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“He killed my mother.”

“I figured that much. I couldn't find the proof, though. As far as the police are concerned, she took her own life.”

“Well, she didn't, and I'm going to prove it.”

“Poppy, it's been a long time now. Any proof is probably gone.”

“I saw him do it.”

“What?” I asked.

Poppy nodded as she paced in a small circle. Her fingers tugged at her lips as she exhaled. “I was there that night. I saw him force the gun into her hand and make her pull the trigger. But it doesn't make any sense. Why kill me now? Why, after all these years?”

“You were pulling away from him, and he could see it. Men like him can't handle not having the control. He could see you distancing yourself, and it scared him.”

“Scared him? I couldn't remember what happened until now. If I hadn't met you, I probably still wouldn't have remembered. I'd be popping those pills like candy, trying to keep the psychosis at bay.”

“That doesn't matter to a man like him. With you close, he could keep an eye on you.”

“I don't know how to handle this. It's like my brain exploded into a million pieces, and they're slowly coming back together. But why? Why kill my mother? I don't understand.”

“I don't have all the answers. I wish I did, but I don't. All I knew, all I could feel from the beginning was that you didn't deserve to die. That's why I took you the way I did. Something drove me to keep you safe.”

Her puffy eyes blinked a few times. She sniffled and ran her wrist under her nose. “But you don't even know me. Why would you do that? Why risk your life for me?”

“It just felt right,” I answered her honestly. There was no reason for putting myself in the line of fire. I had no valid excuse for making that decision. It was just instinct. My gut feelings were stronger than the money being offered.

“What the hell am I going to do?” she asked. Her eyes lifted to mine. Glassy and glazed, it looked like one blink would send a gush of tears down her cheeks.

“I'm going to take you far away from here. Far away from that man. You'll never have to worry again so long as you're with me.”

Poppy shook her head gently. “He's never going to stop looking for me.”

“And I'll never stop being one step ahead of him. I have more than enough money for us to disappear.”

“So that's what my life will be? Constantly running. Forever looking over my shoulder. That doesn't really sound like living, Vega.”

“But you'll be alive. Isn't that what matters more? The alive part?”

“What kind of life is that?” Her jaw went slack as her shoulders slumped in defeat. “I don't want to live like that. That's what my mother was trying to do. She took me from him. I think she was trying to save us both back then. But he found us.He found us, and in the end, he killed her. He won't stop. We'll never live a normal life again.”

“I've never lived a normal life, Poppy.” I stepped towards her and took both her hands in mine. “What do you want to do?”

“I don't want to constantly be running. I don't want to live in fear. I don't want to live a life that's all pretend. Fake names, fake history, fake everything. I want to be me, Vega.”

“There's only one way for that to happen,” I said. “We have to burn his empire to the ground with him inside,” I told her honestly. The only way out was to destroy his world. “I'll kill him for you.”

Poppy's eyes opened wide as saucers. Her lips thinned as she swallowed hard. “No. I won't ask you to do that. I can't.”

“You're not asking. I'm telling you what I'm going to do.”

“He's my father. It's wrong, Vega. Murdering people is wrong.”

“Some people deserve it. That's just a fact. You and I both know he'll kill you the first chance he gets. You said it yourself, he won't stop. I'm giving you the solution, Poppy.”

She threw her hands into her hair and pulled it back tight against her scalp as she groaned with frustration. “And what if that doesn't work, huh? What if he kills you first? Then what?”

“He won't.”