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“I’ve been keeping an eye on you ever since.”
“What?” He watched me…for years?
He purses his lips. “But I didn’t come in person until that package addressed to your parents was scanned into the States.”
My brain is a muddled mess, on the verge of combusting. He knew we had received that package and came looking for it. He saw the painting in the museum and took it, but the key wasn’t there. That’s when he went to my apartment and found Justin. And killed him.
“There was something with the painting, wasn’t there? And you found it?” Liam asks, advancing on me like a lion sneaking up on its prey. “Let me guess, a key to a safety deposit box?”
I flinch and he grins. “Americans. So predictable.”
“You said you watched me before you came…but how?”
“I have my ways.” He shrugs.
“Justin?”
He purses his lips. “He helped a bit. But darling, you should really leave your webcam off when you’re using your laptop. And install a firewall on your devices.”
The ground sinks away below my feet and I will my body not to fall through the hole he created in my world.
“No.” I stagger back. What did he see? But more than that…“Justin used me?”
He sighs like I’m being dramatic. “That’s not your biggest problem.”
He’s right. He’s my biggest problem and it’s time to get rid of him. “I don’t want to hear anymore.” I shove the bottle of hairspray at him, finger pressed down on the nozzle.
Nothing happens. Stupid hairspray.
“Okay, please put that away. You’re going to hurt yourself.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
He sighs and pulls a gun out from behind his back. “Just give me the box Amelia, and no one will get hurt.”
A shiver wracks through my body, I’m cold and wet, and now very upset. I eye the evil device. “I’ve never had a gun pulled on me before. I’m not a fan.”
“You get used to it.” He shrugs.
What about Leah? Am I supposed to believe he’s going to release her if I give him this box? A jewelry box isn’t worth someone’s life. I don’t have a choice. I can’t fight him, but even if I did and happened to overpower him, how would I find Leah?
“Okay, okay, the box is in my locker,” I say, defeated, for the moment. I’ll figure a way out of this somehow.
“There, was that so hard?”
“Just so you know, I was on your side. I didn’t believe you could do horrible things,” I say, fumbling with my locker.
“You did provide the FBI with an excellent distraction, so I thank you for that,” Liam says.
I pause. “How did you know the FBI was following you?” He must have gotten rid of the agent posted at my door.
“One, I’m not dumb, and two, they aren’t very subtle. But I let them have their fun and think they were doing the world a favor by following me. It was incredibly easy to lose them. You’ll have to tell your boyfriend to work harder.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.” I throw my hip into the locker then punch it when it still doesn’t budge.
Liam raises his brow at my antics. “Do you need help?”
“No. Please continue your guilty monologue, I was enjoying it. Why did you date me anyway?”