Page 53 of Broken Empire
“Good point. Leah, stop the car for a second.”
Leah pressed her foot on the brake and pulled the car off the road, parking beside a thick expanse of bushes and trees.
“I’ll be honest with you, Davina,” Killian said in a crisp tone. “I was planning to kill you once we were done with you. But now—”
“Please!” Davina whimpered. “I won’t say anything to anyone. I won’t—”
Killian lifted a palm and cut her off. “Let me finish. I’ve decided it’s entirely up to Shay.” He turned his gaze to me. “This woman has been part of the auction scheme with Pyotr and the Schöneberg Group for years. She’s partially responsible for the deaths of hundreds of women. But, having said that, we couldn’t have saved you without her. She played her part perfectly. So, knowing all of that, do you think we should spare her or not?”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek for a moment. “If we let her go, she’ll run straight back to them and tell them where we are,” I finally said.
“Not if we dump her right here,” Leah said, raising her brows. “She has no phone or purse on her, and it’ll take her at least twenty minutes to walk to the nearest town. By then, we’ll be miles away. She won’t have any idea where we are or where we’re going.”
“Please,” Davina cut in, voice quavering. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”
“You’re only sorry because you got caught,” I said icily. “You weren’t sorry when all that money was rolling into your bank account, were you? How much did Pyotr pay you for your services, anyway?”
“I… I don’t…”
“Tell me! I want to know what it was worth to you.”
Davina sniffed and lowered her eyes to her lap again. “Three hundred thousand a year.”
“So that’s all it took for you to betray your own sex,” I said, voice dripping with loathing. “Good to know.”
“Please. I really am sorry. I always felt bad about it. I just needed the money for—”
“Shut the fuck up!” I said, throwing my hands up. “I don’t want to hear any of your bullshit excuses.”
Davina fell silent. Killian leaned forward and lay a hand on my shoulder. “What do you want to do?”
I bit my bottom lip and slowly shook my head. “I’m not sure,” I murmured. “I fuckinghateher, but at the same time, I… I’m not sure I can kill her. I don’t know if I can even watch you do it for me.”
“We can let her go,” Leah said, reaching over to squeeze my hand. “The bitch will be in prison soon anyway. She’ll be punished then.”
I nodded slowly. “Okay. Yeah. That’s what I want.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” I turned to look at the back seat again. “Kick her out here.”
Davina piped up again, eyes wide. “Thank you,” she said. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. I promise, I won’t say a word to anyone ab—”
“Shut up.” I narrowed my eyes at her. “I don’t want to hear it.”
“You’re lucky, Davina,” Leah added. “Very fucking lucky. I wouldn’t have minded seeing you dead.”
“I know,” Davina murmured, tears slipping down her cheeks.
Killian stared at her. “Just remember,” he said, slowly drawing a finger across her throat. “We can change our minds at any time. Doesn’t matter where you go—we’ll find you.”
“Yes, I… I understand,” Davina said. Her face was ashen now. “Thank you.”
Killian untied her wrists and crouched to untie her legs, which were bound at the ankles. Then he reached over to open her door. “Get out before I push you out.”
On shaky legs, Davina slid out of the car. As soon as she was on solid ground, she sank to her knees and started sobbing.
I turned away. “Let’s go.”
