Theirs To Take(42)
“You may begin,” Gabriel said to her.
She stared at her plate, then looked over at the girl again.
“I’m not very hungry.”
“Humor us and eat anyway.”
She gave him a sidelong glance but picked up her utensils, lifting the first forkful of salmon to her mouth.
Gabriel and his brother both watched her as she reluctantly ate, forcing down each mouthful she swallowed. He didn’t miss the fact that her eyes kept straying to where the punished girl now stood. He’d had Caroline display her there on purpose. He wanted Evangeline to see, to anticipate.
“Did you know Arthur had taken out a life insurance policy on you a few months ago?” Syn asked, taking out his phone and scrolling to the appropriate photo before laying it down on the table and turning it so that Evangeline could see.
“We discussed it. He had one too,” she said. “We did that when we bought our house together.”
“His was canceled,” Syn said, scrolling to the next photo. It had been easy enough to find that bit of information.
She wouldn’t look at the image, her pretty eyes darting instead from Syn to Gabriel and back again. Gabriel watched the struggle there, the need to deny, and along with that need, the indisputable knowledge of what was true. She knew it herself. She knew her fiancé was a very bad man. She just hadn’t consciously accepted it yet.#p#分页标题#e#
Well, that was about to change.
Syn pushed the phone closer to her. “Look at it, Eva.”
She shook her head no and instead pushed food around her plate.
“I don’t want to.”
“What are you afraid of?”
She glanced quickly at Syn, then back at her plate. “Nothing.”
“Then look.”
With a loud clang, she threw her knife and fork down and took the phone, moving her thumb across the screen. Then she handed it back to Syn who pushed a button to replay the recording he and Gabriel had listened to earlier:
“Sir, moving the timeline up?”
“Just make sure there’s only twelve left on that truck at the drop off point. You know what you have to do. No fuck ups, nothing linking back to me. Otherwise, make it look good. And alert me as soon as the others have been dropped.”
There was a long silence after that while they watched her process what she’d heard, her eyes brimming with tears at the dispelling of any shadow of doubt.
“What do you want from me?” she finally asked, wiping her eyes.
They remained watching her. Gabriel could see her struggle but would do nothing. Not yet. He needed for her to see. She was the one piece of the puzzle that could put Gallaston away for life. They’d tried before. Alvarez wanted the man’s head, but Gallaston was too smart, nothing ever linked him to any of the shipments of either drugs or people. Now, all of that could change. And here before them sat the one person who could make that happen.
“We want you to know that the life you had is over. You won’t be going back because if you do, you’re dead. We want you to know that it was the man you were months from marrying who did this to you, who put you on that truck like an animal. Who ordered your killing. And we want you to know that this isn’t the first shipment of human cargo we’ve intercepted from Arthur Gallaston, but with your help, it could be the last. You’re the missing link, Eva. You’re the one who can end this.”
She wiped the backs of her hands across her eyes, her defiant gaze locked upon Syn. Gabriel sat back and watched. He would swoop in to comfort her when the time came, but that time wasn’t now.
“So you want me to know that my fiancé did this to me. You want me to think that he wanted me dead so he could collect on my life insurance.” She choked on that part but managed to compose herself. “That he’s the reason you brought me here. He’s the reason all those women—” at that she paused, needing a moment before continuing. “That he’s the reason that you sold all those women at camp to those horrible people.” She sucked in a shaky breath, agitation building. They needed to wrap this up. “Fine. I know. But I also know you’re about to hurt me. You’re the ones who are about to punish me.” Her words were angry as her glance shifted once more to the punished girl in the corner. “What the fuck else do you want? You think I’ll be somehow grateful to you? Well, I won’t. Not ever!”
Gabriel’s fist came down hard on the table, rattling the silverware, making her jump.
“No, Evangeline,” he said, pushing his chair back abruptly, loudly. “Your gratitude isn’t what we’re looking for. We couldn’t care less about that. It’s your obedience we want. I think you’re finished eating.”