Sarah’s voice turned sharp. “Anthony, for Christ’s sake. Let him go. It’s not what you think!”
“It’s exactly what I think. I’m getting you out of here.”
“I love him!”
His grip loosened. I shouldn’t have taken such pride in her words. Especially when I had done so little to earn such a priceless and beautiful gift.
Anthony didn’t look at her. “You’re in love with a Bennett?”
“It’s a long story, Anthony. Not here. Please.”
“We have the time.”
I met his gaze. “You should respect the lady’s wishes.”
“You’re one to talk.”
He meant to start a war in the middle of a maintenance hallway while my family’s charity fundraiser hummed with excitement over the newfound scandal.
Fortunately, I didn’t need to raise a hand. My reinforcements were eager to help.
Max took a less subtle approach, gripping Anthony’s shoulder and spinning him from me. Anthony prepared for the strike. Reed jumped between them.
“Hey, there.” He shook Anthony’s hand. “Reed Bennett. Heard a lot about you. Figured we should at least meet before my brothers kick your ass.”
“Stop…it…” Sarah leaned against the wall, her words gasped. She searched through her purse but dropped the bag in her haste. I offered her the inhaler. She gratefully accepted it. I hated how she refused to puff with us watching. “All...of you…”
Anthony retreated only a step, a cautious positioning that separated Sarah from me. Like he believed he could keep my brothers and me from her side if she called for us.
“You aren’t in love with this man,” Anthony said. “He and his father would do anything to take your company. How can you trust him?”
His glare was meant to shame me, but only Sarah had that power.
“He’s not like his father.”
“Yes, he is.”
“Darius Bennett is evil, Nicholas is not.”
I wasn’t so sure.
Anthony grunted. “You’re pregnant with his child. And I’d bet my last dollar it’s by intent. Darius Bennett has everything he’s ever wanted now.”
“No. He doesn’t.” The shade in her voice prickled the hair on my neck. “He’s not a problem anymore. I made sure of it.”
Not the relief I expected. Or the trembling. Her hold weakened on the wall.
It wasn’t the asthma that crippled her.
“What did you do, Sarah?” The warning crashes of my heart revealed everything I dreaded. “Sarah. Tell me you didn’t do something foolish.”
“It’s done,” she said.
“What’s done?”
She closed her eyes. “He is.”
“Oh, shit.” Max slammed a hand against the wall. She flinched. “Baby, don’t tell me you’re that fucking stupid.”
No. She wasn’t stupid. She was frightened.
She was reckless.
She was an Atwood.
Sarah not only leapt before looking, she kept running once she hit the ground—no matter the danger.
She flushed. “It’s better if you guys don’t know.”
Damn it. I turned. Reed avoided my gaze.
Of course she told Reed. Who else would be foolish enough to help her do something so idiotic? I preferred when my brother let himself get shackled to a bed. At least there he did less damage.
“What did she do?” I struggled to keep my voice even and not ragged with profanity. I stared at my brother. “Tell me.”
Reed held his hands up in surrender and pointed at her. Traitor. He was more brother to her than he was to me.
“I had to, Nick,” Sarah said. “This was our best chance.”
“Sarah, what the hell happened?” Anthony asked.
“I poisoned Darius’s drink with Bennett Corporation pesticide.”
I wondered if an aneurism would feel better than a bullet to the brain. If I was lucky, they’d strike at the same time. Max swore. Reed stayed silent.
And Anthony shared my panic.
“Are you out of your mind?” he snapped. “Christ, I’m not a defense attorney. What the hell were you thinking?”
“Believe me when I say things have happened that I can’t share, that I never want to speak of again,” she whispered. “And believe me when I say this will right those wrongs.”
A chill crept into my words. “No, it won’t.”
She hadn’t asked me.
Hadn’t confided in me.
Hadn’t fucking trusted me enough to tell me her plan.
She knew I would have stopped her. I would have drunk the poison myself it meant sparing her from the complications of this insanity.
“Sarah, you have no idea what you’ve done,” I said.
“He’ll be dead by morning.”
“And so will you! He won’t die without a fight—”
“It’s done. He won’t have a chance to retaliate. He knew it. That’s why he told everyone in there about the baby. That was the only way he could hurt me.” She covered her stomach as she spoke. “He’s gone. It’s over.”
It wasn’t. Not even close.
Goddamn it. I had two weeks until we moved on our own assassination. Two weeks, and Sarah would have been freed and my father dead and buried with no complications, no investigations.
This ruined everything.
It only endangered her.
“If his death is suspicious, his will stipulates an autopsy is required,” I said. “They’ll find the chemicals in his system, and the police will trace it to you.” I pointed at Max. “Find Dad. Get him to the estate and do whatever the hell you can to purge the pesticides.”
Reed swore. “Why? You want to save him?”
“I’m not going to jail for this.”
“You won’t,” Sarah said. “They won’t find out.”
“What if they do?” I pulled her close. “Sarah, I’m not losing you. Not now. If he dies and the police come after someone, I have to tell them it was me.”
She trembled hard enough to shake. I wrapped her in my arms, but my embrace would do nothing if my father died and we were found.
Or worse—if he lived and wanted revenge.
“I know you want this done, but you can’t do it alone,” I said. “You have enough to worry about with the baby. Just trust in me.”
“I can’t wait anymore.”
“You have to,” I whispered. “Sarah, if you do it this way, he’ll be gone, but we’ll be separated. That’s not how I plan for this to end. It will be me and you and Bumper, and I swear to God, nothing is going to come between us.”
I kissed her forehead, but her trembling didn’t slow. It wasn’t fear, but a simmering anger. A slow burn of hatred and disgust and helplessness trapped her in a destructive nightmare. It’d claim us all if she couldn’t control it.
I felt it happen before.
I experienced it myself.
The Bennetts and Atwoods fostered a cycle of revenge that would forever damn us if someone didn’t stop it. If someone didn’t end the heartache.
Committing murder wouldn’t heal her, but providing a safe life, warm home, and comfort for our baby would. A lifetime without retaliation or bloodshed.
I had to make her understand she needed more than vengeance. She wouldn’t be whole until she found that reason to live.
Just as I had when I found her.
“What will stop that poison?” I asked.
She shook her head.
“Sarah, please tell me. We will end it, but when it’s safe. When I can protect you and the baby and get the justice you deserve.”
Her murmur heaved with a sob. “Activated charcoal.”
I pointed to Max. “Find Dad and shove the damn rocks down his throat. Do whatever it takes.”
“What the hell do I say to him?” Max asked.
“Tell him it isn’t time for him to die yet.”
Max resisted, but he knew better than to let a pregnant woman rot in jail for her revenge. He rushed to grab our father before Sarah’s poison ended him. Reed said nothing, hands on his head. Anthony hadn’t moved. He stared at Sarah as though he didn’t recognize her.
Neither did I. For as much as I longed to escape the reign of my father, Sarah struggled just the same. Mark Atwood haunted her in everything she did, thought, and decided. One vile possession after another—either mine, my father’s, or Mark’s.