Chill (22 page)

Isabella peered out her window, assessing the distance to the ground.

It was a second-story window, but it was high, and the drop to the brick patio was too far. But she had to find a way to get out and warn Luke—

“Isa!”

She whirled around as Marcus slipped into the room. “What do you want?”

“Shh!” He shut the door behind him and leaned against it, exhaustion making his shoulders droop. “Do you know how to reach Adam?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Why?”

“They’re waiting for him. Leon knows about his access tunnel from another house. Adam’s got no chance. Can you warn him not to come?”

“He won’t come for me—”

“He will.” Marcus levered himself off the door. “I found out what happened in Alaska with his friend. He won’t let it go, and he won’t let you go.”

“I betrayed him!”

“Doesn’t matter. He’ll come. He’s been pushed too far.” Marcus sighed and walked over to the bed. He sank onto the thick mattress like an old man.

“But you tried to trap him!” She wouldn’t fall for him again, no matter how exhausted he appeared.

Marcus shook his head, and he gave her an imploring look. “I don’t expect you to forgive me, but you need to know the truth. Ever since Adam left, my reputation has been dicey. I’ve been trying to recover it, and Leon has been instrumental. I’ve given him more and more power, and it’s gotten out of control.”

Isabella pressed her lips together.

“When he found out I’d located the necklace several weeks ago, he wanted a piece of the money. He found a buyer for the whole set, and he committed us to it.” Marcus rubbed his hand over his eyes. “It’s for a tremendous amount of money, and once Leon arranged the deal, he snapped. He will do anything to make sure it comes through, including murder. I had to give Leon those earrings, and I knew Adam still had them.”

Isabella sank down onto the high-backed chair in the corner. “You really sent me after him?”

Marcus nodded. “I let Adam go eight years ago. I hadn’t meant for Anna to get killed, but Leon arranged it, making sure it looked like my doing. If I tried to turn him in for it, it would have come back to me. But I knew it was my fault, and I saw it was breaking my son, so I let him go. I helped cover his path, and I was never going to bother him again.”

Did she believe him? He sounded so broken, but she didn’t know what to think anymore. “Then why go after him now?”

“I had to. Leon will kill for them, and he’ll kill Adam if he has to. I was hoping to get the earrings back without compromising Adam.”

Isabella dug her fingernails into her palms to keep from responding to his visible anguish.

“Leon decided to go after Adam and force him to come back.” Marcus wiped his hand over his brow. “The thought of Leon hurting my son makes me sick. I couldn’t let him do it. I thought he only wanted the earrings, so I convinced him if Adam found out we were after him, those earrings would disappear forever. I thought you would be able to get the earrings from him and bring them back. Then Leon would never have to know where he was and Adam could continue with his new life.”

She had to admit Marcus had specifically instructed her not to keep records of her search for Luke, so no one else would be able to find him. She wanted to believe him so much, but she was afraid to trust him again. She didn’t know what to think.

“But Leon somehow found out where Adam was, and he took over.” Marcus’s face grew even more solemn. “He knew how much of an asset to the business Adam always was, and he had apparently made a deal with the new client for future business, that Adam would be his sole employee. That convinced the client to hand over a sizeable retainer.” Marcus rubbed his head. “Jesus, this got so out of hand, but I don’t have any options, Isabella. Everything is in danger if we don’t follow through. He’ll kill me, and probably you and Adam as well.”

Isabella sagged against the chair. “How could you stay involved in something like this? After it killed your wife?”

Marcus shrugged. “I was young and stupid. Obsessed with more. I thought I could avenge her death.”

Isabella went cold. “Did you?”

Marcus met her gaze. “Yes. I did. Leon was with me, but I took out everyone.”

“So that’s it, then.” Understanding finally dawned.
“That’s what Leon has over you. He’ll turn you in for that if you don’t behave.”

“I killed seven men that day. In cold blood. I was insane with grief and anger.” Marcus stood and walked to the window. “All I could think of was my lovely Rebecca, so sweet and innocent. I’d been working so hard to give her the life she deserved.” His voice grew hard. “I wasn’t even thinking. I just had to destroy those who had killed her. Leon helped me find them and he gave me the guns. It was the first time I’d ever killed, the only time.” His fingers dug into the wood. “That night changed me forever. I became hard. I stopped feeling.”

“And you stopped loving your son.”

Marcus turned his head. “I stopped feeling anything until you came into my life. You woke up a part of my soul that had died with my wife.” He gestured at the door. “And I’m in too deep to get out. If I try to leave, you’ll die. Adam will die.” He snorted. “I don’t care about myself, but I won’t let anyone else die because of me.”

“So then why didn’t you stop them?”

“Because I had to get those earrings or you both would have been dead anyway!” Marcus snapped. “I was hoping the earrings would be the end of it.”

“But it’s not.”

“No.” He levered himself off the window. “I’m sorry, Isa. I truly am. I don’t expect you to forgive me. But at least you are both alive. That’s all I can offer you.” He tossed her a cell phone, and she caught it. “Call Adam. Warn him. Tell him to disappear.” He walked toward the door and opened it. “You’re too valuable for them to kill. I’ll make sure they understand that. I’ll do my best. But my son must come first. I owe him that.”

And then he was gone.

Isabella closed her fist around the phone. Did she
trust Marcus or not? Would calling Luke be the final nail in his coffin? Or had that been a true olive branch from Marcus?

Was Marcus really a good man who was just too weak to stand up for himself? A man who had been broken after the death of his wife? Or was he so ruthless that he would hang his own son out to dry?

She clenched the phone and knew she had to make a choice.

Now.

And there would be no going back.

Luke pulled up in the driveway of the same house he’d used earlier to access Marcus’s house. He grabbed his duffel bag and swung down out of the truck. He strode across the lawn toward the garage door. There were explosives in his bag. Guns.

Marcus’s empire would be dust by the time he finished with it. Artifacts destroyed. Records annihilated. Marcus, Leon and Nate would be dead.

It was the only way Adam Fie knew.

Luke stopped walking and closed his eyes. Luke Webber would walk away from all of this. He would just disappear and let the bastards drown in their own filth and inner mutiny. Luke Webber wouldn’t let himself be destroyed by his past.

But how many times had he walked away? And it hadn’t ended. It had just gotten worse and more people had gotten hurt.

He ground his jaw. There was only one way to make sure people like Cort and Anna never suffered again. He had to play their game.

He tightened his grip on his bag, and he committed himself.

People would die today, and he was going to be the one to pull the trigger.

Luke reached for the doorknob, and his cell phone vibrated in his pocket. He jerked it out and saw the number was blocked. The hospital?
Come on, Cort.
Luke answered the phone. “Yeah.”

“It’s a trap!”

He stiffened at the sound of Isabella’s voice.

“I’m so sorry, Luke, I really am. I thought I was doing the right thing to save you. But I was wrong! I mean, I was right that Leon is manipulating Marcus. He is basically blackmailing him. They’re using me as bait to force you to come, and they’re waiting for you.”

Luke jerked the door open and stepped into the garage. The agitation in her tone hammered at him, and he had to fight to ask if she was all right. If they’d hurt her.
She betrayed you.

“Luke! Don’t come. Just walk away.”

He walked across the garage toward the small passageway that led to Marcus’s house. “Why should I trust you?”

“Because I love you.”

Luke closed his eyes at her declaration, and something turned in his chest. He couldn’t trust her. She’d made her choice.

“I know you have no reason to believe me,” she said. “I understand that. But I believed in Marcus, and I believed I could convince him to let you go. I found out he sent me after you to get the earrings, and then Leon took over. But I swear to you, I didn’t know. I took the earrings only to save you. To free you. I love you, Luke. If you come here, you will be trapped forever in this life. They’ll never let you go. Don’t come!”

Luke crouched on the floor to unlock the trapdoor.
Her words made sense. And God, he wanted to believe her. But he didn’t believe in anyone anymore. Marcus had stripped that from him. For all he knew, it was just her ploy to keep him from hurting Marcus.

“Luke? Are you there?”

He wanted to take her words to heart. He wanted to know she was on his side, no matter what.

But he couldn’t.

He didn’t have the ability to trust anymore. “I don’t know what game you’re playing.” He triggered the floor and it began to slide open.

“They know about your access point through that house! Don’t use it!”

“My—” Luke had one second to register what she’d said, and then a gun emerged from the tunnel below and Leon rose through the opening.

“Welcome home, Fie.”

Luke froze. His duffel was too far away to be of use. Sweet Jesus, Isabella had been telling the truth. She’d actually tried to keep him safe. Instead of trying to get him to rescue her, she’d tried to get him to run. Second thoughts after betraying him? Or was she telling the truth about everything? Had she really tried to save him the whole time?

The moment the thought passed through his mind, it felt right, all the way down to his core. The part of him who was Luke Webber knew, with absolute certainty, that she hadn’t betrayed him.

She’d shown him that all along, but he’d let his bitterness rule him. He’d let Adam Fie rule. Isabella had tried to teach him how to have faith, and he hadn’t listened. Hadn’t let her in.

He’d fucked up, and now they were both screwed.

Leon had a gun to the back of Luke’s neck when he forced him into Marcus’s office.

Marcus was no longer sitting at his desk.

He was tied to an armchair with a gag in his mouth. A dark bruise was forming on his right temple, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. His head sagged forward, as if he would have fallen over without the ropes holding him up. Jesus. “Marcus?”

The old man’s head jerked up and their gazes met. For the first time, Luke noticed the pain etched in Marcus’s eyes, in the lines of his face. He didn’t look like a ruthless businessman. He looked like an old, beaten soul who had lost the will to live.

Luke jerked his gaze to Leon. “What did you do to him?”

“Caught him sneaking out of Isabella’s room.” Leon shoved Luke into another chair. “Now that I’ve got you, I don’t need him anymore anyway. It’s time for the new generation to take over.” Leon grinned. “And that would be you.”

“Fuck that—”

“Luke!”

He spun toward the door in time to see Nate yank Isabella into the room. Her face was a dark purple and
black from Leon’s assault on her, and her eye was still puffy. He leapt up. “Isa!”

Nate shoved her at Luke, and Luke caught her as she fell into him. Her body was soft and warm against his, and some of his tension eased now that he had her. It was as if his soul knew this was where he belonged. The mere feel of her in his arms cleared his mind and brought him into focus.

“I’m so sorry, Luke.” Her anguish was genuine.

He shook his head and kissed her temple. “It’s my fault. I was an ass not to listen to you.” If he hadn’t been so caught up in hating Marcus, maybe he would have figured out what was going on. He was a scientist, a man built on analytical assessment, and he’d totally blown it.

She blinked, and she realized he wasn’t angry with her. Her face crumbled and she threw her arms around him. “I love you!” she whispered fiercely.

Luke tensed at her words, and Leon exchanged smug looks with Nate.

Carefully, Luke peeled her off of him. For a split second, Isabella looked confused, but then she glanced over at Nate. Immediately, she stepped back from Luke. Her face was taut with the realization that she’d just revealed too much to the enemy.

Nate grabbed her and yanked her back over to him. He set his arm over her shoulder and pulled her close. Then he nuzzled her neck.

Son of a bitch
—

Leon cocked a gun and pressed it to Isabella’s temple.

Luke forced himself not to react. He needed to be smarter than he had been for the last eight years. He had to find a way to tap into the skills he’d ditched when he walked away. He channeled his adrenaline into focus, into a lethal-assault mode.

“I was wrong eight years ago,” Leon said.

Luke scanned the office, taking quick inventory. Books. Computer. Chairs. Nothing to use against a gun. But he knew Marcus had guns hidden. Or he used to. One had been in the wall safe. Not reachable. Another in a coffee table that was no longer there. The whole room had been redone. None of the old hideaways still existed. What new places would he have chosen?

“I thought killing Anna would make you mine,” Leon continued.

Luke’s attention snapped to Leon. “You killed Anna.” He kept his voice flat. Emotionless. Giving away nothing.

“I did.” Leon rubbed the nose of the gun against Isabella’s neck. She tensed, and Luke had to take his gaze off her to keep his focus. “Marcus instructed me not to kill her. I figured he was wrong.”

Luke jerked his attention to Marcus. The old man was watching Luke, and he nodded once in acknowledgment. Jesus. Marcus had been telling the truth? He hadn’t had Anna killed?

“Turns out, you take off when the women you love get killed. I thought you’d do me the favor of killing your old man and taking over the business.” Leon wiggled the gun against Isabella. “So this time, we’ll just hurt your girlfriend. We’ll make her suffer whenever you aren’t a good little boy. It’s time for you to come back to work for us.”

Luke shifted his attention back to Leon, his mind rapidly processing everything Leon had said. Trying to sift the truth from the lies.

Leon handed his gun to Nate, who immediately pointed it at Luke.

Then Leon pulled out a hunting knife and pressed it to Isabella’s injured shoulder. She winced and couldn’t quite stifle her gasp of pain.

Blood began to pound in Luke’s head.

Leon moved behind Isabella, as if using her as a shield. Then he tossed a gun at Luke.

Luke caught it and immediately aimed it at Leon. “Stupid fuck.”

“One bullet.” Leon bent down so Isabella was blocking all but one side of his head. “You shoot me, you risk hitting the girl. If by some dumb luck you manage to hit me and not your girlfriend, Nate still has his gun and will delight in taking you out.”

Luke took aim at Leon’s eye, then swore when Leon pushed Isabella. She stumbled right into his line of fire and he jerked the gun aside. Fuck.

“Kill your father,” Leon said.

Luke stared at him. “What?”

“Marcus. Kill him.” Leon pressed the knife into Isabella’s shoulder, and she let out a small gasp of pain. “Every minute you delay, she gets cut again.”

Kill Marcus. The gift he’d been waiting for. Luke aimed the gun at the man who had once been his father.

Marcus raised his head and looked right at the barrel of the gun. There was no fear in his eyes. No resistance.

Just relief.

Relief? To die?

He must be mistaken. Luke set his finger on the trigger. “This is for my mother.”

Marcus nodded.

Luke hesitated at Marcus’s immediate acquiescence. “And for Anna.”

Marcus nodded again, which didn’t make sense after Leon’s declaration that Marcus wasn’t responsible.

“Do it now,” Leon ordered.

Marcus’s gaze met Luke’s, and Luke was shocked when he realized his father wanted to be shot. It was a face begging for relief of a lifetime of guilt and anguish. A man devastated by guilt. Not a ruthless mogul. A broken man.

Luke swore, and the gun started to tremble.

“Now!”

“Don’t kill him,” Isabella shouted. “He loves you! He—” She screamed and Luke whirled around in time to see Leon yank his knife out of her shoulder. His arm was tight around her neck, forcing her to stay in front of him and shield him.

Fury roiled inside him at her suffering. She raised her chin and met his gaze, and his heart tightened for her courage, for her refusal to capitulate. For her unconditional love of those who mattered to her. He hadn’t been worthy of her.

It was time to change that fact.

Slowly, Luke raised his gun. “I love you, Isabella, but this will never end. I can’t let you live like this.”

Her eyes widened. “Luke? What are you doing?”

“I saw in Marcus’s eyes that he wanted me to kill him to free him from the suffering. He doesn’t deserve that gift. You do.” He let her see the love in his face, in his heart. That he would give up the world for her. “I give you the gift of freedom.” Then he pointed the gun at Isabella’s forehead and pulled the trigger.

Isabella realized Luke’s intention a split second before he fired.

She slammed her elbow into Leon’s gut and dropped
out of his arms the moment his grip loosened. She was still falling to the floor when gunfire shattered the silence of the room.

Leon collapsed beside her on the carpet, a precise bullet hole in the center of his forehead. Nate raised his gun to fire at Luke, and Isabella flung herself at his leg to knock him off balance. His gun went off as he stumbled, and Luke clasped his side and dropped to his knees. Blood stained his shirt almost instantly, and Isabella screamed, “Luke!”

She lunged to her feet, but Nate grabbed her and flung her to the side. She crashed into a coffee table and went tumbling over it. A porcelain vase crashed to the floor, and Isabella rolled to her side as Nate raised his gun at Luke, who was hunched over on the floor.

Luke dove behind the desk and shoved his hand beneath it as he went. The carpet exploded from Nate’s bullet, right where Luke’s head had been. Nate charged across the room, and then Luke rolled out on the carpet.

Isabella had a split second to register he had a gun, and then he fired.

Nate’s gun went off at the same moment, and the explosion was deafening.

Nate crashed into the desk and bounced off of it. He rolled to the floor and landed on his back, blood oozing from a small circle right in the middle of his forehead.

Luke was up on his shoulder, his face pale. “The guards. Free Marcus. He needs to call them off.”

“But—”

“Now!”

Isabella heard shouts and immediately went to Marcus, who was sheet white and gaping at his son. She grabbed Leon’s knife and sliced through his gag.

“Adam!” His voice was raw with anguish. “Adam!”

Luke was down on his side now. “The guards,” he rasped. “Call them off.”

The door was flung open and guards poured in, guns up.

Marcus pulled himself upright. “Leon and Nate tried to kill us,” he snapped. “Untie me. Make sure they’re dead. Call an ambulance for my son. Now!” His voice was authoritative and demanding, his posture rigid.

He had become the Marcus of old, and the guards obeyed immediately.

Isabella raced across the room and dropped to her knees beside Luke. His hand was pressed to his side, and sweat beaded his upper lip. “Oh, God, Luke!” His face was ashen, and his mouth was twisted in pain. “Don’t you dare die on me!”

She ripped her shirt off and wedged it beneath his hand. “Let me do it.”

He groaned as she pressed the shirt against his wound. “Jesus, Isa. Are you trying to kill me?”

Tears filled her eyes. “Of course I am. You tried to shoot me in the head. I owe you.”

His eyes slitted open. “I knew you’d duck.”

The tears spilled over and streamed down her cheeks. “What if I hadn’t?” Her shirt was saturated with his blood now.

He raised one hand to touch her face. “I believe in you, Isa. I knew you would.”

“Adam!” Marcus knelt beside her and opened a firstaid kit. “Don’t be an ass and die on me.” He pulled out a stash of gauze. “Here, Isa.”

She switched the shirt for the gauze, and Luke let out a sharp gasp as she pressed it to his side. “Oh, God, Marcus. He’s bleeding so much.”

“The ambulance is on its way.” Marcus cut more gauze. “Press harder!”

“I’m trying!” She realized Luke’s eyes were closed. “Luke! Wake up!”

His eyes flickered open. “I love you,” he whispered.

“Oh, God, I love you, too! Don’t leave me!”

“You’re better off—” He coughed, an awful gurgling sound. “It’ll never end if I live—”

“No! Don’t you dare give up! I’m not better off without you. You make me whole, for God’s sake, Luke! I need you!”

Luke’s eyes closed.

“Oh, God, Marcus!” Isabella hammered at Luke’s chest with her free hand. “He’s letting himself die. Do something! Luke!”

Marcus grabbed Luke’s arm. “Leon’s dead, Adam. It’s over. You can have your happily ever after with Isabella, dammit. It’s fucking over!”

Luke’s breathing became shallower.

“Luke!” Isabella shouted, sobs ripping through her chest. “Stay with me. I love you. You’re such an ass to pull this martyr shit right now.”

Marcus bent over so his mouth was next to Luke’s ear. “I love you, son. You need to live so you can make me suffer for the rest of my life. If you die, who the hell’s going to make me pay?”

For the longest moment, there was no response.

Then the corner of Luke’s mouth turned up ever so slightly.

And she knew he was going to fight.