“Open the door!”
“Not gonna happen. We’re done playing by your rules. Drop your gun and let Nik go. There’s no other option for you.”
Her confidence wavering, Maya looked around frantically until her gaze settled on Jay.
Then she smiled. The slow, taunting grin Becca knew so well.
“Miss me, Jay?”
“Not at all.”
“Yeah, you did.” She reached around Nik and pointed the barrel of her weapon in Jay’s direction. He didn’t even flinch. Secure in his status as America’s most wanted. Alive. Not dead. “Admit it. You loved it when I sucked you off and rode your cock. Bet you can’t stop thinking about me. About how you came so deep in my cunt we were practically fused together for all time.”
“Haven’t thought about you once,” Jay said, his voice so cold he could’ve frozen the air around them, each word slicing across the distance like ice-tipped spears.
“Liar.” She huffed a cruel laugh. “You begged me for more. Begged me to fuck you harder.”
“Stop!” Becca shouted, the acid in her stomach burning all the way up to the back of her throat.
“Go ahead,” she goaded, waving the barrel of her gun between the wall of crates and Jay. “Tell Becca the real story. Tell her that you knew about the baby and didn’t want to be saddled with a kid and a conniving bitch. Tell her about how we read her journal together and laughed at her silly dreams of getting married and being a family while we were fucking like bunnies the whole time. God, Becca, it was so pathetic, I almost felt sorry for you.”
“None of that is true,” Jay said.
“You know, Bec. You really shouldn’t write so much shit down. Someone might use it against you, like Jay. You know the whole kill your sister thing was his idea, right? With you and the baby out of the way, we could be together. Do big things. Rule the world. You were just a distraction. A lousy lay and a disappointing substitute for the real deal. I mean, come on, in what world?—”
“Enough,” Jay spat. “You’re not fooling anyone, Maya. Drop the weapon, or I swear to God, I’ll shoot you just to shut you the fuck up.”
“Is that right?” She jerked her shoulders, making sure to leave the smallest possible target behind Nik. “Go ahead and try. See if you can hit me without putting a bullet in Nik here. I’m sure Becca won’t mind if you kill her boyfriend.”
“No one has to die!” Becca shouted. “Let Nik go, and I give you my word, after we get what we want, we’ll walk away. You don’t have to go back to Johnson. You can run. You can hide. Once we destroy Dominion. No one will ever find you.”
“Liar!” Maya yelled. “There’s no way to destroy Dominion. Only control it.”
“I’m not lying.” Her feet already in motion, Becca inched her way toward the edge of the crates. “When I coded the key, I created a kill switch.”
“Bullshit,” Maya huffed.
“It’s true. You know me. You know my nature. I never would’ve allowed something like Dominion to exist without a way to stop it.” Becca risked a quick peek around the corner.
Her entire focus on Jay, Maya didn’t catch the movement, but Nik did.
Their eyes locked across the distance, and her heart cracked in half.
Oh God! Nik.
She had to save him. Had to. After everything he’d done to protect her. After all the times he’d thrown himself between her and Roman. He’d kept her alive when she’d been at her lowest. At her weakest.
If it hadn’t been for him, she wouldn’t be here now.
She owed him her life; how could she not do everything possible to save his?
Hands up in a placating gesture, she took a tentative step, exposing herself to her sister despite Jay’s headshake indicating she shouldn’t. “Think about it, Maya. Where would I have hidden a kill switch I didn’t want anyone, including Jay, to know about?”
“In your journal,” she sneered, not even bothering to turn her head in Becca’s direction.
“That’s right.” She took another step out into the open, praying her tactical vest was enough to keep her alive.
“Too bad for you, I destroyed your journal. Threw it into the fireplace. You cried like a baby while you watched it burn, remember? No book. No kill switch.”
