Chapter 16
SIXTEEN
KANE
Click.
Empty chamber.
Chris studies me closely as he digs the gun in hard enough to leave a mark. I stare back, stone-faced, while someone blows out a relieved breath in the background.
“Russian roulette has always been a favorite game of mine,” Chris says, his grip steady on the gun. He applies more pressure to make a point. “Luck was on your side today, but that won’t be the case next time. This is your final warning, Ravencourt. Stay the fuck away from my sister.”
I breathe in through my nose, slow and steady, as Chris and his friends file out of the room.
It was luck that the chamber was empty, or so he claims. Well, the same applies to him.
Chris should thank his lucky stars I love his sister, or I would cut him into pieces just for fun.
Remind me again why it’s a bad idea and why I shouldn’t do it. There’s still time.
My brother slaps me on the back of the head. “You just can’t shut your pie hole, can you? Jesus, you almost got yourself killed.”
“He was never going to hurt me,” I say as we exit the auditorium.
“Did you miss the part where he pulled the trigger?” Noah asks.
Maverick chuckles. “That was wild. Are sure you want to let this go?”
My phone buzzes in my pocket as I switch my laptop to the other hand. “We’re not going after Holt or his friends. We’ve got bigger fish to fry.”
Students part like the sea as we exit the auditorium and head toward the cafeteria. Some even throw themselves out of the way as though we’ll trample them if they get too close. I pull my phone from my pocket and stop so suddenly that the others turn with matching confused expressions.
“You okay?” Maverick asks, and I look up to see them all watching me before I quickly pocket my phone.
My composure holds, but barely. Why is Beverly contacting me now? On a weekday. What does she think I am? Some fucking escort? A paid booty call? My fingers tremble at my sides. Cash notices and visibly stiffens as he looks down at my free hand, the one that’s not holding the laptop.
“You guys go ahead. I’ve gotta take care of something.” The words scrape raw on their way up. It never gets any easier. I promised her brother I would never screw around on his sister, but look at me now. Summoned like a dog.
Noah and Maverick accept my excuse and head off. My twin is a different matter. He narrows his eyes, but not in an accusatory way. He’s worried. And when I turn and walk away to face this fucking nightmare, he catches up and pulls me to a stop.
I can barely even look at him. Please, just take a knife and gut me... rip my insides out. It would hurt less.
“It’s Beverly, isn’t it?”
I focus on controlling the tremble in my fingers, but if anything, it gets worse. Noticing, Cash grinds his teeth and grabs the back of his neck. His face hardens into something colder, and he says, “I’ll go in your place.”
“She’ll know it’s you.”
Still gripping his neck, he smiles, but it’s a cruel twist of his lips. “Then we kill her. Together. Let’s just fucking do it.”
Hollow laughter rumbles in my chest as I start walking. “Trust me, I’d love to cut her head off and watch it roll, but you know that’s not an option. At least not yet.”
“Wait,” he says, running after me. “Don’t go to her.”
“I have no other choice.”
“Why is she so obsessed with you? I don’t get it. Why not me? We’re carbon copies.”
I come to a stop. “I don’t fucking know, Cash. Want me to ask her while she’s struggling to take my eight-inch cock down her throat?”
When I start to leave again, he curls his fingers around my arm to stop me. We lock eyes, and he swallows hard. I wait for him to say something, but what’s there to say? It’s either him or me. Someone has to pay the price.
His hand drops from my arm. “You don’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I do.”
Cash watches me walk away. The wretched look on his face tears me up inside, and I know he resents that he can’t help.
Nobody wants to feel powerless.
But isn’t it the biggest irony of all? Royalty in our own right, we were born into money and power, yet we are powerless.
Thirty-five minutes later, I arrive at the address Beverly sent me. It’s a luxury hotel in the neighboring town, away from prying eyes, somewhere her husband won’t see us.
Sweat prickles along my hairline during the elevator ride to her floor. The tremble in my hands is even worse now. How the hell am I supposed to go through with this? My fingers curl inward as the doors ping open.
Let’s just get this over with.
Before my knuckles can connect with the door, Beverly swings it open and drapes herself in the doorway like a seductress. She’s nude, her curves fully on display, without a care if someone walks past.
Acid creeps up my throat before I can swallow it down. The fucking walls are closing in.
Her dilated pupils take me in. “I haven’t stopped thinking about that filthy mouth on me since the other week at the cabin.
Do you remember how much fun we had, puppy?
” She lets her salacious gaze fall to my crotch and back up, and I suppress a shiver when she fists my shirt. “I’m going to sit on that pretty face.”
Then she pulls me in and shuts the door.