Chapter 27 #2
“Neither! I want you. Joshua wanted to be with me and I was afraid, afraid.” She stutters, bursting into sobs.
Xavier leans down in front of her and brushes hair out of her face, his voice turning soft. “Afraid that he’d tell me what you did if you broke things off with him?” His hand fists her hair, and he yanks her head back. “Yes,” she screams. “I just wanted him dead so I wouldn’t lose you. I love you.”
“Why not kill him yourself then?” He asks the same question I did, and the answer suddenly occurs to me.
“She couldn’t do it. Because she loves him.”
“Shut the fuck up, you stupid slut!” she screams at me, fighting to get loose from Xavier’s grip.
I’ve hit the nail on the head and Xavier sees it. If I’m not surviving this night, I’m taking this bitch down with me.
He lets her go and stands up. At the same time, I hear the faint sound of a footstep and look up to see Lee pointing a gun at Xavier.
Relief at the sight of him pours through me, but he isn’t looking at me.
I’ll never forget the total devastation on his face as he stares at the wife he’s been missing for over seven years.
“Let them go. Now,” he says, keeping his gun on Xavier.
Xavier looks completely unbothered as Jay steps out of the shadows and puts a gun to Lee’s head. “Let them go?” Xavier laughs, “I didn’t do this. No, it looks like our wife has been up to some shit. I followed her out here and look what I found. It seems she’s a little jealous of your new woman.”
Lee keeps his gun aimed at Xavier, ignoring the one against the back of his head. Xavier must realize Lee’s willing to sacrifice himself to save us because he suddenly snatches up Isla and presses his barrel to her temple. “Drop your fucking gun or your little reunion ends now.”
Lee keeps his expression impassive, but I can feel his indecision. “Don’t put it down,” I plead with him. “She’s the one who did this. She had Trinity set my house on fire.”
Lee blinks and looks at Isla. A smile flirts with Xavier’s lips. He’s enjoying this.
Lee’s voice is soft as he speaks to his wife. “Has he had you all this time?”
“He loves me!” Isla exclaims, and Lee winces as if the words are darts hitting him. “More than you ever did!” Wild way to show his love, holding a gun to her head.
“What has he done to you?” The despair in that question is the most heartbreaking thing.
Xavier lets out a loud laugh. “Aw, isn’t that adorable?
” He grins at Jay. “He thinks I brainwashed her.” Jay chuckles along, still holding the gun to Lee’s head.
“No stockholm syndrome here. I didn’t take her or buy her or hold her captive.
” Xavier tips his chin toward me. “She was never tied up like your girl there.” His amused voice is infuriating.
“She came to me. For over a month, she stored up her blood to dump in Joss’s car. ”
Xavier shakes his head. “You did exactly what she said you would. Wiped him right out. I had nothing against the guy, but somebody had to take the blame. I even helped his little brother by taking him in and giving him a job.” Xavier’s head tilts.
“That reminds me, I sent him out to see what Isla was doing when her chip showed her on your property. She came back but he didn’t. Did you kill him too?”
Lee doesn’t have a chance to answer before Isla tries to yank herself out of Xavier’s grasp despite the gun to her temple. “You chipped me?” she shouts. Her outrage is hilarious considering the circumstances. For a second I wonder if I’m dreaming. All of this seems so surreal.
He jerks her back into place. “You think I wouldn’t track you like all my whores?”
“I’m not your whore!” she screams. “You love me. I’m your wife.”
A realization strikes me and anger steals my self control as I look at the crazy bitch. “You were the one who broke in and tried to drown me.” Lee killed the man following her, not the person threatening us.
Xavier looks down at her and she shakes her head. “No! I wasn’t there. I don’t care about her. I don’t want him. I told you that when I left him.”
Xavier stares at her then nods. “Tell him.”
Isla doesn’t hesitate to regard Lee. “This is all your fault! I fell for a vicious vigilante, and you turned into a pussy who wanted to live in the woods and make me into a housewife and stepmom to your sister. You got boring and I found a real man. I love him!”
Her words hit home, though Lee does his best not to show it.
Xavier shrugs. “Whores, man, what are you going to do? They love danger.” He suddenly moves the gun from Isla’s temple, throws her onto the ground, and points it at me.
“This has been fun, really, but it’s time to wrap it up.
Drop your fucking gun or Silver’s dead.” Before anyone can speak or react, he adds, “Three, two…”
Adrenaline and pure terror overwhelm me, and I slam my eyes closed. A second later, I hear a thump and open my eyes to see Jay picking up Lee’s gun. He stands unarmed while Xavier smiles back at him. “That’s better.”
“Just let Silver go,” Lee says. “This is between you, me, and my wife.”
“Our wife,” Xavier corrects. A wicked grin grows on his face and he gestures to Isla. “I have a better idea. Jay, tie her up. Feet to wrists.”
Xavier keeps the gun aimed at me as Jay obeys. Isla is then deposited on the dirt beside me, and Jay returns to stand near Lee, his weapon pointed at him again.
It strikes me suddenly that neither of us is going to survive this. If Landon and Justus had still been in town, maybe. If he wouldn’t have come alone.
“Now,” Xavier says to Lee, “I only see one way to solve this. Silver wants you. You want Isla. Isla wants me. Isn’t that just the way it goes? I’m going to do the gentlemanly thing here and let you choose.”
His words drip ice through my entire body as I realize where he’s going with it. “Give me a name and that one lives. The other dies and we can all get back to our lives. We’re missing out on New Year’s parties, for fuck’s sake.”
“No!” Isla screams. “No, Xavier, I love you. I chose you and we’ve been so happy. I’m sorry. I’m sorry about Joshua but I don’t want him. You can kill him. Kill Lee. Kill whoever you want! I only want you!”
This is it and I know it. None of us are walking out of here. There’s no way. Lee’s unarmed with a gun trained on him. Xavier stands near Isla and me, moving his gun back and forth from my head to hers.
“I’ll give you ten seconds. Say her name and she lives. One…”
The terror and despair on Lee’s face triggers a rage in me like I’ve never felt. After everything, how could any universe allow this to happen to him? “No!” My scream reverberates around the barn. “Don’t you fucking do this to him!”
Jay steps up and presses the gun to the side of Lee’s head as Xavier continues to count. “Two, three…”
“Lee,” I sob, and his tortured eyes land on mine. “It’s okay. This isn’t your fault. Do you hear me? I love you. I don’t blame you.” There’s nothing I can say that’ll comfort him in the future when I’m gone. If he has a future.
“Four…five…six.”