Page 231 of Mine Again
He rubs his hands together like a man savoring a feast, his eyes gleaming with unholy delight.
“Don’t you think the fifty million daily increase is a nice touch?” His smirk spreads, slow and poisonous. “The exact amount the U.S. government is dangling for your husband’s head.”
Yes, the stakes have just risen exponentially. I hate it.
“Clever trick, Hale. But tricks don’t make kings. They only make clowns.
“You can raise the ransom to the moon, and it won’t matter. Lucawillfind you. And when he does, it won’t be your name they whisperin fear. It’ll be his.”
My words bounce off him as if I’d never spoken, waved aside like flies buzzing at his ear.
“Cling to your dreams, Isabella,” he says, amused. “The fact is, this attack cemented him as the most hunted man on the planet. And hunted men do not survive.”
Chapter Eighty-Eight
Isabella
The words ricochet through me. My lungs seize, but before I can fire back, Hale leans forward, his eyes shining with fresh malice.
Apparently, branding Luca the most hunted man alive wasn’t enough.
“Caruso cannot trust a single soul, because someone will sell him out. Especially after the next hit.”
I must look at him in shock.
“It will happen again, Isabella. Everything is already in place. Governments and pharmaceutical giants will bicker over who pays. Two days is not nearly enough for them to get their act together.”
“Don’t you care about the lives you’re putting at risk?”
Really, it’s a dumb question. I realize it the second it leaves my mouth. If he cared, he’d never have done it in the first place.
He shrugs. “The world is overpopulated as it is. Who will miss a few entitled Westerners?”
Says the most entitled man I’ve ever met. I scoff.
“What should be my next target?” His eyes glint with delight. “America, Europe… we’ve had our fun there. Asia should be next. Japan, perhaps. And after that, Australia. Imagine the chaos. Every day, another facility falls, and all the while your Luca is painted as the monster.” He laughs, the sound manic.
“The government’s reward will rise after this, you can be certain. Fifty million is only the beginning. Other governments and Interpol will pile on, eager to prove themselves. International coalitions, private companies, bounty hunters… all of them with their teeth bared, chasing the same prize.”
He leans forward, his grin spreading, eyes alight with sick delight. My stomach heaves, bile rising.
“Do you know what that kind of money does to people? It turns brother against brother, friend against friend. Even a loyal man will betray his own blood when a carrot like that dangles in front of him. Luca won’t be able to take a single step without wondering who’s waiting to cash him in. He’ll be hunted everywhere, Isabella. Hunted until there’s nothing left of him.”
He settles back in his chair, steepling his fingers like some smug monarch holding court, basking in every syllable of his cruelty.
But because he loves to hear himself talk, he keeps going.
“Caruso is going to run like a rat through a maze with the walls closing in. Every camera will track him. Every border will wait for him.”
He laughs, sharp and ugly.
“The net tightens with every hour, and all the while…” He gestures at the screen like a proud artist unveiling his masterpiece. “…we’ll get to watch it unfold on TV. So convenient, isn’t it?”
“You mean they’ll stream what you feed them,” I snap.
“Well, yes. Why deny the truth?” He sighs as if pitying me.
“Look, I understand why you’re upset. Nothing in your life has ever been as it seemed. And I just ripped away the fairy tale your pretty little head might have spun about Sebastian.”
