Page 89 of Edge of Control

Jace’s eyes flicked downward again. What was he trying to tell me?

“Just let him go. Then you can take out whatever anger you have on me. Same as you did when I was a kid. Just like old times.”

My father let out a dark laugh. “You know, I did try to make things right. I even tried to apologize to Marielle. But I think I got too close. She figured it all out. It was my mistake.”

“Keep my sister’s name out of your mouth,” I said, venom in my voice. I gripped the gun in my hand even tighter.

“Marielle would be so pleased to see how much you care about her. It’s truly a shame what had to happen to her.”

“Had to… but she… you.”

No… there was always a question in the back of my mind. I always wanted to believe she didn’t kill herself. But… “You killed her.”

“Not exactly.”

I’d been wrong earlier. Killing Jace would have certainly been an act of cruelty, but my father had already committed the ultimate sin. He had my sister murdered. He took away one of the only people I could trust in this world. His own daughter.

Red flooded my vision. I had to take the shot. I had to kill him. I had to end this.

“I had her killed, yes. She knew the truth. Was going to put it all together. I couldn’t have that. Neither could my boss. I’m not doing this all alone, and I do have to report to someone. They weren’t happy when they found out Marielle was smarter than she looked.”

Blood pounded in my skull. It drowned out his voice. All I could hear was my skull cracking in half from the pressure.

How could he?

How could he?

How?

“How?” I took a step forward, gun aimed at my father. Jace’s eyes were wide. “How can you be such a fucking monster?”

“Guess it runs in the family, huh?”

I had to take the shot. End it all. But Jace… the gun was still pressed against his head. My father would shoot it. And my aim was never good. I worked better with a knife, not with a gun.

“You know what?” my father said with a twisted smile slashing across his face. “I’ve had enough of this.”

He was going to do it. I had to do it first. I squeezed the trigger.

BANG.

The bullet whizzed past my father’s head. Instead of blowing Jace’s brains out, he raised the gun, aimed it at me.

A muffled bang sounded from the silencer.

The bullet hit the ceiling. How?

Jace. He’d gotten free from whatever was tying his arms down. He’d grabbed my father’s arm and twisted it upward. My father was caught by surprise. He let go of another shot, and another. Plaster from the ceiling rained down on the floor. One of the lights shattered.

Jace lobbed a punch into my father’s gut. He grabbed his arm and yanked it upward, into my dad’s own chest.

Jace pulled the trigger.

My father’s eyes opened wide. Blood trickled out of his mouth. He blinked once before he slumped forward, fallingonto Jace as if he needed the support. The life fled him. Jace had done it. He’d killed my father.

He’d saved us.

I ran to him, a hand on his lower back. He pushed my father off him. My father fell to the floor, the gun falling out of his hand. Blood oozed from the bullet wound in his chest.

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