Page 123 of Brutal Knight

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I need to get something out of my pocket."

His eyes narrowed on me. "Do it slowly."

I reached down, pulling out a flash drive, showing it to him so he could see it wasn't a weapon. "But just know the only time I disobeyed him was when I was hanging out with you."

"Because we didn't have enough money?" he sneered.

"Yes," I answered simply, because it was the truth.

"Except our family name--"

"Meant nothing. Not to my father."

There was a shocked silence, then his face hardened. "Well, that doesn't matter any longer."

"It never mattered," I said, "Not to me."

Rook's throat worked and I saw a flash of softness in his eyes, but his gaze traveled down to my fingers, where I was gripping the flash drive. "And in there is the truth?"

"Yes," I said. "After my father died, I discovered the truth. Who wanted her dead."

"And why wouldn't I just kill you and take it from your dead body?"

"Because you need the eleven number key code." I tapped my temple. "Right here. You'll never get it open without me."

Rook eyed me skeptically. I could see the flush to his cheeks, hear his short breathing, the way his eyes kept going between me and the drive.

He wanted to kill me. Of that I was certain. And, to be honest, I didn't blame him.

I'd played a vital role in the worst day of his life, and I'd done it on purpose.

Not to hurt him, but because I was obligated to obey my father, a choice I'd regretted ever since I saw nana's dead body.

But I couldn't change the past.

And I didn't have a death wish. Now that Tatiana belonged to me, I wanted to show her, every day in every way, how much she meant to me. To this world.

She was the priceless star the world deserved, and I was going to prove that to her.

I needed him to want this more than he wanted to kill me.

"I think that you don't really want to kill me."

"No. I really do."

"What you want is retribution for Nana's death. And even though I did betray you, I didn't kill her. For my penance, and in exchange for my life, I'll give you the truth, so you can go after the people truly responsible for her death."

There was a long pause. Eyebrows furrowed, his face: pale and broody.

"You'll find that everything you believe in this world is wrong," I hinted. "You walk out of here and the information is gone forever. No one else knows this. You won't be able to get it from your secret network, I can promise that."

I didn't gloat.

Being cocky would only get me killed.

Plus, he deserved to know the truth, and I deserved to give it to him.