Page 7 of Stealing His Christmas Present

Claudia.

All I had to do was pull the trigger.

It would be easy. The guards were right behind her. Stella was the last one.

I could take them all out and wound Stella so she couldn’t run away.

Moonlight broke through the clouds, shining on Claudia’s face. Maybe I was imagining it, but her eyes seemed wide, terrified, and full of tears.

Why did she have to die? She hadn’t done anything wrong. She had no part in any of this, aside from being born as Stella’s sister.

Why did I even care? She was never going to be mine.

But I hesitated.

They were getting away.

I could kill the guards, but then what?

Say that you were too late.

Say that they were already gone.

I let go of the rifle.

My phone buzzed, snatching me out of the memory. Back to the present.

Claudia was getting closer.

I’d been watching and studying her house for months now, and I knew every nook and cranny.

Every path. Every security measure.

I knew maybe more than Claudia knew about her own home.

If I wanted to get to her, everything had to be perfect. I had to know all the details about their security systems and about the guards. About every single little thing they did whenever Claudia went somewhere.

I’d been weak and stupid when I’d let her go. It was a mistake that had cost me three years of my life.

And I still couldn’t get any of it out of my mind.

I still couldn’t move on.

I couldn’t forget.

She had to be the key to ending it all. While I’d been suffering, she was free and unaware of what I’d done because of her.

She’d been enjoying her life.

Safe and sound.

Protected and loved.

I clenched my jaw. Killing the people who had wrong me hadn’t helped. It hadn’t chased away the darkness or removed the weight off my shoulders.

She was my last chance.

Whenever I saw her, I still wanted her more than anything I’d ever wanted. I’d tried to fight it, but then I’d realized it was pointless.

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