Page 66

Her eyes zeroed in on mine, brows drawing in hard. “He hid me for all these years and no one did a fucking thing. Why didn't any of the other guys say anything? How come no one threw him to the wolves when they got busted?”

“Because of fear.”

Fear was the only power he had. With every death at my father's hands, his control grew. The more people he destroyed, the easier it was to keep the rest in line. No one wanted to be at the other end, waiting to receive his punishment.

His secret was safe.

Her father was his first true reflex kill. He hadn't planned it, he didn't go there with the intentions to take him from Cyprus. But he did.

And that one choice changed our lives. That moment gave him more power than he could have ever imagined.

He took two lives that night, but he changed six.

I hated him for what he did. And yet, in my sick mind I was also grateful at the same time.

I almost thanked him once for bringing this woman into my life. I didn't know what stopped me from doing that, but I never could utter those words to him.

Maybe it was because I knew what he had done was wrong. Maybe it was because we lived a lie every single day, despite the love I felt for her.

All of it was out on the table now, and I felt like nothing like I thought I would if she found out our secret.

For the first time in my life, I didn't feel like cement coated my skin and my bones were made of lead.

I felt a release, I felt the weight lift and my heart break free.

For once, I had done the right thing.