Midnight Vigilante, Leonor Bass [top business books of all time .TXT] 📗

the room with his back to her, muttering incoherent notions. “Julius–”

“You fucking LIAR!” Julius shouted, followed by a slap across Lydia’s face that sent her backward, her eyes blurry with pain. “I know what you’re doing. I know what you’ve been doing behind my back, you stupid bitch.”

“I, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lydia replied breathlessly, tears now streaming down her face.

“Oh, really? You don’t know how many times you’ve spoken to the police behind my back? Let me tell you then, TWO!”

Lydia’s suspicions had been right; he was keeping an eye on her, which meant everyone she knew was in danger.

“This is not what you think, Julius. It isn’t-–” Lydia began, trying hard to sound convincing.

“Then tell me. I want to know what’s so important you had to go to the police station twice this week.”

Lydia knew he hated cops; she guessed all men of his reputation did. He knew Adrian was on his tail, and she always wondered how that man didn’t end up in a body bag. “We’ve been friends, Detective Castelló and I, for a long time. You know that. We even went to the same school. I had nothing more to say to him than a few words,” Lydia lied.

“You’ve been talking to Adrian Castelló?”

She nodded slowly. He laughed madly; he was unpredictable, she knew, but every time his mood shifted, her fear increased. “That bastard! Has he been asking questions about me?”

“No–”

“Right. So, you’ve been talking to a detective, who you’ve been friends with for a long time. A detective that also happens to be my brother. Isn’t that shocking?”

Julius and Adrian, brothers? No. It couldn’t be. Adrian would have mentioned something to her. He wouldn’t lie to her, would he?

“I didn’t know. I didn’t know he was your brother,” Lydia said.

Julius smiled mischievously, pleased with the reaction he got from her. “Adrian is full of surprises, just like I am.” His voice suddenly became a whisper, his movements a bit slower, and his expression softer. “I did so many things for you, you know? I tried to kill your sister for you, at a great cost, too.”

“Julius, I haven’t done anything! You have to believe me,” Lydia pleaded. Both men standing by her side moved forwards, their hands wrapping around her arms, pulling them behind the chair.

“Your sister is still alive,” Julius spoke as he walked slowly toward his desk, withdrawing a hunting knife he always kept close for security measures. “And my men are gone. Both of them. Now, I’m gonna ask you a question, and I want the complete truth. Did you speak to Adrian about her?”

Lydia swallowed the lump in her throat when he moved to stand in front of her again.

“No, no I didn’t,” Lydia replied quickly. He shook his head, played with a few loose strings of her hair as he held the knife tight in his hand and she trembled.

He didn’t believe her. “Then why, tell me, why is your sister still alive, and why are my men missing.”

“Maybe they didn’t show up. Maybe they couldn’t find her,” Lydia answered. “Your men are exceptional. You’ve told me that, right? So why would Riley be still alive if they are so good at what they do?”

Julius pondered for a second, the knife still in hand. “They walked out on me. They betrayed me,” he whispered to himself as he turned his back to her. She let out a breath of relief. At least this lie he did believe. “But they would never. They’re too faithful, too loyal to me. There’s only one person in this room who would betray me. Only one.”

He turned around slowly, facing Lydia one last time, and all she could do was cry—there was nothing else left to do.

“Julius—please, look at me. I would never do that to you, babe. I love you. You know that,” Lydia pleaded. She wanted to try one more time, even though that meant lying again, to save her life.

“I don’t. I don’t know you anymore,” Julius hissed. “You’re a whole different person. Someone changed you. Someone took my baby away.”

“I’m still here,” Lydia whispered. Julius moved toward her; the two men standing behind her stepped into her line of sight and she knew what was coming. If the slap she had received from Julius had been painful, the blows directed to her abdomen and to her face were ten times worse. She could taste the blood, feel every fiber of her body shake with pain, but they didn’t stop for the next couple of minutes.

“That’s enough,” Julius said. Lydia’s eyes were blurry from her tears; she coughed and spilled blood on the floor as she tried to regain her composure, which was hard considering the damage they had caused her.

“You’re out of your fucking mind,” Lydia said, barely able to keep her head up. She had nothing to lose now, nothing that could save her.

“Yeah, maybe I am, but you love me, anyway, right?”

“Not even one bit,” Lydia replied in a low voice. She didn’t care about anything anymore, not even the lack of love she could see in Julius’s eyes. If she was going to die, it would be with the truth on her lips.

Julius caressed her bruised and bloody face softly, his fingertips reaching her parted lips, and then he stopped. She could sense a bit of hesitation in his actions, as if someone were whispering in his ear for him to stop. Then, closing his eyes for a brief second, he sighed, and Lydia could read him like an open book; this was the end.

“It’s a shame, though. For a moment, I thought this would last forever. I guess I’ve been living a lie for too long,” Julius said finally.

The knife he held in his hand felt like a hot blade against her stomach. The pain was unbearable, the tears uncontrollable. She yelled when he stabbed her a little bit deeper, blood pouring down her shirt and onto the floor, until she felt