Leopard 02 - Wild Rain

place and you can’t trust anyone.
    Not even family.” Rachael swung around and filled a glass of water for him, needing something to do.
    “I would never, under any circumstances, order your death. You’re my sister, my only family, and I love you. You don’t have to believe me, Rachael. I know you’re hurt and angry and very mixed-up. I didn’t have time to talk to you.”
    “You had time to pull me out of the car before you killed him. And you had time to lock me in the house afterward.”
    “You were hysterical. He went for his gun, Rachael. You didn’t see him make his move because you were fighting me as I pulled you out of the car. You wouldn’t listen to me and you were threatening to go to the police. I did my best to carry out Dad’s wishes and make the business legitimate. It hasn’t been easy. I know too much about Armando, just as you do. He can’t allow us to live. As long as he thought I was with him, that I could control you, we both were safe. Once I made my move against him, Armando wanted to kill you not only to punish me, but to silence you. You should never have talked to Tony.”
    Her dark eyes flashed. “I would never tell an outsider our business, certainly not a man I knew nothing about. I wouldn’t risk your life or his. I went out with him.”
    “And he never asked you questions about me?”
    “He asked if you were my brother and I said yes. You are. It’s common knowledge. It shouldn’t have gotten him killed.”
    “Rachael, let’s start with something we know. Tell me you know I love you. You must know everything I’ve done in my life I’ve done for you. For us. To keep us alive. I was a child too. I had no power. No one to help us. I had no choice if we were to stay alive. I had to join with Armando or he would have killed us both on the spot. I traded my soul for a chance for both of us to live.”
    She flung herself into his arms. “I know you did. I know you did it for me. I knew you could have gotten away if you didn’t have me to try to protect.”
    “Does it really make sense to you that I spent all those years protecting you and now I’d suddenly want you dead?” He wrapped his arms around her, hugged her hard.
    “It was so awful. I felt responsible and I didn’t know why you would do such a terrible thing. Power corrupts, Elijah. I’ve seen you fight it. You tried to make the business legitimate, but at the same time, you had to do the things that allowed Armando to think you were a part of the business.”
    “I had no choice but to run the business the way Armando wanted. We inherited half of everything, Rachael. Armando wanted it all, and he wanted it to remain his. When he found out Dad wanted to get out from under it, he had them followed. He discovered Mom could shift into the form of a leopard. He found his perfect assassins. Stealthy. Cunning. Intelligent.”
    “So Dad took us all to Florida.”
    “That was because Mom was afraid her people would harm Dad. So he moved us to the Glades. Mom could still run, and he was out from under the business. But of course it didn’t work that way. He owned too much and knew too much. He was slowly trying to get out from under the companies.
    Armando wasn’t going to let that happen. All the while I was out with my wonderful uncle, doing his little tasks for him because he let me run free. I was so stupid. I told Mom and Dad that Armando knew about me shifting, that I did it all the time in front of him. Mom had been so secretive and I wanted her to know it was okay, that he didn’t mind. They were both so upset, and they must have talked to him.
    Armando arranged to meet with Mom and Dad and he killed both of them.”
    “And I saw it.” Rachael pulled away from him. “I’ll never forget his face when he turned and saw me standing there.”
    “Do you think I liked doing the things I had to do? He held you hostage, Rachael. He never bothered to hide what he did from you. The more you knew, the more of a liability you were to him and the more I had to do to make it worth his while to keep you alive. He needed me. I was like Mom and a tremendous asset to him. And he knew that he couldn’t kill both of us and get away with it. As soon as possible, I made certain he knew there was proof, if something happened to either of us.”
    “But Elijah, I saw you do things just like he did them. You’re not the same. You’ve grown distant and colder. I tried to talk to you about it and you brushed it