“Get off her, you son of a bitch!”
Dominic!
I turn my head, do my best to focus. He has a gun, thank God. And it’s pointed at Andy.
Hissing, Andy brings the blade to my neck.
Chapter Forty-One
Dominic
Fuck, fuck, fuck. There’s too much blood on Liza’s face and body. As I walk into the living room, my vision tunnels, blocking out everything except her. Death is too good for Andy. I want to tear him apart.
“Stand back, mother fucker, or I’m going to slice her open.” He places the tip of the knife right at the side of her neck.
Shit. I can’t shoot him now, even if I were a fantastic shot. I can’t risk him cutting that delicate skin and more.
“It won’t take her long to bleed out.” He snickers. “Come on, cousin. I don’t have a gun. Just a knife. Be a good boy, put your gun down and kick it away…before I accidentally nick her neck. It would be a shame to kill her so quickly. And blood is messy to clean up.”
Jesus. Andy’s totally unhinged. I can’t believe I never saw how crazy he is.
Since I have no doubt he?
??ll do as he threatens, I do as he says, making sure the gun doesn’t slide anywhere near him and doing my best not to try to take stock of Liza’s injuries. I have to deal with Andy before I can help her.
“Andy, what’s going on? You don’t have to do this,” I say to buy some time. “You can walk away. Nobody has to get hurt.”
He sighs, his knife held loosely, but still right against her throat. “It’s all your fault, you know. If you hadn’t stolen the company from that hateful old man—who, by the way, was lucky to die such an easy death—I would’ve been the scion people respected, not you. If you hadn’t interfered at the beach, I would’ve taken her and none of this unpleasantness would have had to happen. But no! You had to take what’s mine and come rescue her. Why? She’s just a bitch. A pretty one, but a bitch anyway. There are plenty for you to choose from. Nobody would’ve missed her back then. Now I have no choice.”
I have to keep him distracted and talking. Andy always likes to be recognized for his brilliance, which was another reason he worked so hard as an internal auditor at the company. I need to turn his focus away from Liza long enough to find something else to use as a weapon. “Come on, man. You’re way too smart to throw your life away like this.”
“You mean I’m too smart for you to handle!”
“Is it the company you want? You can have it.” My MacBook Pro is on the coffee table. It’s not much of a weapon, but solid enough to do some damage. “I’ll give it to you, transfer ownership. We’ll sign the papers and you can take it and walk away.” I take a short step toward the table, trying to make it look like natural.
“So you can send Antoine after me? Or Tolyan?” Andy shakes his head. “I don’t think so.” Suddenly he frowns. “Why are you moving?”
Shit. “I just want to—”
Liza moans loudly. “Please. Don’t kill me. I don’t want to die.”
Andy’s head snaps around with the quickness of a viper. “Shut up, bitch! Can’t you see I’m in a business negotiation?”
She sniffles. “But I’m in pain. Can I please have some water? An Advil? If you’re going to hurt me, at least do it nicely.”
“I’m not your fucking errand boy!” Andy snarls, but she keeps on babbling.
“It hurts, and I want it to stop and I don’t want to die. Andy, let’s…let’s go back to the beach. We can redo the scene…just the way you want…”
Jesus. I know she’s trying to distract him, but…
“Shut up! Didn’t you hear me say it’s too late now? It’s all your fault for fighting back.” He pulls the hand holding the knife away and backhands her.
Rage turning my vision red, I grab the laptop and swing it. It connects broadside with Andy’s head and there’s a satisfying whump. His knife clatters on the floor, and I kick it away then hit him again before he can recover. A cut opens above his left eyebrow; blood starts pouring down his face. I hit him one more time with all I’ve got, and the laptop finally breaks. I throw it at his face, then look for my gun, while he breathes hard and shakes his head.
There!
I dash for it while Andy does a sort of crawling scrabble in the opposite direction. I grasp my gun and pivot, ready to put a hole in him.