"Please," Anthony pleaded.

He knows.

"I thought you were dead," I asked the man.

"No one thought I was dead," he replied. "Who are you?"

"You fabricated your own death? What did you get out of it?" Suddenly, my voice was calm. I was not an orphan. I would turn the rat in.

"Anthony, get this b.i.t.c.h out of here before I put a bullet between her eyes."

His own hand went for the concealed gun in his belt. I reacted by aiming mine at his head. Not heeding the warning, he pulled out his gun and pointed it at me.

"Remove the d.a.m.ned mask, Cain," I growled. He pulled it off in one go and then waited.

"So?" he challenged.

"Mia," Anthony warned me.

"Why did you do it, Dad?" I left all pretenses.

The mask came off.

"Mia?"

Anthony stiffened beside me. He pulled away after a moment. I wish he had stood by me. I really did. But I needed to do this alone.

I was going to die.

I heard a gun being pulled out and knew that it was Anthony. I was pretty sure that he was going to point it at me. I had deceived him, and he had the right to kill me. But he had known... all this time, he had known.

"Why did you do it, Dad?" He swore under his breath and c.o.c.ked the gun.

"Your mother was in my way."

"Why?"

"My business," Anthony answered from the other end of the room. "He was trying to take over my business and call it his own. He failed."

"You lied," I stated flatly.