Page 141 of A Lethal Game of Trust

I didn’t watch him struggle to sit up. No, I watched each of their reactions. Ivan inhaled deeply, watching him with a face of indifference. Vera swallowed, her chest hitching.

“This man,” Ivan spat, his words venomous. “Why is he still breathing—”

“Because, apparently, your brother paid for him to get out!”

Ivan turned to Rocco. “Go and get Anton from his room, please.”

“I don’t answer to you,” Roc said, his disdain clear.

For the last few months, I had been turning more and more men away from the Belovs. It started with those I trusted with the truth. Rocco, Andy. The men who loved my father, who found me at social events and looked down at me with sympathy.

The men that looked at me with respect.

“Roc, please,” I said and he immediately stood straight.

“You ok, Leo?”

“I’ve got Dom,” I said.

Who moved to stand by my side without looking away fromhis mum or dad.

I loved him.There was no questioning it. If I killed his dad, he would hate me. I’d break my own heart.

“Take Andy!” Ivan called after Roc as he left.

“Is this the man you arranged everything with?” I asked, my gun now to Firdman’s temple.

But he was only sobbing, head bent to the floor.

“You’re starting to get more and more useless to me, Firdman,” I tormented and cocked the gun.

“Don’t know,” he wheezed, face pink. “Don’t know.”

Then I made the mistake of looking up and my gaze crashed into Dom’s. And what I saw there shook me to my very core.

He tried to bite back a smile. A smile bursting with humour and… and love.

It was only contained for a second longer and then his dimples were on full show as he stepped closer to me. And I let him.

“Leo,” he drawled, his shoulder pressed against mine as he stood before me. He bent to whisper in my ear, “This is exactly what you need. We’re going to make it.”

This man was my one weakness.

Other than my need for revenge.

But I prayed he was right. Because without the vengeance fueling my veins, very little of me was left.

Even though all I had ever done was love him and that hadn’t slipped away at all, it was clouded behind Firdman’s torture.

And at the same time, I knew this wasn’t just for my father, mother or me. This was for us. Because until I knew I wouldn’t hurt him or that his father hadn’t hurt me, I couldn’t give myself to him completely.

And god knew I needed to.

I blinked away the tears before they fell and turned back to the man who killed my father. I crouched beside him, the gun pressed to the weak point of his head. “Look up and tell me if that man is the one who ordered you to kill Luís Castillo.”

There was scuffling outside that drew everyone’s attention but mine. The voices outside meant very little to me when I stood over the sobbing vermin. At first, I’d enjoyed hurting him, hearing him cry, confessing to killing my father and trying to torment me. Now, though… it was tedious. I felt nothing but empty. All my anger towards the man had gone, already used to draw his blood and screams.

Four bodies entered the room and I had to tear myself from my thoughts to turn to them.