Page 110 of The Guru: Shadow

“Yes. I watched. For years. Your father was not a simple con artist. He was a master of disguise and one of the most ruthless, most violent men walking this earth. Secretly employed by none other than Richard DeBarra, CEO of Gamma Industries.”

“But why? Why me?”

“Because I followed him. I wanted revenge. And believe me, if you wouldn’t have done it, I would’ve.”

“So, you’re telling me that you already went after Gamma twelve years ago?”

“I went after Richard since the day of my seventh birthday.”

“What happened on that day?”

“That day was the day your father slaughtered my family and killed me afterwards.”

The day everything changed.

The day he lost everything.

The day he swore himself to hunt them down – all of them.

And just for a moment, his mind wandered back to the 2nd of May 1998.

“Give me that ring,Sol, or heaven forbid, I’ll kill all of you!” he heard Derrick Richardson shout into his mother’s ears, a gun pressed into her temple.

“I’d rather die,” said his mother so quietly.

“I’ll slaughter the lot, right in front of your eyes. I’ll rip out their limbs piece by piece, cut out their eyes and skin them alive. Give it to me, now.”

“It won’t be of use to you, you can kill us all, skin us, rip us apart, but the ring will never be of use to you. Never.”

He admiredhis mother so much. She had been the strongest of women. She was the single person who had ever understood his nature, nurtured him, and let him be as he was, judgment-free. That day, he couldn’t feel his younger brother’s pain, he couldn’t feel his mother’s pain, but the pain of being ripped of what was his treasure. And that day, he swore to bring this man down as a legacy to his family.

“But how are you here?” Emma asked, absolutely confused.

He pulled aside his shirt, showing her the scars on his chest from where three bullets had hit him. Her hands wandered to his chest. Her fingers stroked so beautifully over them and the burned skin on his chest that it made him kind of aroused.

“Your father shot me three times and arsoned the house afterwards. What he didn’t know was that my father did not work alone. He had a partner, and he pulled me out of the flames. Since then, he became my patron and my most trusted advisor, united by our goal, revenge.”

“Sam.”

Witty as ever, ma belle.

“Yes.”

“You were shot three times and survived.”

“Yes, three times. That number has been leading me since that day.”

Her eyes flashed from his chest up to his eyes.

“It is what?”

“Numbers, they guide you.”

“That’s bullshit.”

“Believe me, it is not. This number has led me everywhere, Em. Everywhere. I just had to follow the numbers.”

She stared at him incredulously, and when she spoke, it was almost with fear in her voice, “I’ve seen the number three everywhere lately. It was first on Cat’s dress the night at Stones. Then in your car, the notifications, the time, everywhere.”