Flawless Prize

She looks at me pityingly. “You were a distraction, sweetheart. First with your silly little affair, and then as his obsession. As long as Caleb ran around cunt-struck, worrying about you and your mysterious attacker, he wasn’t paying attention to what was happening with the company, right underneath his nose.”

“Bitch,” Caleb mutters, but she only laughs.

“You should have thanked me for putting together the deal. That company is cursed,” she glares at him. “It takes everything from you, if you let it. It took our parents. I’m saving you.”

And there it is, the flicker in her eyes. As much as Olivia wants to pretend this is just about money, I can see, there’s more than that behind it. The passion, the rage. Her feelings for Caleb may have been twisted into revenge, but they came from somewhere.

“Bullshit.” Caleb manages to grind out a reply. “You sabotaged the company. You plotted against me.”

“Only because you wouldn’t see sense!” she explodes. “You put the company first, ahead of me, just like everyone else does!”

“You’re crazy!”

“Shh,” I try to stop him, but it’s too late. Olivia’s eyes flash with anger.

“You’d like to think so, wouldn’t you? But I’m the only smart one here. Once you’re gone, there’ll be nothing to stop me closing this deal. In fact, the board will have no choice. What a tragedy. A double funeral…” she muses. “I always did look good in black.”

She raises the gun.

“Olivia, no.” Caleb speaks up. “You need to get a grip. This is crazy! I know you. You don’t want to hurt anyone. Just calm down.”

“Oh, I’m calm,” she says, aiming right at me. “I’ve had years to think this over, and it’s clear what I need to do. To be free of Sterling Cross once and for all.”

I look around, frantic, my eyes landing on a silver letter opener on his desk. I’m within reaching distance of it, but if I lunged for it now, she could pull the trigger before I’ve even wrapped my hand around it.

Caleb catches my eye, like he can see what I’m thinking.

“You’re right,” he says, suddenly soothing. “The company is cursed. I thought I could turn it around, but maybe we’re better off selling once and for all. Call your lawyers, have them bring the paperwork. I’ll sign it, right here, right now.”

“You expect me to believe that?” Olivia scowls, but I see her waver.

“Of course, Liv. This is us, remember?” Caleb turns on the charm, even with blood trickling down his jaw. “Nothing is worth dying for. Not Juliet, she was just a distraction. I’ll give you whatever you want. So what do you say you untie me, and we put all this behind us? You’re not a killer,” he adds. “Why worry about investigations and jail when you could be off spending your money instead. How about Europe?” he adds, and I see that he’s loosening the restraints behind his back, out of Olivia’s sight. “You always loved Spain. You could get a place outside San Sebastian. Spend your days drinking wine, relaxing on the beach. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

Olivia gets a faraway look in her eyes. “Or London.”

“I’ll sign the papers, and you could catch a plane tonight.” Caleb promises. “Just put the gun down and untie me.”

For a moment, it looks like Olivia might take the bait. But then she catches a glance between us and reels back, fury in her eyes again. “No! This is all a trick. You would never choose anything over that company.”

But I know she’s wrong. He already did. He chose me.

“What are you going to do, kill us both?” Caleb exclaims, “You won’t get away with this.”

“Won’t I?” Olivia looks smug. “It’s actually fortunate that you had that little secret with Nero. Because now, I can kill you both, and everyone will think he’s responsible. And then the business will be all mine to burn to the ground.”

Oh my God. She really has lost her grip on reality.

“Like hell,” Caleb spits back, his face tight with rage.

Suddenly freeing himself from the cords, he lunges at her, tackling her to the ground.

It all happens so fast, the two of them struggling there on the floor. Olivia fires wildly, and a picture frame shatters by my head.

“Go!” Caleb is yelling at me, trying to wrestle the gun away. But he’s already injured, and Olivia is like a woman possessed, clawing at him, desperate. “Run!”

I know I should get the hell out of there, but there’s something primal and animalistic in Olivia’s screams of anger. It scares me to death.

Because she’s not going to stop fighting until one of them is dead.