Dane

"Okay. How do you want to do this?" Dane asked Chris. His hands were twitching toward them. He needed to keep himself together.

​​

"The business is already mine if you're both gone. So neither of you is going to show up or talk to anyone, so Lila's controlling share gets forfeited to me."

"Done."

Chris snorted. "That's just the beginning. "You both take what's yours—which is exactly your wife and your passports and some clothes—and you leave. Forever. You never step foot here again. You never speak to anyone here again. You disappear. I know you can do that, Dane. I know you're set up to do it."

"Gladly."

"Don't make a joke out of this. If anyone knows where to find you, if you contact anyone, I will hunt you to the ends of the earth. And I have the people to do it now, you know that."

"I do. I won't." Dane met his gaze and held it. He did know. If Chris was running his father's show—whether in truth, or had been tricked into believing he did—he absolutely did have the people and the technology to chase them to any corner of the earth.

Lila groaned and they both looked at her. She swallowed. "I feel sick," she said faintly.

Chris smirked again. "I will hunt you down, and I'll start with her," he said, nudging the gun against her temple again. Dane's heart fluttered. "Or maybe… maybe no, now it's going to be like this: if I hear even a hint of your name, or see someone who even looks like you, I come find your kid first. And when they're gone, then I'll take Lila. Don't think I'm lying. I'm not."

"I know you're not."

"Please, Chris," Lila said, her voice quavering.

Chris's eyes widened and he leaned into her ear until his lips almost touched it, then watched Dane tremble because he was touching her. "I saw the way you looked at me, Lila," he whispered. "I bet you didn't tell Dane about that."

"It wasn't… I never…" she said weakly. But Dane could see the fire in her eyes. He prayed she wouldn't do anything stupid.

Dane knew what she was doing, but it still killed him. He glared at Chris and turned the gaze on her, just to make Chris think it was working." Lila's eyes snapped to his and in any other circumstance he would have laughed.

Dane swallowed. "You let me take her and my stuff, you let her go free, I'll leave. Neither of us will ever come back. You'll never even hear our names again. I promise."

Chris stared at Lila a second longer, but then he snarled through his teeth. "Give me your phone."

Dane slid the phone Chris had given him out of his pocket and kicked it across the floor to Chris.

"Yours too, Lila," Chris said.

"Mine's on the couch," she said quietly.

Chris glanced behind her, but must not have been able to see it. "Well, I guess I gotta make sure you aren't hiding it anywhere," he said with a smile.

Dane's head roared as his brother—his fucking brother!—kept that gun at Lila's temple, then dragged his other hand all over her body, like he was frisking her. For a strip show. And he kept looking at Dane, smiling, so Dane couldn't even move.

By the time Chris was done, Dane was panting with rage and Lila, whose eyes had been fire when he was touching her, closed her eyes and made her face crumple, like she was upset.

"Okay, Dane, looks like you're clear. You show me your back so I know you don't have your gun, then you can go get your stuff. I'll stay here with Lila, though. My advice is, don't try anything."

"I won't," Dane said. He turned his back on Chris and lifted his shirt, so his brother could see that he didn't have a gun.

What Chris hadn't noticed was the bag in the kitchen. The bag that did have a gun in it, that was too far away for Dane to get anything from it. He cursed himself for not seeing this coming.

Lila groaned again and hunched forward. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"Whatever," Chris muttered. "Dane, you have two minutes."

"Please, Chris," Lila said, breathlessly, holding her stomach. "Please stop. I hate this. Dane loves you and so do I."

"Bullshit," Chris muttered. Lila made her eyes pleading and opened her mouth, but Chris's jaw tensed. "Don't try that on me, it won't work. If you wanted to be able to seduce me, maybe consider keeping your legs closed. It's kind of a turn off knowing my brother's baby is swimming in your belly," he snarled.

Lila gagged, and clapped a hand over her mouth. Chris braced himself behind her, gun to her head, but her face went white and she barely moved her lips as she said, "I'm going to throw up, please."

Snarling about inconvenient women, Chris walked her to the sink in the kitchen and kept his gun on her when she leaned over. He didn't take his eyes off Dane, either. And if he turned around he was going to see the bag on the floor under the island behind him.

Dane didn't move or breathe as Lila coughed and hunched over the sink. "I'm going to be sick," she said weakly again.

Dane's breath picked up as she clutched the edge of the basin and made a noise in her throat.

"Chris, you need to ease up, she needs to keep up her strength."

"Shut the fuck up, Dane," Chris snapped and turned his head, just barely, to shoot a glare at his brother. And Lila erupted.

Everything slowed down.

She'd clasped her hands together in front of her. She swung them up and across, like a club, so her wrists caught Chris's and pushed the gun up and away.

Dane was already roaring, already leaping towards them, but to his horror, the gun went off and Lila dropped.