Page 87 of Torched

I crawl out of the hole, the box in hand. “Oh, I’m over it. I’m more than over it. In fact, I’m so over it, your life is worthless to me.” She frowns when she sees the devil grin that crosses my face, but then I change it to a loving smile and hold out the box. “You want to have a look?”

She squints her eyes. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah, go on. Have a look. What do you wanna do? You’re outnumbered anyway.”

Her gaze volleys between Jeremy and I with suspicion, but as expected, she can’t resist.

Her hand moves toward the box, but before she feels the wood with the tips of her fingers, I yank her wrist toward me with my free hand, then toss her past me and into the shallow grave.

A shriek sounds over the empty graveyard, loud enough for the birds to fly from the trees before she lands on her ass in the dirt. Her eyes are wide, a glare marring her features, as she lifts her upper body on her elbows.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

I bark out a laugh while Jeremy takes a step closer, pointing his gun at her. We both peer down into the hole, my eyes taking the time to etch this picture in my memory so I can savor it forever.

She does a good job of keeping an expression that hides her fear, but when she glances at the box still sitting firmly in my hand, she realizes her game is played.

“What are you doing?” She swallows.

“You fucked up, Cris,” I start. “I was fine tolerating you until we found a way to get Babushka back. But now that you’ve gotten my girl taken, things have changed. Babushka is no longer my priority. Which means, neither are you.”

“Callie will hate you!” She spits from below. Her hands are covered in dirt and strands of her hair have sprung loose from the fall, but it’s the panic in her eyes that keeps my shit-eating grin in place.

“Maybe. Maybe not.Shoot her.” I hold her gaze, calling out the command, and Jeremy takes another step closer.

“NO! Wait!” The tone of her voice is frantic, and I decide then and there that this is how I like Cristina best. Begging and filled with terror. “I can fix this! Tell me what I have to do! You can trust me!!”

So goddamn predictable.

“You want another shot? Prove it. Prove you’re one of us.”

“Anything!” She nods. “I’ll do anything!”

I pull my phone from my pocket, then squat down. Putting it on speaker, I keep my eyes fixed on Cristina.

“You got it?” Kane’s voice quickly comes over the line.

“Yeah, I got it.” I pause. “I was going to blow a bullet through her brain, but she wants one more shot. What do you think?” I cock my head, knowing the words taunt her as she stares back at me with a heaving chest.

“I don’t know. What do you think, baby girl?”

We all wait for Callie’s voice to come through the phone, and it’s almost as if I can hear Cristina’s heart pounding against her chest. She’s probably holding on to the hope that Callie will want to save her grandmother at all costs, but she also knows by now that Callie can be ruthless and cunning when she wants to be. If she has to make a difficult decision, she will make it. And even Cristina must know that a choice between Imogen and Babushka isn’t one that’s set in stone.

“You got the diamond?” she asks again.

“Holding it in my hand as we speak.”

“Then we don’t need her anymore,” Callie says flatly.

“No, Callie, please! No! Have mercy! I will do anything!” Cristina pleads again, only expanding my smile.

“Babushka for your life,Crissy. You tell us where she is,right now, and you’ll walk out of there alive.”

Cristina grinds her teeth at the knowledge that she has to give up her leverage, a glare shaping her tensed features. “Liam will kill me if I give her up.”

“Liam will kill you if you don’t,” Callie discloses. “But sharing her location might earn you enough trust for us to let you walk.”

“You’d really let her rot?!” Cristina dares.

---