“No,” she said, too fast. She actually would love nothing more than to have him by her side, but that was all the more reason to get out of here alone. They’d be saying goodbye soon enough, and then she’d only see him maybe a few times a year on holidays and Gracie’s birthday, if his schedule allowed. It was exactly what she’d said she didn’t want—but she knew she wouldn’t give up the chance to still have him in their lives, even just a little. Still, it would be smart to get accustomed to him not being around. The sooner she got used to being on her own again, the better. “I won’t be long. You stay here with Gracie.”
After tugging on her jacket, she headed out onto the porch. The day was overcast and a bit chilly with the breeze and all. She zipped up and headed down the stoop to the sidewalk. It was a nice, quiet neighborhood, filled with quaint two-story, mid-century homes and well-kept lawns. About half a block from the house, she crossed the street and headed to the small park nearby. There weren’t many people out today yet, so she basically had the place to herself. Serena took a deep breath of fresh, clean air and headed across a grassy area toward some vacant picnic tables. Maybe she’d just sit here for a while, until she was ready to call her Uber. That would keep her out of the house and away from the temptation of throwing herself into Noah’s arms and begging him to try working it out between them one last time. His work was important, but so was hers. The charities she supported depended on her to—
Her thoughts were interrupted by a hand on her arm. She turned fast, expecting to see Noah behind her. “It’s just like you to ignore my request, but…” The rest of her words clogged in her constricted throat. “Nate? What are you doing here?”
“Serena,” he said, a wildness in his blue eyes that she’d never seen there before.
Pulse tripping and blood racing through her ears, her mind whirled, trying to think of some way to get out of this situation and back to the house. Okay. Okay. Maybe her brother didn’t know that she knew about what he’d done. Maybe he hadn’t done anything, and this had all been a huge mistake. Maybe he just came to check up on her. Maybe…
He moved aside his jacket to reveal the handgun holstered at his waist, his voice oddly hollow. “Mom and Dad always said that if you wanted something done right, to do it yourself. Guess I should’ve listened.”
She took a step back and held up her hands as he drew the gun and pointed it at her. “Nate, please. Come on. You don’t have to do this.”
In all the cop shows she’d watched growing up, they always tried to keep the suspect talking, keep him distracted until help arrived. Except now, there wasn’t any help arriving. Not unless she could reach her phone in her pocket and hit the emergency call button. She started to drop one hand toward it now but stopped almost immediately as he cocked the gun.
“Don’t,” was all Nate said, his pale cheeks flushed and his hand shaking slightly. “Why couldn’t you just die in South America like I’d planned?”
Even knowing he’d had her kidnapped and had planned to take her out, hearing the words still hurt. “Because of the mon
ey. The inheritance means more to you than your own flesh and blood.”
“That’s the thing though, Serena. You aren’t my flesh and blood. Not really.” He stepped closer to her, sneering. “Growing up, I had to watch Mom and Dad spoil you and coddle you and treat you just the same as me, even though you weren’t like me at all. I was their child. You were just some poor kid they picked up from the orphanage. The CEO position should’ve been mine.”
“Take it,” she said, darting a glance around her to see if anyone had noticed their exchange, but there wasn’t a soul in sight. She backed up another step, only to have Nate follow, that damned gun still aimed at her heart. “Seriously. You can have it. I’ve got my phone in my pocket. We can call the attorneys now and tell them I’m resigning and turning it all over to you. Just let me keep working for the charities, that’s all I ask. They were what I really cared about anyway.”
“Shut the fuck up!” Nate yelled, waving the gun at her, his hand shaking slightly. “Always the little do-gooder, weren’t you? Trying to show me up to Mom. Always making me look selfish and bad.”
“That wasn’t the reason I helped out around the world, Nate.” Oh God. How long had he felt this way about her? Apparently from the start, and she’d had no clue. Serena had been dumb and naïve enough to think she’d been adopted into the perfect, loving family. She’d never considered that Nate might resent her presence there. Betrayal and pain burned deep into her core. She’d loved him. Trusted him. Hell, he’d even been the first person she’d called from the casino once Noah had freed her from the villa. And the whole time, he’d been lying to her. He’d been behind it all.
A new emotion flared white-hot alongside everything else scorching through her veins. Anger.
Trying to get on his good side hadn’t worked well at all, so what the hell. She tried a different angle. Maybe she could piss him off enough that he’d make a mistake. There was a row of bushes nearby. If she could throw him off his game enough, she might be able to reach them before he pulled the trigger. She inched toward them now.
“You know what, Nate? You’re pathetic.” She was grateful for the edge of steel in her voice even though her knees were shaking so badly that she feared they might not hold her up. How the hell did Noah deal with this stuff every day? A newfound respect for what he and the guys at SSoF did blossomed inside her, along with even more love and gratitude for Noah. She stared directly into her brother’s eyes. If he was going to kill her, she’d make him look her in the eye to do it. “You grew up in the lap of luxury. You could have had anything, been anything you wanted. The world was at your feet. But all you can focus on is what you don’t have.”
“Go to hell, you deceitful bitch!” He took another step toward her, the gun only inches from her chest now. “I know you poisoned Mom’s mind against me. That’s why she made you CEO instead of me.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him he was wrong, but arguing with a crazy person was pointless. So instead she went along with his line of thinking. The bushes loomed closer on her right. Just a couple more feet and she could make a run for it.
Serena snorted. “I didn’t have to tell them anything. Your incompetence was visible enough all on its own.” The words were harsh, but they held more than a little truth. Nate had always been a decent student, but never a great one. He was lazy—expecting life to hand him everything he wanted. It probably never occurred to him that he might have gotten what he wanted if he’d worked hard to prove himself as the right leader for the company. No, it was easier to blame her than to admit that he’d brought this on himself. “You always were hopeless when it came to people. Why in the world would they leave the control of a global company worth billions in the hands of a man who can’t even make small talk at a party?”
“Fuck you!” Nate yelled again and raised the gun. “The CEO position belongs to me and I’m going to take it back today!”
“Serena?” a voice called from somewhere in the distance and she nearly fainted, she was so glad to hear Noah. “Are you out here?”
Nate’s eyes widened slightly and her gaze flickered to the barrel of the gun. He was going to shoot. Her brain registered that a split second before the bullet fired, giving her only a brief moment to duck and run at the bushes ahead.
The next few moments happened in slow motion. She was aware of the sting and scratch of branches against her skin as she dove for cover. The whizz of a bullet past her ear, just missing her. The pounding of feet and shouting voices as Noah and Levon came tearing across the park toward Nate.
She barely heard her brother shout over the thundering blood in her ears, but the next shot she heard loud and clear. Then Noah was there, pulling her out of the bushes and into his arms, while Levon stood over Nate’s prone body lying in the grass, blood pooling from the gunshot wound in his head.
“Did you…” she asked, burying her face against Noah’s chest, the sight of her brother dead seared in her mind forever.
“No. He shot himself before we reached him,” Noah said, his low voice settling into the black hole of grief and sorrow inside her and filling it somehow. Not completely, but enough. “I’m so sorry, Serena.”
Wrapping her arms tighter, she clung to him like the rock he was to her. “Please, don’t go.”
“I won’t,” he said, burying his face in her hair and holding her closer. “I’m not going anywhere. Not now, not ever.”