Page 5 of Silent Vendetta (Vendetta Duet)

Every step he took resonated in my ears, a grim countdown. The cold glint of the blade in his hand promised a fate I wasn’t ready to meet.

CHAPTER4

Luna

My eyes darted between the small, unknown hallway to my right—the closer one. Or the bigger one to my left that led to his upstairs.

Standing six feet away, Hunter’s tall, imposing figure acted as an unyielding barrier, blocking either escape route. The hazy light accentuated the contours of his face, making him look completely different from the man who’d once held me in his arms.

“I thought you loved me,” I whispered in a shaky voice.

“I do love you, Luna.” His voice cracked with emotion, like he was confessing a painful truth that flowed through his veins in toxins. A truth that would kill me if I ever uncovered his identity.

A tear threatened at the edge of my eye, but I blinked it away.Do not show him vulnerability, Luna!

“Why?” I demanded, biting my bottom lip, but releasing it with a cringe. The thing was tender and swollen from getting slapped earlier tonight. “Why did you let me fall in love with you?”

He paused; his gaze clouded with sorrow and regret.

“I didn’t intend for any of this to happen,” he claimed.

But that was complete horseshit.

“You allowed me to get close to you.” My words hung heavy in the air, each syllable drenched in pain and betrayal. “When you knew the consequences if I found out.”That you’d kill me.I swallowed hard, the sound of it echoing in my head, and when I spoke again, my voice faltered. “If you really loved me, you would never have done that.”

Hunter studied me, his head bobbing into a nod.

“You’re right,” he replied, defeat heavy in his tone. “It was the most selfish thing I’ve ever done.”

I flinched.

Selfishdidn’t come close to describing the magnitude of his deception. The safety and warmth I had felt in his embrace now felt like the cruelest of illusions.

A lone tear made its way down my cheek as I wondered…

Was any of it real?

CHAPTER5

Luna

“You don’t have to do this.” My voice wavered with fear.

Hunter’s expression froze; his eyes widened slightly, piercing into me, his eyebrows raised.

“You can let me go and I’ll keep your secret,” I pleaded. “I swear.”

He regarded me with an intense stare, tilting his head.

“If you kill me…” I continued. Why did his head snap back slightly? “No one will fight for my dad’s release. So, if I have to choose between ratting you out or him, I choose my dad.”

His gaze, which had softened momentarily, intensified again. The lips that had once been pressed between my thighs thinned, the eyes that had glided over my nude body tightened with tension, and the hands that once caressed my breasts clenched at his sides—one still gripping a bloodied knife.

“Kill you.” His tone was scathing with pulses of disbelief.

I wanted his anger to be from offense, that the man I loved would never be capable of killing me. But one look at Franco’s bloody body and the memory of all his other victims told me otherwise.

After all, my hands were bound, and he was holding me hostage.

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