Chapter 9
Hazard
The property’s exterior lighting shined through the sliding glass doors, illuminating Zira’s smirk in their harsh glow. Death and sex permeated the air, and both of us were streaked in blood and come.
But I still wanted to devour every inch of Zira.
“You gained something,” she said, her tongue flicking over her lips.
A sliver of irritation simmered in my throat, but I buried it down, because her response, as annoying as it was, was also admirable in its own right.
Kill her husband, and yet the queen still believed she deserved more.
“I could tell my father about what you did,” she said, flirtation filling her tone. “It wouldn’t end well for you.”
I chuckled. She wanted to play pretend?
“But you won’t,” I said.
She tilted her head, but it was obvious that I was right. She liked fucking with me just as much as she liked fucking me.
“Why won’t I?” she asked.
“Because I’m valuable to you.”
“Hmm,” she said, her lips curling in subtle delight. “You are useful.”
She pulled out her phone, then spoke off to the side of the room. I picked up her crumpled dress, blood stains marking the fabric.
“Clean-up crew is on the way,” she said. Before she stretched the dress out to put it on, I stopped her. Covered in blood and muck and come, her makeup dripping down her face, Zira wasn’t the queen kept up in a tower anymore. She was almost vulnerable, and it made my dick hard all over again.
“Who did you hire?” I asked, making conversation simply to keep her naked for a few seconds longer.
“Someone who owes me,” she said, a playful tone in her voice. “Like I owe you now. Don’t worry, I know how much I’m indebted to you.”
Curiosity won me over, so I let her get dressed and began buttoning up my shirt as I followed Zira around the room.
“But who?”
“This assassin. I helped his wife save his life.”
I laughed. “You? Save a life?”
“I know. Hilarious.” She pursed her lips together. “In my own way, of course.”
Once the clean-up crew came, Zira freshened herself up in the bathroom, then the two of us walked out to the front yard.
The stars shone above us, but excitement tumbled inside of me like moths flying towards their bright and fiery death.
I had parked a few houses down, near a mansion that seemed unoccupied, but I lingered, waiting for her.
“Come back to the estate,” she said.
My queen gave orders, and I listened. I winked. “Of course,” I said.
Inside of the main building, Zira led me to her bedroom.
It was as big as Daddy Bloom’s, but on the opposite side of the floor plan.
A giant vanity mirror was situated next to a wardrobe, and a long balcony overlooked the garden and the pond.
Pastel sheer drapes hung from the bedposts, like a fairy princess’s bed.
A mannequin wearing a dress stood in the corner, and a jewelry display showed off her gold, silver, and diamonds.
And yet, my queen had no crowns. I’d have to fix that.
I needed time to work on Daddy Bloom’s scepter and crown first.
“I’d take you to the sitting room, but if we go anywhere else, the staff might be listening,” she said.
I knew that myself now. The cardstock note I had found in my lunch bag was folded, still placed in my wallet.
Zira knows what happened to Gabby. I still didn’t know who had put it there, but perhaps that was the nature of this secret society bullshit.
Someone was always watching and listening.
Someone was always trying to get ahead of someone else.
And besides, I didn’t need an excuse to be trapped in Zira’s bedroom, alone with her.
“What happens next, then?” I asked. “What do you need to get on the board?”
She gave a side-smile. “You certainly like to jump into the action.”
“I know what my queen wants.”
She licked her lips, then opened a door, revealing a walk-in closet as big as my motel room. It was plush with lit shelves and velvet-lined drawers. Even furniture for lounging as she tried each fashionable dress. I followed her inside.
“There’s no guarantee that my father will let me take over Logan’s spot, especially since he was my husband.
He might even think that I killed him, heaven forbid.
” She rolled her eyes, then grabbed one of the dresses off of the hanger.
“Now, if Carter Care—that assassin’s company that’s doing cleanup work for me—does exactly as I explained, no one will know that Logan is missing for a while.
They’ll think he went on a business trip or a quick vacation with his mistress. ”
“What happens when his mistress comes asking about him?” I asked.
Zira lifted her shoulders. “Not my concern.”
“She’ll be the first to smell something fishy.”
“Don’t care, honestly.” She pulled off her blood-stained dress then switched it for a new one, this one in a sheer pale purple that complimented her tan skin; it fit tight around her chest and flowed out with the skirt.
“Anyway, if we get rid of the other board member—Ernest Dumas—there will be two open spots. And with the deaths of the existing board members, my father will have to move into action. Right away this time. Everyone’s getting tired of his procrastinating habits, and no one likes getting picked for the third draft. ”
Get rid of the other board member? I liked the sound of that.
“What if your daddy suspects you?” I asked. She paused, turning from the full-length mirror to glance at me.
“If he does, then he’ll know that I’m not going to give up until I get what I want.”
Her lips pulled back in a smile, but with her sharp teeth gleaming, she transformed into a beast. The main terror in a pack of monsters. I had gotten a rise out of her, then. Blood flowed to my groin; I wanted to do it again.
“What about Daddy Bloom? Can we kill him too?” I asked.
There was something satisfying about killing a rich old man who probably thought he could squash me like an ant.
Given the chance, I’d make it fun for myself.
Impale the fucker’s ass until the spear shot straight through his mouth, like a piggy roasting over a fire.
“The Marked Blooms Syndicate was founded by my family. My father isn’t going anywhere,” she said curtly.
“Unless you take his place.”
I stepped closer, putting a hand under her chin, our eyes meeting, those blue depths swallowing me whole.
I honestly didn’t care what happened to the board or her potential leadership position, but I liked seeing what happened when she was motivated to stir shit up.
A small part of me even considered withholding the throne from her as long as possible, just to see how far she would go.
But I was far more interested in what she would do once she actually sat on that throne.
“We can’t get rid of him until I’m on the board,” Zira said, her eyelids lowered in irritation. “The only way the other members will actually take my position seriously is if my father appoints me as a board member. Otherwise, I’ll just be—”
She sighed deeply, looking away. I grabbed her, forcing her to lock eyes with me again. “Tell me.”
“A daughter. Nothing more.” She gritted her teeth. “They don’t take women seriously, even if you come from royal blood.”
I studied those blue eyes, rocky and bold, filled with so many conflicting emotions. I wanted to dive in and figure out exactly what moved her when she had been surrounded by violence since the day she was born.
“Do you love your daddy?” I asked.
“No,” she said quickly.
“Why not?”
She impatiently snorted. “Do you always ask personal questions?”
I tilted my chin. “Considering I killed your husband for you, I’d say I should get a pass on a few uncomfortable inquiries.”
She huffed, then let go, letting her arms rest at her sides. “He continually sacrificed my mother at the Masquerades until she finally died, and once she was gone, he raped and sacrificed me until I got married.”
My nostrils flared. Daddy Bloom had raped his daughter for years.
Marriage to that pretty vanilla boy must have been a welcome escape.
I didn’t have any sympathy for rapists. In fact, now that I knew that both Zira and Gabby had been hurt like that, it only added to my sadistic desires.
Now, it was fucking personal, as if Bloom had fucked and killed my sister himself.
“Once you’re on the board, we’ll kill him,” I said, my words punctuated. I could wait, if that’s what she wanted, but the asshole was going to die, one way or another. “But now,” I said, slinking an arm around her, “what’s in it for me, my queen?”
Her eyes paced around the room. I could ask her for anything, and she’d have to deliver. She owed me that.
Finally, her eyes met mine. “What do you want?” she asked.
“I want to know who killed my sister.”
Zira nodded. “Consider it done.”
A calmness settled through me, a subtle buzzing sensation reaching my toes, like the early morning mist hanging above a pond. It was easy with us; both of us knew what to expect. One action for another. Someone like Zira, you could trust to be untrustworthy.
And if that cardstock note was right, then Zira would finally get me some answers about Gabby’s death.
Zira sank back into a practiced expression, as if she both liked and disliked me.
I didn’t doubt that my assumptions were far from the truth.
Zira was practiced in everything she did.
Even when it came to seeing her revenge laid out on a platter before her, she was controlled.
And now, only a short while later, she was perfect again.
Sure, her hair was messier than before, but the makeup and blood were gone, and in a clean dress, she looked indifferent.
She was perfect, and I’ll be honest—perfection irritated me.
Her smile most of all. I wanted to ruin her.
“You have the perfect mouth,” I said, my eyes glued to her teeth and lips.
“It’s fake,” she said.
I cocked a brow. “What do you mean?”