AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You what?”
“I wanted to give them a good life.”
Cassius opens the car door and steps out, leaving me to wonder what fate awaits me at this desolate boat ramp. He’s quickly on my side, opening my door and beckoning me out.
I may not know what Cassius has planned, but whatever it is, I’ll do everything in my power to survive—for myself and for my daughters.
The sun casts a golden glow over the water, creating an ethereal scene that feels as though it’s been plucked from a dream. As I gaze out at the tranquil waves lapping against the shore, the contrast between the peaceful surroundings and the fear clawing at my chest is almost jarring.
“Quite the view, isn’t it?” Cassius muses, his voice breaking the silence. His unexpected comment about the beauty of the surroundings sends a shiver down my spine, adding an eerie and unsettling element to the scene.
I force myself to nod, taking a deep breath to steady my trembling hands. For a moment, I allow myself to find solace in the serene environment, letting the rhythmic sound of the waves wash away some of the terror that threatens to consume me. But this temporary reprieve can’t last forever.
“Are you going to kill me?” The question slips past my lips before I can stop it, my voice barely above a whisper.
Cassius studies me with those piercing blue eyes, and for a moment, I can’t read any emotion in them. But then a slow smile spreads across his face, and he chuckles softly. “You think I brought you all the way out here just to kill you?”
“Didn’t you?” I ask, unable to keep the tremor from my voice. “Isn’t that why we’re here? To put an end to…whatever this is? Because you’re upset with me for hiding the truth.”
“I am upset with you,” he admits, “for keeping my blood away from me, but I don’t believe in ripping a mother from her children. If that hadn’t happened to my family…maybe things would have turned out differently.”
For a moment, no matter how brief, I feel my heart ache for him.
“You won’t hurt them?” I ask. “They’re innocent.”
“I know they are,” he agrees. “Children always are.”
“Then, you’re going to let us go?”
“Is that what you want, Annalise?” His gaze bores into mine, challenging me to answer honestly.
“More than anything,” I admit, tears pricking at the corners of my eyes. “I don’t want them to live in fear. I don’t want to live in fear.”
“Franny and Gina are mine…” he finally says, his voice low and strained. “My daughters, or at least my nieces.”
The way he says it feels possessive, but I don’t dare confront him.
“Do you want to know why I brought you here?” he asks, voice so low that I can barely hear him.
“To make me tell you the truth?”
“That too.” He smiles at me, and it actually feels genuine. “I like to come here, sometimes, to think. I’ve never brought anyone here before.”
Even though it shouldn’t, that warms my heart.
“I need to meet them,” he says, his voice barely more than a whisper, yet it resounds in my ears like thunder. “I need to meet Franny and Gina.”
A chill runs down my spine at the ominous tone in his voice. I swallow hard, trying to steady myself as I grapple with the implications of what he’s saying.
“No,” I say quickly, shaking my head. “I can’t let you do that.”
“Do you really think you have a choice?”
My breathing becomes uneven. “I don’t want them hurt.”
“I won’t hurt them.”
I shouldn’t trust him, but I do.
