Page 58 of The Bratva's Christmas Bump
A sheepish look crosses Hollie’s face and she glances away. “I was pissed off and talking about how you… kidnapped me and forced me into a marriage and that I didn’t care for the nice things they were saying. And then this woman, Nancy, turned up and she started talking.”
“Ah.” My stomach tightens briefly. Had I known Nancy was working, I would have steered clear tonight. She was attached at the hip to Bea and took her death hard.
“Ah? Did you not want me to find out?”
“I didn’t want you involved any more than you already were.”
“But why?” She stares at me with wide eyes. “You… you were killing the monster who hurt those women. Why did you let me think you were just some cold-blooded killer?”
My lips press together. “You wouldn’t have believed me.”
“Yes I would!”
“No, Hollie. You believed what you saw and any justification I gave you wouldn’t have mattered. You were scared, you witnessed a horrible thing, and I had to do what I did in order to keep you safe.”
Hollie slumps back in her seat. “They said you didn’t kill without reason.”
“I don’t. I don’t kill or harm innocents. The man I killed, his name was Hector, and he was a sick, twisted man trying to hurt this family because he knew all attempts at power would fail. I don’t regret killing him. But I regret that you saw it because it’s pulled you into a world you never needed to know about.”
Her expression falls. “You let me say all those horrible things. I spent these past weeks thinking you were this horrible killer, a monster who was going to kill my parents at the drop of a hat.”
“I wouldn’t hurt them.” Honesty might not be the best path right now, but since Hollie knows the truth, I can’t lie to her anymore. “I threatened them, yes, because you already had a picture of me in your mind and leaning into that to keep you quiet was how I could keep you safe. But I don’t kill innocent people. Marrying you was the only way to keep you safe. You’ve seen how bloodthirsty my father is. Our marriage keeps them protected by extension.”
“You could have told me the truth,” she whispers.
“Would you have believed me? Would you honestly have shrugged off what you saw and believed he was a monster?”
Our eyes meet and she presses her lips together while shaking her head.
“Exactly. And I had to make sure you weren’t a spy.”
“A spy?” Her brows dart upward and a humorless laugh escapes her. “What do you mean?”
“We met at that club two months before that night. I don’t typically run into the same person twice unless they’re from another family or involved in the same kind of work that I am. So seeing you twice raised all sorts of alarm bells.”
“A spy,” she repeats. “But you still married me?”
I shrug lightly. “Even if you were a spy, marrying you gave me unhindered access to your family and your past, so I was able to rule that out pretty quickly.”
“This doesn’t make sense.” She settles deeper into her seat and gazes out at the passing dark streets. “Everything about you screamed… but then… and I…”
Hollie’s clearly at war with herself, attempting to untangle everything she thought she knew about me.
“I don’t hold it against you.” My hand rests against my thigh and squeezes. “After what you went through with the wedding and my father… I think your reactions are understandable.”
“How do I know you didn’t just pay them all to say those things?” Her eyes snap back to me. She talks like she’s trying to find another way to justify how she feels.
“I can take you to the hospital to see Zoe if you really want me to.”
Her eyes widen, then she shakes her head. “I couldn’t. God…” Hollie repeatedly shakes her head. “I don’t know what to think.”
“Then tell me.”
“I’m annoyed because how I thought things were are not how they actually are. I’m angry because killing people is still wrong, and I watched you kill him, but he was truly a despicable human being, so maybe it’s justified? But who am I to decide that? Maybe real justice is at the hands of the law.”
I bite back my amused scoff. “Maybe.”
“And you let me say those horrible things to you and act like you were a monster when you were helping people and avenging those women, but you also didn’t tell me the truth! You let me believe that so I made a fool of myself not once, but twice in front of those women at the club!”
