Page 211 of Wrecked
Liliana moseyed over, a menacing smile etched on her face. “Nope, not an exit. Only one way down and that’ll be in a thousand little pieces. Boo-hoo.”
Addison was running out of options to save herself.
“Let’s sit,” Liliana said. “I know so much about you, but you know nothing about me.”
Addison glanced back at the door before making her way toward the table. The longer Liliana talked, the better Addison’s chance of survival. She sat on the edge of the chair, her thoughts focused on finding a way out.
Liliana stood behind the chair across from her and glowered. Then, she spun the chair around and sat.
After a long pause, she said, “Family means everything to me, so you can imagine how much I hate you.”
“I don’t know your family.”
“My real name is Haqazzii,” Liliana said. “You and your CIA team killed my father, Abdel Haqazzii.”
Addison stared at her in disbelief.
This is bad. Really bad.
“I watched in horror as that military monster from America murdered him in cold blood. Revenge became my way of life. I learned how to build bombs, then a new identity was created for me, as a student. In America, I was reunited with my brother, Aziz.” Her face split into a menacing grin. “That was a joyous day.”
Pausing, Liliana stared out at the horizon before flicking her gaze back to Addison.
“If Ronald Jenning hadn’t gone public, I would never have found him.” She hitched an eyebrow. “Finding you took me three long years. Then, you led me right to that snitch, Habibi, and her stupid coffee shop.”
“Abdel Haqazzii was a terrorist, responsible for thousands of deaths,” Addison bit out.
“A lie,” Liliana said. “He was a respected businessman.”
She’s drunk so much Kool-Aid, she’s drowning in it.
“But that wasn’t enough. I wanted you to suffer like I did. My dad was gone. I wanted yours gone too.” Liliana’s shoulders slumped. “But I failed.”
“Ohgod,” Addison whispered. “The car bomb.”
“I did my homework on you, honey,” Liliana said. “The mental mind games started from the minute we met. I told you my name is Liliana Moore. Hey, that’s your mom’s name. The mom who abandoned you. What a crazy coincidence. Liliana Moore, Liliana Moore. Say it with me.”
Addison glared at her.
“Everything I told you was a lie. My birthday isn’t in August. I’m not a GW grad student, and I don’t have an older sister who’s an artist. All lies to give you a false sense of security. You thought we had so much in common. You trusted me, but I hated you and I hated working at your stupid club. I hated pretending that we were friends.”
Liliana fell silent.
Addison eyed her phone on the roof.If I can knock her out, I can call for help.
“I shot out the cameras at your home,” Liliana said. “I tried to kill your little boyfriend when you were playing cops and robbers at that shooting range. Lucky for you, I’m a terrible shot.”
Addison seethed with hatred. For months, she’d been Liliana’s target and she hadn’t suspected a damn thing.
“What about Tommy?” Addison asked. “Was that real?”
“Nothing about me is real,” Liliana hissed. “Tommy was obsessed with you and so jealous of Hawk that I actually pitied him. He was a mess, but that’s what made him so easy to manipulate. I encouraged him to kill Hawk. As soon as he did, I killed Tommy. He’d served his purpose.”
“Hawk’s not dead,” Addison said.
Liliana narrowed her gaze. “Tommy couldn’t even get that right.”
Addison eyed the vest.Can I get that off her?
