Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
SEVEN
I stare down at Grace, heart pounding with glee, stomach churning with dread. She knows. It’s over. She knows.
“I—” For the first time, I’m unsure what to say to her. My mind is racing, my emotions pulling me in a thousand different directions, and I can’t decide which path is the right one anymore. This was not in the plan. This was not supposed to happen.
I’d only left her for five minutes to grab the champagne from my room, and somehow, Corey fucking Pembrook found a way to ruin all of my carefully laid plans in that short timespan.
When I saw her purse strewn in front of her hotel room, I knew something wasn’t right.
If I had hesitated or gone back to my room to grab my mask, I would have been too late.
I don’t regret my decision—I never could—but now, I really wish I had planned for this kind of situation.
“You’re Red 7?” Her expression twists in horror. “You… how could this be?” She shakes her head, all the blood draining from her face as she whispers, “What the fuck have I done…”
I crouch down, taking her face in my palms and staring deep in her eyes. “It’s okay, Grace. Everything is going to be okay. But we have to go.”
“Go?” She blinks slowly, not seeming to comprehend the seriousness of the situation. Any moment, someone could come to investigate the noise—in fact, I know they will. Corey wasn’t exactly subtle when he busted the door in.
“Yes. Go. We need to leave before someone finds us.” I search her face to see if she understands. Instead, she stares straight at me with those blank, unfocused eyes. Probably shock.
“Grace? Can you run?”
“Run?” She frowns, pulling back from my hold. “I’m not running. I’m not going anywhere.” She blinks, and her gaze clears, a spark of anger replacing the numbness from before. “Especially not with you. I don’t even want to fucking look at you right now.”
“Grace—”
“No! I don’t want to fucking hear it. Just… get out. Leave me alone.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Why the hell not?”
I gesture to Corey’s lifeless body, the dark halo of blood staining the carpet. “That.”
She scoffs. “You’re the one who killed him!”
“Maybe. Or maybe you did. I’m sure several people saw you two get in the elevator. Even if they didn’t, the police will see you and him coming into the room on the security cameras a few minutes before he died. You’ll be a suspect.”
“So they’ll see you coming in, too.”
The corner of my mouth tips in a smirk. “Not if I edit the video. Not if I plant your DNA and fingerprints for the police to find.”
Her eyes go wide as my words sink in. “You wouldn’t…”
“I most certainly would. To have you, I’d do anything. Blackmail isn’t even close to the bottom of that list.” I reach out again, running my thumb gently over her cheekbone. “Don’t you understand, sweet girl? You don’t have a choice.”
“The fuck I don’t!” Her eyes narrow in anger. “No one will ever believe I did this… it’s… it’s ridiculous!”
“Is it, Grace?” I lean in closer, watching her pupils blow, consuming the surrounding brown.
“You forget I’ve done this many, many times.
I know exactly what to do to get away with this and pin it on anyone I choose.
” I lean in, brushing the tip of my nose against hers.
“If I have to ruin you, I will. Make no mistake about it. But I don’t want to.
I want you to come with me. To let me show you what a good life I could provide you.
” I stare deep into her eyes, hoping she can see the sincerity in mine.
“I can take care of you, Grace. I want to make you happy.”
She swallows hard, and when she speaks, it’s nothing more than a hoarse whisper. Still, it cuts me to the bone. “You could never make me happy. You’re a sick fucking monster.”
I sigh. I really didn’t want things to go this way. For once in my life, I thought there was a chance someone would choose me—really choose me. Grace and Archer were getting along so well, and it looked like she was on her way to opening up. To loving me.
She was falling for Archer Graves, I remind myself. Archer. Not Seven. Never me. Never the monster.
My chest squeezes with a strange emotion that makes my eyes burn, but I push it away with the next blink. As much as I wanted to pretend, I’ll never be a man like Archer. It was nice to pretend, but now, I have to face my reality.
I’m not a good man. I don’t save people. I don’t open up my heart, especially not to a woman like Grace Kent—one who can so easily bring me to my knees. One who would rather die than give her heart to a monster like me.
And so, I’ll have to give her no other choice.
“I’m sorry, angel. This is going to hurt,” I whisper.
I look deep into her eyes as I reach down, pulling a vial of sedative from the secret compartment in my holster. Her eyes widen as I jam the needle into the artery on the side of her neck, delivering the entire dose with a flick of my thumb.
I shouldn’t, but I’m filled with a toxic sense of pride as her eyes shutter—knowing my face is the last thing she sees.