Chapter 17 - The Cornered Rat
I looked at my brother, feeling nothing but a cold, heavy emptiness. “Why should I, Julian? You didn't tell Victor to let me go when he broke my ribs. You just stood there and watched.”
“I had to!” Julian cried, falling to his knees. “He would have killed me too! Please, Phina, we’re blood!”
“You stopped being my blood the day you sold me to a man you thought was a monster,” I replied, my voice steady and cold. “You just didn't realize you were selling me the blueprint to your own destruction.”
Suddenly, Julian’s desperation morphed into a feral, suicidal panic. He lunged forward, pulling a hidden derringer from his ankle holster.
He didn't aim at Luca. He aimed at me.
“If I’m going down, you’re coming with me, you traitor bitch!” Julian screamed.
He moved fast, but the years of abuse had honed my reflexes to a razor’s edge. I didn't freeze. I didn't wait for Luca to save me.
I raised the 9mm Luca had given me, flicked the safety off, and fired a single shot.
The bullet struck Julian directly in the shoulder of his gun arm. He screamed, dropping the derringer as the impact threw him backward onto the floor of the panic room.
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Luca was across the room in a millisecond. He kicked Julian’s fallen weapon away and slammed his boot down heavily on Julian’s bleeding shoulder, eliciting another agonizing scream.
“You aim a gun at my wife,” Luca snarled, pressing the barrel of his weapon against Julian’s forehead, “you forfeit your life.”
