Craving The Wrong Brother (Sloane and Knox) novel Chapter 142

Knox, of course, doesn't respond to Mateo’s question.

His silence says more than words ever could. I think he believes he can shoot the man behind me before that gun goes off in my head. I only wish, for my sake, that he wouldn't try.

Mateo’s hand moves down his left leg, like he's reaching to scratch an itch. The hand disappears beneath the cuff of his pants, and when he straightens, there's a gun in his hand. A tiny silver handgun. One of those compact ones that still manage to kill just as effectively as the big guys. He points it straight at Knox.

I suck in a breath.

“Do you think you’ll be fast enough to shoot him before I kill you, Knox?” Mateo says with amusement in his voice. “I had a plan, you know. A good one. Take you down piece by piece. Everything you care about. Your money. Your club. Maybe even that sex toy company—what is it? Bliss?” He chuckles to himself. “And those other little illegal ventures you’ve got tucked away. Not in your name, of course, but we both know who owns them.”

The more he talks, the angrier Knox becomes. I can see it in the way his jaw grinds tighter with every word, the way his fingers flex ever so slightly around the trigger like they’re trying to keep themselves from doing what the rest of him is begging to.

That anger is rubbing off on me too.

I want to scream. I want to shut him up. I want to be the one who wipes that look off his face and makes him regret ever laying eyes on us.

“But then,” Mateo continues, tapping a finger to his chin, “you’ve proven to me in the past few hours that those things don't matter to you as much as I thought they did. In fact, no one else but one person matters to you. I shot your girlfriend’s sister to get you to give me what's rightfully mine, a fucking apology. You didn't break. I tried to kill your best friend. Nothing. Those two shrinks did a pretty decent job trying to mess with my head, bringing up my daughter as some sort of morality trigger and wanting me to admit it's my fault I got captured instead of yours. They think I’m the villain here, but you are, Knox. You were prepared to let them die as long as it meant keeping your pride.”

The craziest part? I think Soraya might actually be agreeing with him, at least on the part about Knox being a villain. Her eyes shift toward him, and there’s this strange look on her face.

Mateo's still speaking. “Soraya, darling,” he says, “you don't need to worry about my relationship with my daughter. I have plans. I always do. First, I’m going to make sure my ex-wife and her husband are no longer in the picture, and then I’ll take my daughter someplace secluded, maybe an island, and raise her myself. She'll love me eventually. Long-term hostages always do.” He laughs. “I did.”