Page 120 of Merciless Sinner

And that was where I lost my memories.

The door in front of me creaks and screeches open. Then Amelia comes in,

her heels clicking against the stone floor. She closes the door behind her and smiles at me.

“Good. You're awake,” she says.

“You evil bitch. Let me go,” I shout.

“I'm afraid that's not going to happen. I need to know where you put that memory stick first. I know you remember where it is, right?”

“Let me go.”

“You heard what I said. No. That stick is worth ten million to me and my father.

I guess I should thank your father for the job opening.”

“What the hell do you mean by that?”

“Your father stole information from Lance Polinsky. The man he was working with when a business deal fell through. Then your father tried to blackmail him. Men like that will obliterate you if you cross them.” Her laughter echoes around the room.

“My father was commissioned to get the memory stick back. What I told you the other day about our financial situation was true. So, of course we did it for the money, him and I. He knew it'd be easy for me to get close to your family and get inside the house without question. I could get past the guards, and I could've gone to your house any time of day I wanted, because I was your best friend.”

“All those years of friendship meant nothing to you, I spit. There comes a time in life when you have to choose.” Her voice rises with pride. As if she's so pleased of herself for making the right choice. “So I did it for ten million, but it all went wrong.” Her voice dips on those last words. “But I'm going to fix it, and you're going to tell me where the stick is.”

“You're crazy,” I cry.

She laughs. “Honey, you only just realized that now. But if you were me, you'd be crazy too. Try coming from a life where you had it all, and you never had to worry about anything. Then all of a sudden you have nothing and you're watching your parents struggle to climb back on the ladder they used to be on. Then your best friend keeps getting more and more and more. Including the man you were supposed to marry. The same guy who was supposed to fix all our financial worries. Marrying into the Antonovs was a dream to me. I knew I would have been useful to my family through my marriage to such a wealthy prestigious family in the Bratva. But then there was him—Virgo.”

My stomach squeezes. “You were always in love with Virgo, weren't you?”

She places her hand to her heart. “Yes, and the whole seduction thing? Wasn't for the money. It was real. I felt with you heading to England, I'd step in. Maybe he'd see me and change his mind. Then he’d defy his father the same way he defied him for you.” She grits her teeth. “Virgo always supported your dreams. But he didn't want you to go to England. He planned to marry you. But this placement of yours meant you'd be away for two years. He would've done anything for you though, including wait forever if he had to. But I was right here. I thought I just had to make him see that.”

“I can't believe this is you talking, Amelia. Is it really you?”

“You better believe it because it's real. This is the real me, and how I've always felt. I was sick of being your shadow. When Seamus told me you'd been found, I saw the opportunity to be the grieving best friend seeking redemption. I acted like that anyway after you disappeared, so I slipped back into the role. As you told me what happened to you, I fed that information to our boss. So when Cillian went looking for his people in England, we were already there, siphoning what he knew.” She does that little laugh thing again, now it sounds psychotic. “We hoped your friend would know where your mother had hidden the memory stick, but he knew nothing. That's why he died.”

That pang of guilt strikes me again. She's the reason Kevin died. Because I told her about him. I gave her a name.

And specific locations. I might not have been able to find him myself, but people like her, and whoever she's working for, would have found him with ease.

“With that plan out the window, I knew we'd have to wait for you to remember what happened. Although you didn't tell me what you remembered about the attack, I figured it out. I figured out that if you remembered how your parents died, you might have remembered your mother getting the memory stick. You all but confirmed it with our talk about it.”

“You are truly evil.” If I could, I'd rip the skin off her face.

“Evil is a matter of perception. I was looking out for my family. People have to do what they have to do. This is what I did. I chose.”

“What did you do with my father's body?” The thought comes to my mind. “After we hacked his phone to see where you and your mother were heading we hacked him up too into little itty bitty pieces and disposed of him in acid.”

My body instantly wrenches, doubling in on itself. I hope you rot in hell for this, Amelia. I hope you do.”

She puts a finger to her temple, pretends to think. “I most probably will, but at least I'll be rich. Because youwilltell me where that stick is. We know your mother hid it in England and that's where we're heading. You have until we reach to tell me or I’ll be really angry and I might start chopping you to pieces until you die.”

A shiver runs through me.

“Tick tock.” She wiggles her fingers.

The door opens again and her father comes in. Like her, I can see the evil in him. It's like the two of them have just taken off their masks and I can see what lies beneath.

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