Chapter 12 - Trevor's Descent
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Two nights later, the violent pounding on my front door startled me awake.
It was 2:00 AM. I grabbed my handgun from the nightstand, checking the chamber before creeping downstairs. I checked the security monitor.
Standing on my porch, covered in snow and shivering violently, was Trevor. He looked completely unhinged, his clothes torn and his face badly bruised.
I unlocked the door, keeping the chain engaged. "What do you want, Trevor? It’s the middle of the night."
"Claire, please, let me in!" Trevor begged, his breath puffing in frantic, white clouds. "They came to my apartment! They beat the hell out of me!"
"Who came to your apartment?" I asked coldly, not unhooking the chain.
"Russians!" he sobbed, gripping the doorframe. "They kept asking for ledgers! They said my mother lost fifty million dollars! Claire, I swear to God, I have no idea what they are talking about. They said if I don't find the money, they are going to kill me."
He looked at me with wild, terrified eyes. "You have to hide me. Please."
I stared at the man who had let his mother slap me beside our sons’ coffins. The man who had refused to protect me when it mattered most.
"I warned you, Trevor," I said quietly. "I told you your mother was a monster, and you chose to protect her."
"I was stupid! I was grieving!"
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"You were a coward," I corrected smoothly. "And now you are paying the price for her sins. Do not ever come to this house again. If those men follow you here and put Emma in danger, I won't wait for them to kill you. I will do it myself."
I slammed the door in his face, sliding the heavy deadbolt into place, leaving him weeping in the freezing snow.
