Page 75 of Bound

“So do I,” I say.

Erin turns her head.

Carlos goes silent again.

Rafe mouths, Keep him talking. More.

I hate talking.

I prefer killing.

Today, I do both.

Erin’s word stays with me; ego makes men do stupid things.

“You killed your men because you feared they’d follow me. You killed Marina before she could turn on you,” I say. “You stole my father’s seal because you had no authority of your own. You used Isobel because she left you for me. You used the Morettis because you couldn’t reach me on your own, and you used Caleb to get to Erin because you didn’t have the power to get to me yourself. You sent a girl to do your job. And even that didn’t work.”

The snow falls harder.

“All because you couldn’t be a Bachman. You knew they wouldn’t take you. Because you build your world on other people’s shoulders,” I say. “Then call yourself powerful.”

Carlos’s voice lowers. “Careful.”

The first crack.

Thank god.

Gregory hisses, “Four seconds. I need four more seconds.”

“Then we battle.” Blaze exhales happily.

Rafe’s voice shakes. “He shifted. East row confirmed. Old courier chamber. Sublevel two. We need ten more seconds.”

Carlos says, “And you have all the power of the mighty Bachmans behind you and you still can’t strike.”

Carlos’s voice turns venomous. “You should hear her scream before you get poetic.”

Everything in me stops.

Erin’s hand closes hard around my wrist. “Remember who you are, now,” she whispers.

Remember who you are now.

For her. To whom. Who she’s built me back up to be.

Carlos waits for me to break.

I don’t.

I wait.

“I have him,” Gregory says.

Sheer joy runs out the terror in my blood.

Rafe’s screen stabilizes. “East row. The old Bachman Jewelers. He is inside. He’s communicating from inside.”

“Bachman Jewelers wasn’t only a store,” Gregory says, his voice going thin in that way it does when history becomes a murder weapon. He’s researched every map and every building plan of the Bachmans he could find. “None of the old businesses were only businesses.”