Page 78 of Ruthless Riches
19
Alexis
Nate steppedout of the darkness, casting a long shadow on the stone walls. “She’s right,” he repeated, staring at Sascha. “I would never do that to her. You know that, so stop lying. Stop everything. It’s over.”
My mouth fell open in shock. For a split-second I thought I must be hallucinating again, but then I realized that Sascha was seeing and hearing the same thing as me. I could tell by her bulging eyes and suddenly-rigid posture.
This version of Nate was real.
He was here.
Sascha recovered from her shock a lot faster than me. She pounced on her bag and grabbed the big, bloodstained knife from the top. Then she pressed the tip of the blade up to the side of my neck. At the same time, she dragged the bag over to us with one foot and kicked it behind her, ensuring Nate couldn’t reach it without crossing her.
“You shouldn’t have come here,” she hissed, glaring at Nate. The tip of the knife pressed deeper into the delicate skin on my neck, making me wince. “I won’t let you ruin my life. I’ll kill her. Then I’ll kill you too.”
Nate lifted his palms. “Drop the knife, Sascha.”
“No!” she shrieked. “Get back or I’ll do it!”
I gulped down deep breaths to stop myself from hyperventilating as the cold steel remained on my skin, threatening to pierce the large vein there. “I know you won’t kill me,” I said, darting my eyes to the left to look at her face. “You’ve told me a hundred times. You’d never hurt me.”
“That was different!” she shouted. “You’re making me do this now! He’s making me do it!”
“Nate isn’t making you do anything. Neither am I. I know you don’t want to hurt me,” I said softly.
Sascha’s chest heaved, and she dug the tip of the knife in even deeper, almost piercing the skin. “I can’t let you ruin my life. I can’t!”
When I looked at her face, I realized she was serious. Now that she was cornered, she really would hurt me, just to save herself. I could see it clearly in her manic eyes—her anguish, her desperation, her willingness to destroy every inch of her soul so that she might survive.
“Please,” I whispered. A tear was rolling down my cheek now, and my limbs felt shaky. “Don’t do this.”
Nate clenched his jaw and kept his gaze on Sascha. “I didn’t come here to ruin your life,” he said calmly. “Look, I’ll show you. I don’t have anything on me that could possibly hurt you.”
Slowly, he turned out his jacket pockets, followed by his pants. “See? No weapons. Just a phone.”
“I’m not fucking stupid,” Sascha said. “I know why you’re here.”
“If that’s true, then you know I just want to talk.”
Sardonic laughter bubbled up in Sascha’s throat. “You want to talk?” she said, eyes widening. “Are you fucking kidding?”
“No.” Nate’s eyes flicked over to me for a second. I could see the intensity of his love for me burning in them, along with a silent message. Just hold on. I’ve got this. He turned his attention back to Sascha. “If I wanted to hurt you, I would’ve brought a gun. I think that’d beat your knife, wouldn’t it?”
Sascha twisted her lips, considering his point. “How do I know you don’t have one tucked away in your back pocket? Or strapped to your ankle?”
“You can come over here and search me if you want. But you’ll have to step away from Alexis to do that.”
“No!”
Nate raised his palms again. “If I stay like this, will you let me talk?” he asked. “You know I can’t hurt you as long as my hands are here.”
My sister’s eyes narrowed. “Fine. If it means so fucking much to you, I’ll let you say your last words.”
Nate took a short step forward. “Hurting and killing people might give you some sort of temporary high. You might even think you love it,” he began.
“I do!” Sascha snapped.
“You only think you do, and I know why. It’s because it makes you feel powerful and in control. But that’s only because you usually feel so powerless and out of control. That’s why you crave that sort of high so badly.” Nate tilted his head slightly to one side. “I know what you really want, deep down, and it’s not this.”
