CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE #2
"You didn't think Viktor Tarasov might have his own agenda? You trusted the Bratva to keep their word?"
"I was trying to protect you!"
"By getting Dad shot?" I step toward him. William shifts, but I ignore him. "I held his hand, Reilan. I sat beside his bed, watching him struggle to breathe. I didn't know if he was going to live. And the whole time you were there, pretending to care, knowing you were the reason."
Reilan's face is wet now. Tears streaming down his cheeks.
"I was covered in his blood." I hear my own voice, distant and strange. "I sat in that hospital with it still on my dress, and you knew. The whole time, you knew it was your fault."
"Aoife—"
"Don't say my name."
The room is silent. Everyone watching.
I look at William.
"What happens now?"
William pulls a gun.
The click of the safety freezes the air in my lungs.
"On your knees." William's voice is empty. The voice of a man who has already decided.
"William, wait—" I start forward, but Matty is there, his hand closing around my arm, pulling me back.
"Don't," he says quietly.
Reilan doesn't move. He's staring at the gun like he can't quite believe it's real.
William crosses the space between them and presses the barrel to my brother's forehead. "I said knees."
Reilan drops.
"William." Aidan steps forward. "Think about this."
"I have." William doesn't look away from Reilan. "He fed Viktor intelligence. He got Dillon shot. He's been selling us out from the beginning." His finger moves to the trigger. "This is what happens to traitors."
I'm fighting Matty's grip, clawing at his hand. "Let go of me. Let go—"
Aidan moves toward me, too, reaching for my other arm. "Aoife, you don't want to see this."
"No. No, you can't—"
I tear free. My nails rake across Matty's skin, and he hisses, but I'm already running, shoving past Aidan, my feet carrying me across the room.
I throw myself between William and my brother.
The gun is inches from my face.
"Move." William's eyes are black. Empty. I've never seen him look like this. Not even when he shot Frank.
"No."
"Aoife." He says my name like a warning. Like a threat. "Move. Now."
"Then you'll have to shoot me first."
The room goes still.
I can hear my own heartbeat. Can feel Reilan's ragged breathing behind me. Can see the tension in William's arm, the way his finger rests against the trigger.
He could do it. Push me aside and put a bullet in my brother's head before I hit the ground. I've seen how fast he moves. I know what he's capable of.
"He's all I have." My voice breaks. "My mother is dead. My father was just shot. Reilan is all I have left."
"He tried to have me killed."
"I know."
"He's the reason your father is in that hospital bed."
"I know." The tears spill over. I don't wipe them away. "I know what he did. I know he deserves this. But I am begging you, William. I am begging you not to make me watch my brother die."
William's jaw works. The gun doesn't move.
"Then close your eyes." His voice is calm. Terrifyingly calm. "That way you won't have to watch him die."
Something inside me snaps.
"Don't be so fucking cold!" I'm screaming now. I've never screamed like this in my life. "He's my brother! He's my blood!"
William doesn't flinch. Doesn't react at all. Just stands there with the gun steady and his face empty.
I spin toward Aidan. "Do something! You can't just stand there!"
Aidan's face is tight. He doesn't move.
I turn to Matty. "Please. This can't be right. This can't be how it ends."
Matty looks away.
"He tried to have me killed, love." William's voice cuts through my panic. Still calm. Still empty. "What do you expect me to do? Pat him on the head and send him on his way?"
"I expect you to be human!" The tears are streaming down my face. "I expect you to show mercy!"
"Mercy." William laughs. It's the worst sound I've ever heard. "Your brother doesn't know the meaning of that word. He made a deal with Viktor Tarasov. He fed them information that got people killed. He's the reason your father is in a hospital bed with a hole in his throat."
"I know what he did!"
"Then you know why this has to happen."
"No." I'm shaking my head. I can't stop shaking my head. "No, no, no. Please. William. Please."
Behind me, Reilan makes a sound. Something broken.
The silence stretches. One second. Two. Three.
William's arm is steady. His face is stone. And I realize with cold certainty that he's going to do it. He's going to push me aside and execute my brother right here in this room, and there's nothing I can do to stop him.
"William." Aidan's voice cuts through. "She's right. Kill him, and you lose her. Is that what you want?"
Something flickers in William's eyes.
The gun stays up.
"I could make it quick," William says. His voice is almost gentle now. Terrifying. "He wouldn't suffer. One bullet. It would be over before he felt it."
"No." I'm shaking so hard I can barely stand. "No, no, no. Please. William. Please."
He looks at me. Really looks, for the first time since he pulled the gun.
And I see the war happening behind his eyes. The rage fighting something else. Something I don't have a name for.
Slowly, so slowly, the gun lowers.
I nearly collapse with relief.
"Get out." William's voice is rough. Wrecked. He's looking past me now, at Reilan. "You have one hour. Take whatever you can carry and disappear. Europe. America. I don't care. But if I ever see your face again, I will kill you. No warning. No conversation. Just a bullet in your skull."
Reilan doesn't move. I can hear him breathing behind me. Ragged. Broken.
"Go," I whisper. I can't turn around. Can't look at him. "Take it. Just go."
A hand touches my shoulder. Reilan's hand. Shaking.
"I was trying to save you," he says. So quiet that only I can hear.
"I know." My throat closes around the words. "That's the worst part."
His hand falls away.
Footsteps. The door opening. Closing.
He's gone.
My legs give out.
I don't hit the floor. Someone catches me. William. His arms wrap around me, and I'm shaking, shaking so hard my teeth chatter, and the sobs come out in ugly broken sounds I can't control.
"Get the car ready," William says over my head. "Make sure he actually gets on a plane."
Footsteps. Aidan and Matty leaving.
Then it's just us.
I cry into his chest until there's nothing left. Until I'm hollow and exhausted and the only thing keeping me upright is his arms around me.
"He's alive," William says against my hair. "That's more than he deserves."
"I know."
"I should have killed him."
"I know."
"I didn't. For you." His hand moves slowly through my hair. "Only for you."
I pull back enough to see his face. His expression is still hard, still closed. But his eyes. There's something in his eyes I haven't seen before.
"Thank you," I whisper.
He doesn't say anything. Just holds me.
Over his shoulder, I stare at the door my brother walked through. The room is too quiet now. My hands won't stop shaking against William's back.
He's gone.
I saved his life and lost him anyway.
"He was all I had left." My voice doesn't sound like mine. "And now he's gone."
William doesn't say anything. Doesn't offer comfort. Doesn't tell me it will be okay.
Good. I couldn't bear it if he lied to me right now.
I close my eyes against his shoulder. Let the tears come. Let myself break while he holds the pieces together.
Outside, I hear a car start. Tires on gravel. The sound getting fainter.
Reilan, leaving.
Reilan, gone.
I press my face into William's chest, and I let myself shatter.