Chapter 70
Seventy
S ybil
“Well, shit. I may have underestimated this situation,” Cooper deadpans.
Jonathan’s sharp laugh cuts through the room. “ Shit is right. Didn’t think I had it in me, did you?”
I definitely didn’t.
“Don’t move,” Jonathan orders, stepping toward his uncle’s body.
I know what he’s looking for before he even moves. The confirmation comes when he crouches and snatches up the gun, never taking his eyes off us.
“I’m going to tell you exactly how this is gonna go,” he says, voice steady, almost amused. “One wrong move, and one of you is getting a bullet in the brain. Got it?”
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Cooper’s voice is even and controlled. “You just killed a man. Now you’re threatening to kill two more people. I already told you the cops are going to show any minute.”
Jonathan shrugs, unfazed. “The cops won’t hurt my plan.”
Cooper looks impressed, but I know he’s faking it. “Alright then, you sound like you’re pretty smart. Let’s hear it.”
Cooper’s calm is a facade. I know him better than anybody, and he’s terrified. My body is shaking, shock ripping through me in sickening waves. Cooper sits perfectly still, but his hand—the one closest to me—trembles slightly.
“You’re going to give me exactly what I want,” Jonathan says, his eyes burning into Cooper. “Or your girlfriend dies. Got it?”
Cooper nods. “I got it. You want a job, is that right? Well, I gotta warn you, working for the man sucks sometimes, but if you really want it, you can take mine.”
Jonathan laughs, full of scorn. “You think I want to work at your stupid company? That I want to ‘work for the man,’ as you say? I never wanted that. My uncle wanted that. He didn’t have the vision I have. He didn’t get it.”
Jonathan’s eyes gleam as he continues. “I never looked up to my uncle, you know. He’s a corporate bootlicker. I look up to people like your father, who built King Media from nothing and became a billionaire. That’s what I’m gonna do.”
There it is. The delusion. The goddamn podcast-fueled fantasy so many young men these days easily adopt, thinking that becoming a billionaire is simply something they can work hard for.
Extreme wealth doesn’t work that way. A billion dollars takes more than work—it’s like winning the lottery, only harder and rarer.
Jonathan thinks that because a handful of powerful and well-connected men have struck gold and built empires, he’s destined to be next. I’d love to burst his bubble, but I know better than to taunt the man holding two guns.
“How exactly do Sybil and I factor into your plans?”
“One of you is going to take the fall for my dear uncle’s death, here.”
Okay, so he really is crazy. We’ll tell the cops the truth later, after the threat is gone.
Jonathan tilts his chin. “Who’s gonna take the blame?”
Cooper’s hand shoots up. “That would be me.”
I shake my head. “Cooper, don’t?—”
“Do you have a fucking death wish?” Jonathan sneers at me.
“Let your man be a man and protect you for once. God, I’m so tired of all this feminist-woke-bullshit.
You’re infected, do you know that? You’re fucking infected.
You don’t even have to work, you’re already filthy rich, and yet you want to work rather than accepting the role you were bred for?
You think it’s okay to take jobs from deserving men like me who actually have real skills? ”
He shakes his head, heat rising in his cheeks. “Be grateful for Cooper. He’s doing the right thing. I don’t want to hear another word out of your pretty mouth. Let the men take care of business, and shut the fuck up.”
He’s completely unhinged. Cooper’s face is turning blotchy, and I know he’s feeling everything I’m feeling, punctuated with rage.
I nod at Jonathan, secure in the fact that we’ll handle this with the police later. Once we explain everything, they’ll believe us over this lunatic, won’t they?
“I’m gonna hand you the gun now,” Jonathan continues, looking at Cooper. “You know, the one you used to kill my uncle who was threatening your girlfriend.”
Cooper’s eyes brighten in anticipation, and Jonathan snorts.
“Don’t worry, the gun only had one bullet in the chamber, so it’s useless now.
When the police get here, you’ll both confirm Cooper tackled me, took my gun, and killed my uncle.
He was going to kill me, too, but, lucky me, with only one bullet in the chamber, I was able to get away and retrieve my uncle’s weapon to defend myself. ”
My mouth falls open.
Jonathan is smarter than I thought.
His lies might actually be believable.
“I have proof you two are a couple and very much in love ,” he says, drawing the word “love” out like it’s a joke.
“So, of course, you’ll say whatever you had to say to protect each other.
The truth is—according to the police—you came here to talk to us, you got mad, you took it too far, and you’re ultimately responsible for my uncle’s death. ”
Jonathan dangles the gun in front of Cooper’s face like a carrot. When Cooper takes it, my heart drops. He’s really going along with this. He could spend the rest of his life in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.
“Prison is better than watching him kill you,” Cooper says, looking at me like the sun rises and sets in my face. “I love you, Sybil. I’ll do anything for you.”
I’d do anything for him, too, and I shake my head with tears running down my face. “Please don’t.”
A commotion sounds outside the door, and the security guard knocks, then speaks through the panel. “The police are here. What should I do?”
Jonathan’s grin is barely contained, but his voice shakes with distress. “Send them in! Hurry, my uncle’s been shot!”
The guard shuffles off.
“I can’t wait to get my hands on the Vale fortune. I’m the sole heir, you know. Auntie and Uncle never had any children. I stand to end up with millions in seed money for my company.”
He takes his eyes off us for a second to smile fondly at his uncle’s body—that’s when Cooper lunges, tackling Jonathan to the floor.
Boom!
The other gun fires.
“I’ll kill you for this,” Cooper growls, pinning Jonathan to the floor. “You think I’m taking the fall for you? That you can hurt my woman? You’re out of your goddamn mind!”
I scramble to my feet, searching for guns and more blood—God, please, no blood.
Jonathan struggles, but Cooper has him locked down right as the police burst in.
“Did you hear that?” Cooper calls out to them. “You hear how excited he is about that ‘seed money’ he’s getting as his uncle’s only heir? He fucking killed the guy not five minutes ago!”
They move quickly, apprehending both men.
The security guard from before walks in the room. “I heard it all. It’s the truth. He killed my employer,” he says, pointing at Jonathan.
Thank God he’s able to corroborate on our story. The tension that’s wound tight around my lungs slackens, and I can breathe again.
“No,” Jonathan tries, color draining from his face. “They’re lying!”
Conrad King sweeps into the room, his eyes wild with fear as he takes in the scene, and my breathing relaxes even more. As much as I can’t stand Conrad and as angry as I am at him, I know he’ll take care of Cooper.
“Are you okay, son?” he asks between desperate panting breaths.
Cooper shrugs from between the cops who are holding him down. “Yeah, the mother fucker killed his uncle and then shot me in the leg. He just shot an expensive hunk of metal.” He gives me a rakish smile, complete with a trickle of blood on his lips. “But Sybil’s okay, so I’m okay.”
A wave of relief washes over me, and I burst into tears.