Chapter 30 Played to Lose
"What is going on?" Kieran asks, looking between us. "You address your boss by his first name?"
Lawrence doesn't even glance at him. His wild, furious eyes are locked on me.
"Listen to me…," he says again, taking a step closer, but I hold up a hand to stop him.
"No." I cut him off because I've had it. I've had enough of his jealousy, his possessiveness, his hot-and-cold games.
"This is about your jealousy, your need to control everything and everyone…"
"Jealousy?" Kieran repeats, looking genuinely confused. "What the fuck is going on between you two?"
Lawrence finally turns his head toward Kieran. "I'm going to fucking bury you for this, Black. You and whoever you paid to breach my systems."
My entire body goes still. "What?"
Lawrence looks at me. "Yes, Scarlett. It was him all along."
My stomach falls to my feet, my skin crawling with horror.
I turn slowly toward Kieran.
"Is that true?" I ask. My voice is tiny. Shaky.
Kieran is silent for a long moment. Then he lets out a quiet sigh and shakes his head in something similar to mild disappointment.
"Come on, Moore," he says in a voice I've never heard from him before.
A very cold, detached voice, completely absent of the warmth it's carried every time he's spoken to me.
"You could've at least let me seduce the girl properly before you ruined the mood."
My whole world crumbles, and I nearly lose my balance.
I stare at him in pure shock, speechless as I try to comprehend the gravity of what Lawrence said.
Kieran looks at me with those cold, dead eyes.
Eyes I thought were warm, kind, interested.
The same eyes that crinkled when he laughed at my terrible British accent.
They're empty now.
"I hate to break it to you, Scarlett," he says coolly, "but Lawrence is right."
He tucks his hands into his pockets. "Oh come on, sweetie," Kieran continues, his voice laced with mock sympathy. "You thought I was interested in you because you're pretty? You know how many pretty women I meet every day?"
Each word is stab to the heart.
"You were never the target," he says, almost gently. "You were the key. The person closest to Moore."
The realisation starts to dawn on me.
He used me… or rather, he was using me.
"My hacker couldn't get through; the lattice Moore designed is annoyingly brilliant…so I figured I'd try the human route instead. I figured I'd get close to you," He spreads his hands like it's all perfectly reasonable.
"The one with access to not just his calendar, but his files, his trust."
A tear drop slips from an eye, but I keep listening.
"I planned to charm you. Bed you—things that were already going so well until Moore decided to play hero and interrupt." He shoots Lawrence a cold glare. "One way or another, I knew I'd eventually get access through you."
Bile rises in my throat, my nails digging into my palms.
"Oh, Scarlett," he continues, his voice full of fake pity. "You were so easy to play."
He reaches out to brush a strand of hair from my face, but I slap his hand away.
He doesn't even flinch, smiling wider.
"So eager to believe someone actually wanted you for you."
He pauses, turning his gaze to Lawrence.
"You really should've let me finish the job. I was this close."
Lawrence scowls. "You're going down, Black. I'll make sure of it."
Kieran laughs confidently. "And what proof do you even have? I can make whatever flimsy little trail you think you've found go away," he says in amusement.
Lawrence doesn't respond; he simply reaches up and undoes the top three buttons of his shirt.
The fabric parts to reveal a small, discreet wire taped to his chest.
Kieran's smirk drops.
Lawrence taps the device. "You won't be able to make this go away. A live, recorded confession straight from your mouth."
He smirks. "Say hello to life imprisonment after I destroy everything else you care about, asshole."
Kieran's confidence vanishes, his eyes flicking to the wire, then to Lawrence, then to the terrace doors.
"If you even think about bolting, know that the FBI is waiting outside." Lawrence continues. "You're screwed."
Suddenly, Kieran grabs the Bordeaux bottle from the ice bucket and violently smashes it against the edge of the table.
Before I can scream, his arm locks around my waist from behind, and he holds the broken glass to my neck with enough pressure to sting.
"Scarlett!" Lawrence yells in panic.
Two FBI agents burst through the doors at the sound of breaking glass, their guns already drawn.
"Federal agents! Drop the weapon!"
"Stay back!" Kieran snarls, dragging me backwards toward the terrace railing. "All of you, stay the FUCK back!"
They stop moving when they see me being held hostage.
"Civilian in the line." One mutters into his comms.
Lawrence raises both hands slowly, his eyes locked on Kieran.
"Let her go, Black."
"Kieran, please," I beg weakly.
He laughs.
"I'll slice her open if you don't call off the FBI, Moore. You think I'm bluffing?!"
He presses the bottle into my neck, and I wince, feeling blood trickle down my skin.
Lawrence takes another step forward, pure fear on his face.
It's the first time I'll see the emotion on him.
"We'll both go over!" Kieran warns.
My heart is pounding so hard it hurts. The broken edge bites deeper with every word he spits, and I can feel the pulse in my neck hammering against the glass.
Lawrence's voice is steady, but I hear the tremor beneath it. "You want the keys to our cloud infrastructure? Fine, I'll give them to you. Just let her go."
Kieran's grip tightens around me, and I wince again.
"You really think I'd trust you now?" He scoffs, inching another step backwards. "After you ruined everything?"
We're so close to the low railing now, and if a miracle doesn't happen… if Kieran makes good on his threat, my family would have nothing but bits of flesh to bury at my funeral.
I can't breathe properly. All I can feel is the cold glass, the hot panic brewing in my chest, the way Lawrence's eyes are pleading with me to stay calm.
Fuck this.
I'm not staying calm and waiting for some psycho to decide my fate.
If I'm going to die, I'll at least die trying to escape.
I slam the heel of my stiletto down hard on Kieran's foot.
He yelps in surprised pain, and his arm loosens around my waist for one split second.
I make a break for it, running towards Lawrence, who yanks me into his chest, just as an agent shouts, "Clear!"
A gunshot cracks through the night.
I whip my head around in time to see Kieran stagger sideways, blood oozing from the shoulder of his tuxedo.
His eyes go wide with shock as the broken bottle slips from his fingers, shattering on the ground.
For a moment, he keeps moving, clutching his arm, and still trying to back away.
"No, Kieran, watch out!" I scream.
But it's too late.
His heel trips over the low railing of the terrace edge, and he stumbles over, falling to his death.