Chapter 8 - THE CONFESSION
With the boys stable and out of immediate danger, the atmosphere in the mansion shifted from panic to a cold, calculated wrath. The lockdown was lifted, and Nathan’s syndicate went to work cleaning up the bodies and securing the perimeter.
Down in the soundproof basement, Dr. Reeves was tied to a steel chair. Nathan and I stood in front of him. I had insisted on being there. I needed to hear the truth.
"The Maroni family approached me a year and a half ago," Reeves confessed, spitting blood from a busted lip. "They knew they couldn't assassinate Nathan directly. His security is too tight. They wanted to break him psychologically. They paid me ten million dollars to slowly poison the heirs. Make it look like a tragic, incurable genetic disease. Mrs. Bennett was the inside man who installed the rig."
"And you violated the Hippocratic Oath, betrayed a father’s trust, and tortured two innocent children for money," I said, my voice dripping with disgust.
"You don't understand the Maronis," Reeves cried. "If I said no, they would have killed me!"
"And what do you think I am going to do to you?" Nathan asked softly. He didn't yell. The terrifying quiet was back.
He looked at his men. "Take him to the harbor. Put him in a shipping container. Let him breathe the stale air for a few days before he suffocates. Let him feel what my sons felt."
As they dragged the screaming doctor away, I didn't feel an ounce of pity. I had seen the darkness in Nathan’s world, and I realized that sometimes, monsters were necessary to fight other monsters.
Nathan turned to me, the shadows of the basement catching the sharp angles of his face. "Tomorrow, I wipe the Maroni family off the map. It will be violent, Emily. You shouldn't be here to see it. I can set you up anywhere in the world. A new life. Millions in your bank account. You saved my world. I owe you everything."
May you like
I looked up at him, stepping into his space just as he had done to me earlier. "I’m not leaving, Nathan. My place is upstairs, with those boys." I paused, my voice dropping to a whisper. "And with you."
Nathan’s eyes darkened with raw, unguarded emotion. He reached out, pulling me flush against his chest, capturing my lips in a desperate, bruising kiss. It was a kiss forged in fire, adrenaline, and survival. I wrapped my arms around his neck, anchoring myself to the most dangerous man in the city.
