The Vargas Cartel Trilogy (Vargas Cartel #1-3)(87)

“Hattie, I’m glad you stopped by,” Evan said as he strolled into his home with a big smile on his face. “I was going to call you—” Evan froze mid-sentence, eyeing the gun on the table in front of me. “Why do you have a gun?”

I ran the pads of my fingers over the barrel of the gun, locking eyes with my deranged ex-fiancé. Before today, I didn’t believe it was possible to hate someone as much as I hated Evan and his slimy dad. “I thought I’d bring some protection.”

Evan’s eyebrows slanted downward. “What the hell are you talking about? I would never hurt you.”

I raised one eyebrow and smirked. “Really? Your actions prove otherwise.”

Evan lifted his hands up in mock surrender as he shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you’re scaring me. Have you been skipping your therapy sessions?”

Clenching my teeth, I trembled with pent-up aggression. The amount of hatred and anger seeping out of my pores could’ve slayed an army. I flipped over his iPad, slamming it against the counter. Pounding my index finger against the screen, I typed in his passcode. “While you were out, I took the liberty of scanning through an email folder labeled HWC. Does that change your perspective?”

Evan stuffed his hands into his pockets and licked his lower lip as his eyes looked everywhere but at me. Fucking shifty-eyed bastard. “It’s not what you think,” he mumbled.

I folded my arms across my chest. “So you’re not having me followed?”

His shoulders sagged. “I am, but only because I don’t want something to happen to you again. Even though we’re not together anymore, I haven’t stopped caring about you, loving you. I was crazed when you were abducted. I couldn’t sleep. I barely ate. I didn’t go to class. I can’t go through that again.”

“All signs of a guilty conscience.”

He repeatedly swallowed, his Adam’s apple rocking up and down like a fishing bobber. “You’re right. I felt guilty because you should have been in the Virgin Islands with me. I made a bad decision that hurt you. All of this could’ve been avoided if I had been faithful.”

Laughing, I stood up and walked around the table. “Sure, if I hadn’t gone to that bar and caught you cheating on me, things may have been different, but then I would still be in the dark. I wouldn’t know the extent of you and your dad’s corruption.”

“That’s not true.”

The stubborn set of Evan’s jaw caused a flashflood of resentment to roar through me. What a liar. I lifted the gun and aimed it at the center of his chest. “Don’t lie.”

He took a step back, his eyes flickering back and forth between the gun and my face. “This is crazy. What are you doing? You don’t need that.” His voice cracked on the last word.

“I know your f*cked up family arranged my abduction. Your dad planned everything, and you agreed because you’re a spineless piece of shit—a puppet dancing to your dad’s corrupt tune.”

He sucked in a breath as a flash of surprise washed over his face. “We didn’t—”

I shoved the muzzle of the gun against his chest, twisting it slowly from side to side. A sick and perverted satisfaction slid down my spine when I spotted the sweat beading his brow. “Shut the f*ck up. It’s too late. I know everything. I know you offered me up as a pawn to stop Rever Vargas from talking about your dad’s criminal connections. I know you only wanted to marry me so my dad would have a reason to conceal your dad’s connection to the Vargas Cartel.”

“I didn’t care about that. That’s my dad’s business. I did it for us. I love you, and I knew you wouldn’t give me another chance. I didn’t have any choice.”

“Are you delusional? Are you seriously trying to argue you handed me over to a drug cartel because you loved me and wanted me back?”

A muscle twitched in his cheek. “They weren’t supposed to hurt you. I wouldn’t have agreed otherwise.”

“Not hurt me?” Acid swirled in my gut. “And you think that justifies what you did?”

“It was all a ruse to put pressure on your father and force the government to fast track Rever Vargas’ release. That’s why Ryker Vargas was involved. It was his job to shield you from the ugly side of the Cartel. He promised to keep you safe. You weren’t supposed see anything except the inside of a room and take an occasional walk under heavy guard.”

“Safe? A ruse?” I scoffed as my mind marinated in resentment. “Do you have any clue what actually happened to me?”

“No. You haven’t told me anything,” he accused. “Not one f*cking thing. I’ve tried to get you to open up to me, but you’ve shot me down every single time. I wanted to help you move past it.”

“They drugged me. They locked me in a room without windows until I didn’t know if it was day or night. That maniac sliced my neck, but you already know that. We were attacked by a rival cartel, and I f*cking killed a man.”

He reached for my hand, shaking his head. “Hattie, I had no idea.”

I lifted the gun and waved it in front of me. “I shot him. Blood splattered all over the trees, and I stared into his dead eyes. I’m a murderer.”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “You’re not a murderer. It was self-defense. Nobody could claim otherwise.”