Finn
I was half way listening to Carlton Gayle drop his two cents on the development of fuels tailored to suit particular engines.
Yeah it wasn’t much. How he could sit there and face me in the panel, talking when he had tried to worm his way into my company with several of my employees was ballsy.
His balls had to weigh a ton. His company had been wrecked and assimilated by mine. The entire bid had gone finalized two weeks ago after the lawsuit between our companies ended.
The only reason he was on this panel was because the panel had been decided over six months ago before he crossed the line and got his ass handed back to him big fucking time.
My eyes drifted to the audience as they listened, scanning the Wolfe booth that Abigail was manning.
They narrowed immediately in question as my heart thudded against my chest. Where was she?
"...right Wolfe?"
My eyes flickered back to Gayle and I raised a brow. "Right on developing personalized fuels? I wouldn’t say that. What’s the point of creating cars that cannot be driven by people?"
The audience chuckled at the comment but my eyes were back on the booth searching for Abigail.
My phone buzzed violently in my pocket during the middle of the panel discussion. The moment I saw the security alert, I shot to my feet.
"Devin has Miss Kellerman at gunpoint in the parking lot."
Those words might as well have been branded on my forehead with how much pain they drove through my veins. My blood ran as cold as ice.
"Mr Wolfe?" The anchor for the program, Shelby, swept her blonde hair back, her eyes wide with questions. "Is there a problem?"
Yes, Shelby. My insane twin brother has my woman at fucking gunpoint!
"Excuse me, there is something urgent that I must attend to," I replied curtly, heading straight for the stairs that led away from the stage.
"And what about the panel, Wolfe?" Carlton Gayle chirped but I ignored him. I was not sacrificing the woman I loved for a fucking panel!
I bolted from the stage without a word, cutting through the shocked murmurs behind me and heading straight out of the hall to the underground parking lot. I dialed the detective in charge of Devin’s case on the way.
"Devin Wolfe is holding my-wo-assistant at gunpoint at the underground parking lot of Mary Jane Hall."
"We got a call from one of your men, sir. We’re on our way."
Better. When I arrived at the massive parking lot, it took a minute to locate them, and the scene before me stopped me cold.
Devin stood behind Abigail, one arm locked around her throat, the other pressing a gun to her temple.
My security team had their weapons drawn, forming a circle around him. Everyone was moving gingerly because one twitch could end everything.
For the first time in fifteen years, I looked my twin brother in the eyes. It was like staring into a distorted mirror.
The same face, the same build, the same green eyes, but his were colder, sharper, filled with pure malice. The years had hardened him beyond anything I could have imagined.
Shock hit me square in the chest. Knowing he was alive was one thing. Seeing him alive, holding the woman I loved at gunpoint, was something else entirely.
"Devin," I said quietly, stepping forward with my hands raised. "Let her go."
Devin’s lips curled into a mocking smile. "Well, well. If it isn’t my dear brother."
I kept my eyes locked on his, refusing to look away. "Let Abigail go. Now."
He laughed that same grating, hollow laugh, tightening his grip on her. Abigail’s terrified blue eyes found mine and my chest clenched with the need to protect her. This should not be happening.
"You little traitor," Devin sneered. "We’re brothers, Finnegan. Blood. You should be working with me, not against me. We could have ruled everything together. Instead, you chose that little bitch over your own family. You should be dragging her down for your brother, man."
I took another careful step forward. "Stop talking like you and Mother weren’t going to frame me. I know your plans. You both want to send me to prison in your place so you could step into my life and take everything I built."
Devin’s grin widened. "A good brother would have agreed to go to prison. You’ve had twenty years as CEO of our father’s company. Twenty years of glory, respect, power. It’s my turn now. You rot in a cell while I enjoy the life you stole from me."
Abigail moved without warning, stomping hard on Devin’s foot and twisting her body into the struggle.
He cursed as she wrenched the gun loose. For a terrifying second they fought over it and I swear I aged a thousand years closing the distance between us.
Abigail held out the weapon, leveling it straight at him.
Devin froze, then laughed darkly. "Go ahead, little cunt. Shoot me. I dare you."
I moved closer, my heart in my throat. "Abigail, come here. Come here, baby."
Devin kept taunting her. "Do it! Shoot me! Pull the trigger, you weak little cunt-"
The gunshot cracked through the parking lot and my heart dropped to the fucking floor.
"Abigail!"
She had shot him in the knee. Devin screamed in shock and pain, crumpling to the ground. His eyes were wide with disbelief as blood poured from the wound.
I was stunned too — proud, terrified, and deeply in awe of her courage. My woman was not to be messed with.
"You shot me," my brother rasped, staring up at her in disbelief.
I pulled Abigail behind me and put my body between them.
"You shouldn’t have dared me," she hissed.
Sirens wailed in the distance.
"Give it up, Devin," I said. "It’s over."
Devin glared up at me, face contorted in agony and hatred. "Fuck you, Finnegan."
A smoke canister suddenly skidded across the floor. Thick white smoke erupted everywhere, swallowing the garage in seconds.
Chaos broke loose — shouts, coughing, footsteps scrambling in every direction.
"Abigail, hold on to me," I ordered, pulling her through the smoke. When the air cleared enough to see, Devin was gone. He had escaped.