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Jared’s grip on the gun relaxed, but it was still too damn close to Sophia’s head. “Roshan Haider helped facilitate the shipments to Khan. When you heard the rumor about the weapons and started getting nosy, I told Haider that Khan knew the identity of the man responsible for killing his sister. Haider came to the States to confront you, but then he saw you with Sophia and decided exposing you as his sister’s killer wasn’t enough.” Jared caressed Sophia’s cheek.
Lachlan’s hands fisted.Control.
“I would never have let Roshan hurt her. I simply wanted her to understand the danger you were to her. Like the night of Congressman Kellerman’s reception.” Jared’s smile mocked Lachlan. “I was her savior. Where were you?”
“You bastard—she could have been killed.” Lachlan lurched forward. He would wrap his hands around Landry’s neck and laugh when the life drained out of the other man’s eyes.
Jared’s gun jerked back to Sophia’s temple.
Her whimper froze Lachlan in place. He forced himself to stand down and step back, another inch closer to the vase.
Buy Nathan more time.
“Why kill Fred?” It was a shot in the dark.
The arrow hit home. “Ah, Fred.” Jared’s lips pursed. His gun hand relaxed again. “He pieced together enough financial information to expose my business dealings with Khan. He suspected you, but I knew if he kept digging, he’d figure it out.”
Hate turned Jared’s eyes the color of New York snow. “You lead a charmed life, don’t you, Mackay? Jeremy Powell died in your place. Sophia gave her loyalty to you instead of me. Now she’ll die, like Nadia. You took from me. I take from you.”
He shifted the gun from Sophia to point it at Lachlan. “A former soldier with PTSD finds his lover with their boss and kills her. I’m forced to shoot you in self-defense. Such a tragedy.”
For the first time, a trickle of unease filtered through Lachlan. If he didn’t find a way to distract Jared, he’d be dead, and so would Sophia.
He slid his boot another inch closer to the vase.
His gaze found Sophia’s and held. He let everything he felt for her show in his eyes. Despite what she’d done, he regretted he wouldn’t be around to love her.
Love.He loved her.Too late.
Sophia’s eyes flew wide, her face growing slack.
Lachlan shifted his weight and prepared to act.
Her gaze broadcast a silent plea that shocked him to his core.Trust me.
What was she thinking? He throttled the instinct to shake his head and reject whatever plan she had formed. He owed her his trust. With the barest blink of his lashes, he signaled his acknowledgment.
The smile she gave him made his heart stutter.
Whatever happened, they were in this together.
Without warning, Sophia threw herself sideways into Jared’s arm. The gun flew from his grip to land on the floor with a clatter.
Lachlan lunged for the vase.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Sophiahittherugand rolled. She scrambled for the gun, her shaking fingers wrapping around the grip.
The Murano vase flew from Lachlan’s hand like a missile toward Jared’s head. Jared ducked, the vase shattering harmlessly against the wall of shelves.
Head down, Sophia army-crawled to the wall of windows as Jared grabbed the chair she’d been sitting in and threw it at Lachlan.
Lachlan snatched it from the air. The two former soldiers faced off, hatred bleeding from their pores. The china cup and saucer shattered beneath their feet, Sophia’s remaining tea soaking a brown stain into the expensive rug.
Lachlan parried, and Jared retreated in a deadly circle.
A well-timed roundhouse kick from Jared knocked the chair from Lachlan’s grip, sending it skidding across the floor out of reach.