Page 43 of Game of Revenge

I backed up, hitting the bed with my legs.

He stood there, looking as menacing as when we had first met. He wasn’t going to let me go without an answer.

“I saw the picture of a dead man,” I finally admitted.

We both stood in silence for a minute, unspoken words in our gaze.

“Did you kill him?”

His frown deepened, his jaw tighter, his nostrils flaring.

“Would you believe me if I said no?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Did you?”

“No. No, I did not kill that man.”

I searched his eyes, but all I saw was anger and pain. I believed him. He looked tortured.

“Did you know him?”

Alejandro walked to the bed and sat down at the end a few feet from me, his head buried in his hands. My chest was squeezing. I was worried. This man, so strong and impenetrable, now looked hurt and beaten. I walked closer to him. Alejandro lifted his head to meet my gaze.

“That man was my brother, and he was murdered,” he said with a broken voice.

My eyes opened wide in shock and shame. I was making him relive what was clearly a painful memory for him.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, laying my hand on his shoulder. “What happened?”

Alejandro got up and walked to the window.

“We won't be talking about that,” he declared in a definitive tone. “What else did you see?” he asked, turning his back to me.

I swallowed hard to try to get rid of the lump forming in my throat, but I still kept going.

“I saw diamonds,” I admitted. “Is that why you kidnapped me? You want those diamonds?”

Alejandro turned back around and walked toward me. “Yes.”

I took a step back, feeling like he had punched me.

“So you think Richard will give you those diamonds for me?”

“Eventually. You are his daughter, after all,” he reminded me in a cold and calculated voice.

“Why? Why would you do this when you have all of this?!” I asked, gesturing around the room.

“Those diamonds are worth over three hundred million dollars,” he dryly explained.

I sat on the bed, tears blinding me. Hearing the truth from him stated so carelessly was making this horrific situation all too real. I got up and started laughing uncontrollably, my voice laced with pain and disappointment. What did I expect? Why else would someone kidnap a person?

“If you think my life is worth more than three hundred million dollars to that shit of a man, you might as well kill me now.”

Alejandro frowned and grabbed me by the arm.

“No, you don’t understand,” he said as he got interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing in his pocket. He let go of me and answered.

“What?” he shouted. “When? I’ll be right there,” he said as he hung up.