Chapter 8 - THE PRICE OF PITY
Owen didn't try to stop her shouting. He sat immobile, accepting every drop of her rage like a man awaiting a delayed execution sentence.
"Why am I here?" Aurora sobbed, her body shaking violently. "Did you hire me to finish it? Did you bring me into this house to make sure I died?"
"No!" Owen snapped, his voice ringing out with sudden, fierce intensity. "I swear on my life, I didn't know until five seconds ago when I saw that scar! I haven't thought about Route 41 in three years!"
He reached out a hand toward her, but stopped two inches away, dropping his arm back to his side as he saw her flinch in terror.
"If I had known who you were, Aurora," Owen said, his eyes darkening with a deadly, protective instinct, "I would have sent you as far away from Chicago as money could take you."
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"Why?" she spat, wiping the tears from her face with her shoulder. "Because you're afraid of the police?"
Owen let out a harsh, bitter laugh. "The police don't concern me. But the men who ran that crash for me three years ago... they are still alive. They are inside my inner circle. If they find out the girl from the blue Honda survived... if they realize there is a living witness who can link that night to a federal wiretap... they will not hesitate to silence you."
