stares directly into my eyes. He must see my genuine confusion because a moment later, he lets out a humorless laugh I feel in my bones.
“You really don’t know, do you? Does the name William ring a bell?”
Now I’m even more confused. How does he know about William, and what does he have to do with anything? The information isn’t adding up in my brain, or maybe I just don’t care to try and add it together.
“William… he’s dead. I saw him die… I was there.”
“He didn’t die, sweetheart. He recovered, and a few months later, he went back and killed your foster dad in cold blood. William Zane Brennen was a born killer, and that’s exactly why I hired him.”
Like an atomic bomb, everything around me explodes.
Zane is William.
William is Zane.
Christian shakes me by my neck, dragging me out of my own mind.
“Let me tell you the rest of the story, Dove. When I found him in prison, he was killing guys left and right, even though he was one of the youngest inmates. I found a way to get him out so he could work for me. His talent was really wasted in prison. He did well for himself too. Worked his way up, became one of my best men. Little did I know, he had been hiding the one thing I’d been looking for all along. You.”
Me? What does he want with me? I can’t fully wrap my head around it. Not around any of this. I have so many questions, so many, but I guess it’s too late for any answer now. Zane… William is gone.
When the asshole let’s go of my neck, I lull to the side, staring off into nothingness. How couldn’t I see it? How did I not put one and one together? Why didn’t he tell me?
Now he’s gone, and I… I’m going to die. He warned me, and I didn’t listen. Tears swim in my eyes.
“You know I sent him to kill you?” His menacing voice draws me back to the present, and I shiver at the darkness of it. “He took you into hiding instead. I guess I should thank him for that. Killing you would have been a waste of something good, I see that now.” His eyes roam down my body, and I feel vomit rising in my throat.
“What… What is going to happen to me?” It’s a stupid question to ask when you’re obviously standing on the edge of death, but I have to know if that’s where I’m going. If I’m going to die right now. “Are you still going to kill me?”
Christian smiles, and I feel the promise of pain in that one single look. “I was going to, but it’s your lucky day because I’m feeling generous, and well, I have a much better use for you now.” Before I can respond, his fist comes out of nowhere, his knuckles crashing into the side of my face. Pain lances across my face, and all I can think before everything goes black is that I should’ve listened to Zane.
24
Cinder blocks weigh my eyes down. I attempt to roll over but every muscle in my body tenses. It feels like I’ve been tossed off a ten-story building, landing flat on my back. Groaning into the air, my fingertips graze something soft, a sheet…or blanket. I don’t know, but it’s not cold or hard. Shifting, I realize I’m no longer on the cold concrete but somewhere else. Confusion clouds my mind.
“Shhh, the police are on their way. Everything is going to be okay. They’ll find the person who shot you.” A voice soothes, but that’s not the effect it has on me, and instantly my eyes snap open. Frenzied, I look around the room. The smell of antiseptic assaults my senses, and I piece the puzzle together very quickly.
Hospital. I’m in the hospital. The same hospital where Christian left me in the parking garage to die. Joke’s on him though, because I’m not going to die. At least not today. Pain erupts across my body, and my muscles protest as I push off the bed and stand on unsteady feet.
“Sir, you need to lie down!” The nurse rushes over to me, her eyes panicked but I pin her with a dark look that promises pain, and she stops in her tracks. I don’t say shit as I walk out of the room, my body screaming at me, begging me to turn around and go lie down.