AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My breath catches. “Is this about X-Cite Media?”
He places his hands on my shoulders and grips them tight, as though communicating the seriousness of his words. I stiffen, my pulse ratcheting up to eleven. What the hell can be worse than a group of snuff movie makers?
Xero.
In a minute, he’ll grin down at me and say it was him. That he’s the one who wants me killed, and I fell headfirst into his machinations. Now that I’m trapped and unable to escape, he can lacerate me at his leisure.
“Who is it?” I ask, my voice trembling.
“Do you remember those men I made you interrogate?”
“Yes,” I whisper. “Why?”
“One of them mentioned a man named Delta, who gave the order to capture you for the studio.”
My chest tightens. My throat dries. My mind screams at me to run. “Who is he?”
“My father.”
“Okay.”
His eyes widen. “You’re not surprised?”
I shake my head. “I went into your little control room, which is extremely creepy, by the way, and found photos of him with your stepmother.”
Most men would get defensive about their secret stalker rooms containing pornographic pictures of their obsessions, but Xero just nods along and encourages me to keep going. The man is shameless.
“After that, I looked at my album and there was a photo of him in my old house.”
“Where?” he barks, making me flinch.
“Last page.”
Xero releases my shoulders and tears open the photo album. His gaze settles on the array of dinner party pictures. A look of pure disgust contorts his features, and he lets out a low, menacing snarl that sends shivers down my spine.
“I hoped it wasn’t true,” he says.
“What difference does it make?” I ask. “He trains innocent children into assassins. You murdered his family and made methe leader of your fan club. It makes sense he wants to kill me in revenge.”
“The man I spoke to tonight says that Delta has been out of action for a while. Instead, his wife is calling the shots.”
“Your stepmother?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “The woman he married after she died.”
“Okay.” I nod. “Who?”
Breaking eye contact, he turns his head away from me, as though uttering this woman’s name is too heinous.
Silence stretches, and my suspicions mount. Why would a man like Xero, who doesn’t give a shit that I found his creepy room of souvenirs, shrink away from answering a simple question? My mind spins through everyone I know, but I come up with nothing.
“Xero,” I say, my voice hardening. “Who is your new stepmother?”
“A woman named Dolly, who he says…” Xero inhales a deep breath. “He says Delta’s wife looks like you, but older.”
I laugh. Mom might be a lot of things, but married to an insane, child-corrupting psychopath who runs a network of criminal enterprises? No. Xero has to be joking.
When his expression doesn’t change, my smile falls. I shove him in the chest, but it’s like trying to move a wall. “This is bullshit. Where’s your proof?”
