Phoenix Of Ruin: My Second Life Comes With A Better Man novel · Chapter 23 of 24
Chapter 23: Your Last Choice
Blaine looked at Leigh, and then at Talia.
The barrel pressed into his temple, and a tear ran down his jaw.
"Pick," Talia said again, almost tenderly. "Who goes home?"
Nobody on the dock moved.
Leigh stood with her feet planted on the rotten boards and watched his face.
She had watched it once before, on this same dock, and she knew what was coming.
She also knew that this time she was not alone.
Jonas's shoulder was against hers, and she could feel him shaking.
"Blaine," she said. "Look at me."
He did.
"This isn't a trap I walked into," she said. "This is your last choice. Make it a good one."
Something moved in his face.
For one moment she thought he might say her name.
"Talia," he whispered.
Leigh closed her eyes.
"Talia," he said again, louder, and his voice shook. "Let me go. Please. I choose you. I always choose you. Take Leigh, do what you want with her, but let me go."
It was the same sentence in different words.
Her brothers made a sound of disgust.
Conroy spat on the planks.
"Five years she was your wife," her third brother said, low and shaking. "Five years, and you hand her over for a tape on your mouth."
Blaine did not look at him.
He was looking at Talia's finger on the trigger.
"Please," he said. "Please, I'll do anything. Just not me."
Leigh heard it from very far away.
It was exactly what she had begged him for on this dock, and he had not even heard her.
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