28. Tate
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
TATE
T o say I felt nothing when Jodi walked out is an understatement. I have nothing to give her. She may have saved me, but that was because of her own guilt. It was no selfless act. I didn’t tell her to fall in love with me after she had gotten me kidnapped. It was of her own making. She simply tried to assuage her own guilt. I have no time for this bullshit. I want to deal with Daniel and be done with him. My simple plan to lure him out worked like a charm, but he’s a fool if he thinks threatening Jodi has an effect on me. Whatever happens, I won’t give him the satisfaction of giving him any reaction other than pity.
I chuckle softly. “Sian isn’t going anywhere with you, Daniel. You don’t seem to get that.” I glance at Jodi, who still has a gun pointed at her head. Daniel could kill her; it wouldn’t change anything. It wouldn’t make me sad, and it wouldn’t hurt. Our relationship ended when she betrayed me. That kind of betrayal can never be repaired. I could never look at her the same way. She used my feelings against me, and I can’t lose control like that again.
Daniel smirks at me. “I don’t think you have a say in the matter, Tate. Sian is going to want to go with me. That’s my final word on the matter.”
“I’m sure you’re used to getting your way, but so am I,” I say. The smirk playing on my mouth seems to annoy him, and that just entertains me more.
Daniel grabs Jodi and stands her in front of him, facing me. She looks at me with pleading eyes. Daniel presses the gun against the side of her head. “Shall I splatter her brains across your club? Will you have your cleaners come in and take care of it?”
“I’m sure you know by now that I don’t care and there will no signs of her being here by opening time tomorrow night,” I say calmly. “I don’t care about Jodi. What I do care about is you fucking with my business and my clubs. I care about you kidnapping me and torturing me and thinking you can get away with it. I can anticipate your moves just like you think you can anticipate mine. So, kill Jodi and be done with it.”
“Ah, but you do care about Sian, which is why you don’t want to let her go,” Daniel says. “That’s so sweet. Tate has a weakness.”
I clench my jaw but try to keep my face neutral. “I don’t waste bullets or time, unlike you. I have morals.”
“Weaknesses,” Daniel says. “Besides, do you think Jodi is innocent? She’s a good fuck, I’ll give her that. She’s been great over the years since you escaped. She does the trick when Sian’s whiny. She also sucks cock well. Did she suck your cock well? Did she fuck you like I told her to? Like her life depended on it? Because it did. I made sure she knew that.”
I want to punch him in the face. He has no respect for any of the women in his life; they’re just toys for him to play with.
“Jeez, you clearly have mummy issues, as you have no idea what women really want, have you?” I laugh.
“Shut the fuck up,” Daniel roars.
I hit the nail on the head. “My bad. Sore subject.”
He’s getting angrier by the second, and I’m suddenly put on edge when Sian steps out from behind me, and Daniel eyes her up. I can’t let him have her. I am Tate Matthews, the leader of an empire right now, not the lover falling into bed with the beautiful woman. Jodi taught me the error of my ways. I gave it all up for her and fell into my feelings, and it got me captured and tortured, nearly killed. “Do you know how much Jodi pines for you?” Daniel says. “She calls your name in her sleep. She doesn’t know that, but I hear her after I fuck her. She probably imagines you while she’s taking my dick. Do you think Sian thinks about me while you fuck her?”
“The things I do to Sian make her forget all about you,” I say with a smirk. “There’s no comparison.”
Daniel glares at me. I sense Sian’s smile more than I see it, and that seems to infuriate Daniel even more. He takes a deep breath and smiles. “Does Jodi deserve to die, though, Tate? She really loves you, even if it isn’t reciprocated. I thought you didn’t spill innocent blood.”
“She’s not innocent,” I reply calmly.
Daniel sighs. “Oh, well.” He lifts the gun and pulls the trigger as my eyes meet Jodi’s. My face is the last thing she sees as her blood and brains splatter to her left.
Sian screams, but still, I don’t flinch. I keep my eyes trained on Daniel, ignoring Jodi’s body that slumps to the floor.