location. No tricks. No reinforcements. Come alone, or the deal is off. I could be wrong, but I doubt she’ll last as long as you did in that cage.”

The line went dead, leaving only the hollow echo of his words reverberating in my mind. A surge of rage overtook me and my vision blurred at the edges. I glared at Vargas, a pool of his blood staining the tile beneath him.

I erased the distance between us in two long strides and pressed my gun to his temple.

“Give me one reason,” I growled, my face inches from his. “One reason I shouldn’t decorate the wall with your brain right now.”

“I swear, man!” Vargas cried, his voice cracking. “I didn’t know he was this twisted. I just needed the money, man.”

“So her life was worth…what? A couple of grand?”

“Five,” he squeaked out.

“What’s that?”

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