Page 74 of Wicked Games
“You’ve seen the pictures, Lucky. You were in love with him, and you knew what would happen if I released the photos to the press. He wouldn’t live as long as he did.”Did. There it was: a roundabout confession. Sitting there and listening to him speak so casually about taking another person’s life made me ill; knowing it was someone I once cared greatly for made me burn with rage. I couldn’t let him goad me into showing my hand. He thought he’d preemptively snatched me off the street before our meeting and had no idea he played right into our hands instead.Anytime now, Carmen.
“What did you do to Hiram?”
“You haven’t heard?” he asked, eyes widening in delight. “Hiram and his friends died in a tragic boating accident. It was all over the news. I can’t believe you didn’t know.”
“Why would you kill him after all this time?”
“Haven’t you figured it out yet? Who is the person Deverish, Hiram, and the pissant museum nerd have in common?”
“You’re in love with me? Why didn’t you try the usual tactics like sending me flowers and chocolates?”
“I don’t love you, Lucky. Love is for pussies. I wanted to own you and control you. I wanted to have all your loyalty. I finally realized I’ll never have who I want, and I can’t permit anyone else to have you either.”
I desperately wanted to understand how I could possibly attract the attention of a lunatic, but that right there was the answer. There was no rationalizing an irrational mind. I would never understand why I became the object of his obsession. I could accept it as fact and move on or make myself crazy trying to figure him out. “You’re a sick fucker.”
“I wear many labels,” Banks said with a casual shrug. “I shy away from none.” He rose from the edge of his desk and walked toward me. Stavros stepped aside to make room for him. Banks grabbed the top of my shirt and ripped it open, scattering buttons everywhere. Of all the things I mentally prepared for, him touching my bare skin wasn’t one of them. “We could’ve ruled the world together, Lucky. In and out of bed,” he said wistfully.
“I heard you prefer unwilling bed partners,” I jeered.
“I do.” The look he gave me made my skin crawl. Signal or no signal, I had limitations on how far I’d go to get the information we needed.
The power shut off suddenly, throwing the room in darkness with only the crackling fire for light.Signal received.Banks and Stavros both jerked their attention from me. I used the distraction to free my right hand then held the rope in my fists so they wouldn’t know it just yet.
“Find out where Edgar is,” Banks barked, telling me there were just two goons and him. Piece of cake for Carmen and me to disable.
The study door kicked in with a thud. Stavros reached for his knife but didn’t get a chance to grip it because I swiftly rose to my feet and swept his legs out from under him. I kicked his jaw with the heel of my foot hard enough to render him unconscious.
“Nice job, Lucky,” Carmen said when she came through the door. I noticed she was carrying a Glock 22. “Edgar is down also.”
“As in dead?” I asked. We planned to turn everyone over to the police, or at least that’s what we’d discussed.
“Lucky doesn’t like guns anymore. He’s seen enough violence,” Banks said.
“Edgar is unconscious and tied up. I did a much better job of securing him than this idiot did with you,” she said, tipping her head to where Stavros sprawled on the floor. “I saved my bullets for dear old dad.”
“You think you have the balls to shoot me, little girl?”
“I wasn’t aware testicles were a requirement to own or use a handgun. Get on your knees, disgusting pig.”
“You won’t shoot me. You’re too soft, like your mother. How does it feel to stand in the home she once lived in? Had I known you would turn out to be so beautiful, I would’ve made similar arrangements for you and earned back the money I wasted on your mother’s education.”
Carmen lowered the gun and fired a bullet into his knee. Banks screamed and fell to the ground, holding his hands over his knee.
“Don’t tell me what I will and won’t do,” Carmen said, moving to stand closer to him but out of the range of his legs should he try to kick out with his good one.
“Carmen, you’re better than this. What happened to turning him over to the authorities?” I asked, slowly approaching her.
“Men like him always get away with their crimes. They use their money, power, and connections to escape prosecution,” she said. Her voice shook with emotion, but her gun remained steadily aimed at the man screaming and writhing on the floor. “There’s only one way to end his reign of terror.”
“Carmen, would your mother want you to have his blood on your hands? Do you think it would bring her comfort to watch the guilt eat away at you?”
“I won’t lose a moment’s sleep over killing him. I’ve dreamed of this day for so long, Lucky. I used my rage to fuel me. I learned everything I could about him, then I set out to beat him at his own game. I wanted to be on his radar; I wanted him to seethe every time I recovered an artifact before one of his men did. I wanted to take away everything he’d built piece by piece, but it wasn’t enough. They were hollow victories.”
I reached her side but made no move to disarm her. “Every time you kill someone, a piece of your soul dies too. I’ve taken down some of the deadliest terrorists in the world, and even though I did humanity a favor, it stained my soul. I don’t want that for you, Carmen. Give me the gun. If you need this bastard to die, let me kill him.”
“I’m not weak, Lucky. I can do this,” Carmen said vehemently.
“You’re one of the strongest people I know. Sometimes strength means walking away.”