She is Richard Martinez’s daughter. That is all that matters. You will make him watch her die the way I watched Alexander die. Slowly. Painfully. You will destroy everything she loves, everyone she trusts, and then you will kill her while Richard watches.
A pause.
Or you are no son of mine.
The recording ended.
The room was silent.
“That was three years ago,” Dad said quietly. “Right around the time David proposed.”
“He’s been stalling,” I said.
“Yes,” Carter said. “Which means one of two things. Either he is playing a longer game, or he fell in love with you.”
The idea should have comforted me.
It didn’t.
Because even if he loved me, he still lied. Still watched me fall in love with a man who had been sent to ruin me. Still married me under orders.
“That doesn’t make him safe,” Dad said, reading my face. “It makes him more dangerous. A conflicted operative is unpredictable.”
I knew he was right, but as I looked at the photo of Alexander, I could also see the tragedy of it.
Two brothers.
