Page 199 of Sinful Lies

His face twisted, sweat dripping down his forehead. “W-What about it?”

I smirked. “Don’t try to play the innocent card now, Greg. Tell us how you thought you’d fuck over my old man because he didn’t hand you the project.”

His eyes burned with rage. “Your father’s a piece of shit! Just like you, Lazzio! This project was supposed to be mine! Only fucking mine!”

Vittori sighed, shaking his head as he casually drew his gun, but I stopped him with a hand.

“What did you do, Greg?” I asked.

He spat blood onto the concrete, a twisted grin curling his lips. “Wasn’t gonna let your old man get a fucking cent of my cash, Lazzio. So I rigged the whole damn place with explosives.” He let out a low chuckle, dark and cruel. “Yeah, Jade. Your sweet little sister and her boyfriend? They were just the unlucky ones who happened to be there. Small world, huh? They were the perfect setup—collateral damage, nothing more.”

Jade’s hands dropped to her sides, as she turned slowly.

He grinned darkly, continuing, “You think people were pissed about the Lazzios taking the land? That was the cover-up. The bodies, though? That’s what really got people’s blood boiling. Innocent lives gone, and the Lazzios became the fucking villains.”

Jade’s fingers brushed down my hand, slowly wrapping around the gun.

I didn’t stop her.

“At least that was the plan,” he sneered, shaking his head. “Of course, the Lazzios always get away with everything. They pinned it on Jonathan Cyrus, said he was the one behind the investment. Then they killed the poor bastard years later.” He tilted his head, a cruel smile creeping onto his face. “Took yousix fucking years to figure it all out, Jade. A bit late, don’t you think?”

A sob tore from Jade’s throat, her shoulders shaking as she gripped the gun tighter.

I stayed back, watching, letting her take the reins.

This was her moment.

“You killed them,” she spat, her voice low but trembling. “They were innocent. Just—just living their lives. They didn’t deserve this.”

Greg sneered. “Deserve? Nobody ‘deserves’ anything in this game, darling. Wrong place, wrong time. That’s all it was.”

“Wrong place?” Her voice cracked, climbing to a painful pitch. “I was there! I saw them—blown into pieces. Do you have any idea what that’s like? Watching someone you love ripped apart, and there’s nothing—fuckingnothing—you can do?”

Her sobs came harder.

I’d seen pain before—hell, I’d caused it—but nothing likeherpain. It filled the room, suffocating, bleeding into every corner, and for once, I didn’t have the words.

“Nine years. I’ve carried that fornine fucking years,trying to forget, to move on. And now I find out it wasyou.” She raised the gun, her hand steady despite the tears streaking her face.“The only thing you deserve is the same fate.”

Greg flinched, his mask of arrogance cracking as real fear seeped into his eyes. “Wait—wait, hold on! You think this’ll fix anything? You pull that trigger, and you’re no better than me.”

“Maybe I am just like you,” she whispered, as she racked the gun.

I stepped forward, not to stop her but to make sure she knew I was there.

He sneered through the panic, his mouth running to the bitter end. “Look at you two. You shouldthankme. You wouldn’teven know each other if it weren’t for me. The kidnapped kid and the lonely addict. Tragedy, huh? Almost makes me wanna?—”

The shot rang out before he could finish.

One clean bullet to the head. His body slumped back, dead before he hit the ground.

She stood there, frozen, the gun slipping from her fingers like it weighed a thousand pounds.

Before she could spiral, I grabbed her, spinning her around and pulling her into me, even though every fucking part of me screamed to push her away after what she’d done.

Her grip on my shirt was tight, almost desperate.

I nodded at Vittori, who moved without a word, tossing a cover over Greg’s lifeless corpse.

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