I wince.
“Are you that stupid, witch? Just you being there made her more curious about the mother she’d lost. I kept everything under wraps for years, and now it’s spilling everywhere.” He folds his arms over his chest. “But it won’t. It can’t. Just as soon as I get rid of you and your mouth, I’m back to square one. Just another well-paid nobody who doesn’t matter. If Cole forgets I exist in his grief, all the better.”
I stare right through him.
“Still a goddamned shame about the girl. I never meant for those guys to hurt her...” He makes a frustrated sound, shaking his head.
My stomach lurches.
After listening to this maniac’s sick excuses, I knew it.
But hearing him confirm it cuts me open.
“Was Aster wearing that necklace the night she—” I can’t make myself say died. Somehow, admitting she died—admitting he murdered her—feels like I’m accepting the same fate. “—the night they found her?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” He raises his fist over his head.
I flinch.
But he pulls back at the last second and the cabin echoes with his rough sigh.
“If you weren’t there, they would’ve moped their way through the whole trope. Dess wouldn’t have set one foot on the beach, much less gone pilfering through that dejected house. All of this could’ve been avoided. You’re the reason he hired an investigator. You and the goddamned feelings you stirred up. You made them think too much. Now you want to go reminding Destiny of Aster nonstop with that ugly fucking knockoff?”
“Well...”
He lunges, stopping just short of hitting me again. “I worked so hard! So fucking hard to save her the pain—both of them—and you just waltz in like a wrecking ball whore.” He glares at me, his eyes mean slits. “You may be good enough to be Cole’s fucktoy, but you’re not fit to hold Aster’s tea—”
“Wait.” I grit my teeth. “Hold on. You’re getting this out. That’s good. It must’ve been hell bottling it up for years.” I grimace, hating that I’m pretending to have sympathy for this hideous man. “So, are you really upset because you think someone might find out what you did or because Destiny wears her jewelry?”
“Both!” he bellows, throwing his head back.
“So that’s it. You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?” I ask flatly.
“What the hell else can I do? You go, you’ll run to the police or that big, sappy idiot the first chance you get.” He stares, waiting for an argument or at least a lie. “Don’t worry, though. Cole won’t get his happily ever after. It’s his fault she’s dead. He drove her away, and he already did the same with you in record time.”
My heart twists.
Everything that drove us apart seems so petty now, so pathetic in the grand scheme.
And now I’ll never get the chance for either of us to set things right.
“If you kill me, it’s not going down like you think,” I warn, summoning my fiercest glare. “You won’t get away with this like you did with Aster. You’ll go away for life. There’s no chance my parents ever let it go. And neither will Cole—not without hunting you to whatever island cave you crawl back to.”
His eyes flash with cruel amusement. “I might care if I thought there was a chance he had a clue. He doesn’t.”
“I texted him,” I say, knowing it’s a huge risk. “When he finds out I’m dead and who I was with, guess what he’ll do?”
His eyes beam pure murder at me. “Then I’ll just kill him, too.”
“O-kay. Good luck, I guess. So you’ve got me, Cole—oh, and Dakota Burns. I sent her another message. And if you kill Dakota, you’ll definitely have to kill Lincoln, or he’ll kill you. You might have a one percent chance of getting through one hardass billionaire’s security, but two? I’m not liking your odds, dude.”
“How many people did you text?” he flares, his fists trembling at his sides.
“As many as I could?” I smile.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?”
One day, I hope I’ll laugh at the irony of his question.
“At first, I thought we were going to have a wreck. I had no idea you were a full-blown psycho killer, but hey, it’s almost like insurance. If you kill me, you’ve got a whole laundry list to deal with. Or you can just let me go and hightail it out of the country while you still can,” I say hopefully.
“Goddamn,” he mutters. “Do you need a reminder your life is hanging by a thread?”
“Is it?” I spit at him.
“And Cole had the nuts to call Aster stubborn! You’re one dumb uppity cunt,” he snaps.
I shrug. “Hey, if I’m dumb and alive... Whatever, though. If I’m going to die anyway, I might as well get my zingers in while I can, right?”
He cocks his head like he’s considering it.