Page 90 of Revenge & Ruin

My mind reels. “You knew we’d be there at the casino that night. To clone the network.”

“I needed you to come to me,” she sighs. “And I got a dinner date out of it.”

I gape at her.

“Why do you look so surprised? What, you didn’t think a woman could possibly know her way around a computer?”

“No,” I shake my head. “I just didn’t know you could get any more perfect.”

When she doesn’t respond, I finish tending to her arm and put the supplies away. So I almost don’t hear it when she says. “We’re fucked. Aren’t we?”

Something hard clenches in my chest. “Yes.”

“It’s not fair.”

“I know.”

“Is there…” her voice breaks a little. “Teo, tell me there’s another way. Because I can’t do this anymore. I can’t pretend you’re not…we’re not…”

I swallow hard. “Is this real?”

She takes my hand in hers and guides it to her ruined neck once more. “It’s real.”

I gently stroke across her delicate skin. “You mean everything to me.”

“Teo, please,” her eyes are glassy about this. “Can we talk about it? Can we find another way? Because this has to end one way or the other, and I can’t…I can’t lose you. Not now.”

And for the briefest moment, it’s not Isabella sat before me.

It’s my sister.

Eight years old, just like the last time I saw her. And the tears in her eyes pierce through the decades of grief and resentment and longing for revenge.

“Please,” she says with Isabella’s voice. “I just want you to be happy.”

And then, for the first time in seventeen years, I let the tears fall.

24

ISABELLA

My hands shake as I reach for him.“Teo,”I whisper.

But the tears fall, and they fall.

I don’t know what to do, but the pain is so clearly etched onto his face, and I need to dosomething.

“Teo, it’s okay. We’ll…we’ll figure it out,” I say as I comb my fingers through his hair.

But he just continues to stare at me. Starethroughme as if I’m not even there.

“You and me. We’ll figure it out,” I repeat again. “We’re smart.You’reso smart. There’s an answer to all of this that makes sense. One where neither of us gets hurt.”

He leans into my touch, so I just keep going.

“We can do it. I promise you, I’ll try. I’ll listen. I’ll help. Just please don’t…don’t end this. Please.”

His hand suddenly covers mine. “End this?”

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