Page 100 of Risk

He didn’t know that, and it clearly irks him. Apparently, he didn’t do his research well enough.

But then the man only cares about money, so obviously, he got sidetracked by Zeus and Ares.

“Yes.”

“This one make as much money as the other two?”

When I pause, he clicks out the chamber that holds the bullets and then clicks it back into place.

I shake my head. “No. He just finished law school.”

He barks out a laugh at that. I don’t know what is going on in his sick mind for him to find that funny.

I feel a more prominent rumbling in the ground that comes up through the car, and then a train comes from round the corner, hurtling past at a hell of a fast speed.

When it’s gone, Gary puts the radio on in the car and sets it to what sounds like a local news station.

“You know what the babies are then?” he asks.

I want to come back with a snarky retort that normal me would come out with, but I bite it back.

And why the fuck does he want to chat about the babies with me when he kidnapped me and is literally holding me at gunpoint in exchange for money that he’s extorting from his son?

“No. We want to be surprised.”

He says nothing at that.

He takes a last drag of his cigarette and then flicks it out of the open window and rolls it back up. He takes his cell phone from his pocket and begins single-handedly typing out a text.

I watch, assessing whether I could grab the gun from him. But I know it’d be a stupid move. He outweighs me by a hundred pounds. I’m heavily pregnant. And even if I did manage to get the gun, what the fuck would I do? I’ve never fired a gun before.

There’s a first time for everything though.

I swear to myself that if—no,when—I get out of this, I’m going to go to a shooting range and have lessons on how to shoot a gun.

I never thought I’d be a person who’d want to do this or want to ever own a gun. But then again, I never thought I’d be kidnapped and held at gunpoint either.

When Gary has finished typing out his text to whoever it was, he tucks the cell back in the right pocket of his jacket.

“I messaged your boyfriend. Told him where to come meet us. He’s only got an hour and a half left.”

Has it only been an hour that I’ve been in this car with him? It feels like so much longer.

I hear a cell phone beep. He pulls it from his jacket and reads it. “Your boyfriend done good. He’ll have the money within the hour, so not much longer left to wait, and then you’ll be free to go.”

I wonder if he actually intends to let me go, or will he get the money and kill me and Kaden anyway?

“I’m not gonna kill you, girl,” he says, almost like he’s reading my mind. “So long as Kaden does the right thing and shows up alone with the cash, I’ll let you both go, and you’ll never have to see me again.”

I slide a look in his direction. I don’t trust the man. I’d be stupid to. And I’m pretty sure Kaden won’t trust him either.

“You don’t believe me?”

I lift my shoulder. “I want to.”

He lets out a loud laugh, then says, “I like you. Shame I won’t get to know my grandbabies. Maybe in another life, we’d have gotten along okay—me, you, and Kaden—and I’d have been a good father and granddad. But not in this life.”

“There’s always time to change. It’s never too late,” I whisper.

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