Page 179 of Tempting Little Thief

He’ll make it quick.

He’ll kill my father quickly and rush back to my side to pretend as if he has no idea what’s going on.

Before I know what I’m doing, before I can even pause long enough to breathe, the switchblade is pulled out, flipped open and dug deep into his gut.

A mumbled groan bubbles past his lips and his grip on me tightens for a split second before he stumbles back a step.

Tears fall, pouring down my cheeks in steady streams as I look down to where the blade sticks in his belly, a block of red slowly spanning out into a deep-crimson circle that only spreads wider.

Calvin and the others realize what I’ve done, screaming and shouting, darting over to where we are, but rather than rush to his aid, they shield us, unsure of what’s going on as they stare at me and Sai in disbelief.

I cry, my feet starting toward him as if to take it back, to comfort him, as little sense as it makes. I watch as his handwraps around the handle, a frown taking over his features as he pulls it out, only to fall to his knees a moment later.

I don’t know why, but I fall with him, dropping before him, my hands shaking, my subconscious telling me to cover his wound. To apply pressure to the spot and save his life, even though I’m the one that just threatened to take it.

Slowly, his eyes come up to mine, and the softness within them, the love and commitment and devotion that shines back, rattles me to my core, and a bubbled cry escapes. My vision is completely blurred now as his bloody hands move up, gently covering my cheeks and the softest of touches.

He nods and I grip his wrists.

“Sai—” I choke, but he only shakes his head.

“It’s okay. It’s okay,” he whispers, his touch growing colder by the second. His words are a plea, begging me to understand that he understands. That he knows me well and he knows exactly what I’ve done and why I’ve done it.

I don’t understand it.

“I …”

“It’s okay,” he repeats yet again, his tone somehow managing to grow even gentler. “It’s time. My job is done now. My oath is complete. The safe. Everything he searches for is in the safe,” he stresses and then a ghost of a smile curves his lips as he says, “tell him I won the bet and that I had no doubt.”

Confusion whirls in my head, and when he falls back, I fall with him, flicking open his jacket as I inspect the damage I’ve done. His riddles make no sense. His words mean nothing to me in this moment, and I’m torn between stabbing him a second time and begging someone to try and save him.

“I didn’t even have to bring him to you …” His voice trails off into a mumbled whisper as his hands fall to his sides, and with his very last breath, he shares, “You found him on your own.”

And then he’s gone.

A choked cry escapes, and everyone huddles around, but I don’t even have time to process what I’ve done, what hashappened, and what he has said because, in the next moment, a loud rumble fills the air, and everyone shoots to their feet.

Our eyes dart around every surface as the ground shakes, guns are pulled from wherever they are hidden, the soft clicks and barrels sound as a bullet is released into the chamber, and then the loudest of crashes.

We gasp, standing back as the hundred-year-old wall crumbles at the back of the property line, a giant tank rolling right over the archery zone, crumbling into nothing beneath its giant tires.

Guns are pointed.

The door is thrown open.

A man steps out.

I gasp and then I hear the first shot fired, fire and panic flooding my ears as I dart forward on instinct, a bullet scraping along the edge of my thigh before I hear the demand for a cease-fire.

I pant, planted between my people and the giant shadow that’s slowly making its way toward us. Toward me.

It’s tall, trim and nearly invisible beneath the dark night sky. I shield my eyes as he steps in front of the blinding lights of the tank, my pulse hammering in my chest.

And then the lights click off.

I blink in to focus, and then I fall to my knees for the second or maybe third time tonight, but this time, in pure relief.

Finally …

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