Page 42 of Blood Ties

He was firmly holding a revolver with the muzzle pointed directly at my chest.

“Carl?” I whispered in surprise and fear.

The previously timid and soft-spoken man was suddenly cold, with a hard glint in his muddy colored eyes. “You couldn’t be happy with what you had, could you?”

“What?”

“You had a family, money, and a successful career. You didn’t need Justin. Still, you crawled out of the woodwork and ruinedeverything.”

My mouth fell open. For a moment, I was speechless.

“I couldn’t believe it when he changed his will to leave most of his fortune to you. I had a plan and you fucked it all up,” he sneered and I was taken aback. This was not the man I’d known.

“You killed Justin,” I murmured as some of the pieces fell into place. “So you’re going to just shoot me? For what?” I glanced around for my phone. If I could find it, I could hit the SOS feature my dad had set up. But I needed to distract Carl and buy some time.

“Oh, I’m not going to shoot you,” he replied with a calculating stare.

“You’re not?” I asked, confused.

“No. You were so distraught at the death of your biological father followed so quickly by your stepmother’s death that you killed yourself.” He gave me a smile, like what he said made complete and total sense.

“But I would never do that,” I argued, looking at him like he was insane, which I was pretty sure he was.

“Once you’re gone, no one would know that, would they? People hide mental illnesses all the time. Now get moving. Open that window.” He motioned at me with the gun and pointed to one of my industrial windows with it.

“Carl,” I tried, thinking I might be able to reason with him. “I won’t accept any of the money. Or if I do, I’ll turn it over to you,” I lied.

“You think I believe you? You ruined everything! You think I don’t know you had something to do with Jade’s death? You’re a lying, greedy little bitch,” he snarled, his expression rapidly morphing.

My chin jerked back in disbelief at the instant change in his personality.

“You… you… you thought you were going to be with Jade and you two would live happily ever after with Justin’s money?” I stammered. He was unbelievable. My eyes snagged on my phone at the end of my kitchen counter.

His head fell back as a maniacal laugh erupted from the squat little man. I moved closer to my phone but froze when his attention returned to me.

“With Jade? Are you delusional? That heartless bitch wouldn’t have stayed with me long after she had Justin’s money. She thought she was manipulating me into killing Justin, but she wasn’t nearly as smart as she thought she was. I planned to get her to marry me by threatening to go to the police with what we’d done, then I was going to kill her—and everything would go to me. Except you took care of her before I could get everything done.” By the time he finished his tirade, he was spitting with his words. Saliva gathered at the corners of his mouth.

“Carl, that never would’ve worked,” I tried to rationalize in hopes that I could get him to keep talking. I took another tiny step toward my phone.

“It would have! But you fucked it up. If I can’t have what I want, neither can you. Now get moving!” He cocked the hammer back and I swallowed hard.

Heart slamming in my chest, I beat myself up. I hated that I’d ignored Alessio’s attempts to contact me. Now he’d never know how I felt.

Slowly, I walked to the window and opened it. When I paused, he held the gun to my temple. My breath hitched. It was in that moment that my regret hit me like a tsunami. If only I had replied to Alessio’s text messages or answered his calls. I should’ve talked to him. Because regardless of what he’d been hired to do, he didn’t—instead, he saved me.

And he made me feel more beautiful than I’d ever felt in my life.

But he’d never know… because I’d been so damn stubborn.

“Y-Y-You won’t shoot me. Y-Y-You want it to look like a suicide,” I stuttered.

“And I can do that with the gun just as easily. I just didn’t want your brain matter all over my new shoes,” he sneered. “Now get up there.”

“Carl! Please!” I cried.

Hands shaking, I gripped the frame and lifted my foot up to the sill. Everything I wish I could do ran through my head. But it was too late.

“Now, Jump!” Carl playfully whispered.

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