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“This is your call,” the man said to Michael. “In the end, we always defer to you.”
My brows crinkled in confusion. They deferred to him, which meant…fuck, he wasn’t getting me in because of his contacts. He was the contact.
“A test is the only thing that will tell us if your son can truly be trusted.”
Michael’s face went hard as he reached for his gun, but the rest of the men were faster, pulling their weapons and aiming them at him.
“This is the only way,” the man snarled. “We all agreed there would be sacrifices.”
“I’ve sacrificed enough,” Michael spat.
“Yes, probably more than others, but this is necessary, Shadow.”
The man turned and nodded to someone behind me. I heard a scuffle and then Knight was dragged around in front of me, beaten within an inch of his life and bleeding badly. He could barely hold himself up as two men stood on either side, gripping his arms.
“You want in, prove it,” the man said, pulling out a weapon and handing it over. “We all make sacrifices to join. This is your price.”
The zip ties were cut from my wrists and I shook them out, getting to my feet. Knight’s gaze drifted to mine, his dark eyes lethal and unforgiving. If I did this, I would be turning my back on my entire family for good. But if I didn’t, we would both be dead. There was no turning back.
“What will it be?”
The man held the butt of the gun out to me, his eyes watching me curiously. Heart hammering in my chest, I looked around the room again. There was no way out, no way to fight my way out of this. Michael was a loose cannon and would do whatever he deemed appropriate. Knight was in no shape to fight. He couldn’t even hold himself up. I didn’t even know where I was. I had no one on my side.
My eyes flicked to Michael’s one last time. The danger in his eyes made it clear there was only one way out. But there was something else there as well. I had known my old man long enough to know when there was another agenda. This was the only way, and I had to trust him.
I reached for the gun, gripping it tightly in my hand. After quickly checking the weapon, I looked at my brother one last time. I’d already killed my twin. Was I really going to do this again? One last bullet. Kill the man who had come to save me.
“Fucking pussy,” Knight muttered as blood dripped from his mouth. “Do it, brother.”
I wasn’t sure if he was taunting me or begging me to put him out of his misery. Maybe he wanted me to save myself. Fuck, I had no clue, and there was only one choice if I wanted to survive.
If I wanted my family to survive.
I swallowed hard and raised the gun. Bile churned in my gut, but this was the only way. My finger slid over the trigger and my eyes locked with his one last time.
Just like Rafe.
Just fucking like Rafe.
I pulled the trigger.
The smell of smoke permeated the air as I watched my brother’s body slump sideways. His eyes fluttered as he wheezed painfully. It wasn’t a headshot. That’s not what they wanted. They needed to see me pull the trigger and watch him suffer. They had to know I could stomach the outcome of my decisions. A simple bullet to the brain would be too fast and end my suffering along with Knight’s.
I flipped the safety on and handed over the gun as the man clapped me on the shoulder.
“Welcome to the Shadow Government.”
My eyes flicked to Michael’s. He was watching his son bleed out on the ground, and what I saw there scared the crap out of me. Slowly, he turned and faced me.
“There’s no turning back now.”
37
KATE
“We have to go in there!” I shouted, feeling myself unravel by the second. I spun on Hunter and got in his face. “Why aren’t you with him?”
“Because he wouldn’t allow me to go,” he answered calmly. “Kate, you know what he wanted.”