Chapter Thirty-One
"Stop growling at me, dirt bag." I snap at the huge dog who wants to rip me in pieces.
Anubis still doesn't trust me and I know he's waiting for a moment to decapitate me. He looks at Trinity with betrayal because she's smelling me carefully, then a bit shy, starts licking my hand.
At least she likes me.
I hear Vincent laugh and I look from my bedroom huge window down at the boy who is washing his own beast. Scarface is on his back, with his big paws in the air while Althea is scrubbing his stomach with soap, and from the looks, she's not gentle, but the panther seems to enjoy the attention. Vincent holds a hose and laughs again when a powerful jet of water smashes into the animal's face. Scarface tries to fight the water and almost knocks down Althea.
My gaze is stuck on the two people and my heart tightens. It's incredible how in a month my life turned upside down. My marriage with Althea is strangely good, and I have a feeling that's not going to last.
Call it intuition, but a cold wave struck my lower back before I hear the knock on the door. I turn slowly
and see a man holding a big rectangle, wrapped in brown paper. I narrow my eyes at the man, not recognizing him. He's not a tall man, not reaching 5'10 and has a medium muscle weight. His black hair is greasy and his beard looks a thousand years old.
Anubis and Trinity growl, but I raise my hand and stop them, surprised that they listened to my command.
I take out the gun from my jeans, playing with it in my hands. The only way to intimidate someone is to play with their head. Hunt their weakness and use it in your advantage, until they break right in front of your eyes.
"I don't remember saying that you can come in." I say through my teeth. I don't like the energy he shows, and I seconds away from blowing his brain out.
"My mistake, sir. Excuse me." His voice is sarcastic and light, making me burn in anger.
How the fuck did he enter my house?
I move quickly toward him, grabbing his neck in my right hand, squeezing until his face turns white. His eyes are wide, looking at me with fear. Because of his height, when I bring his face closer to mine, his feet aren't touching the ground anymore.
"You have five seconds to tell me who the fuck are you and what are you doing here."
"I'm a c-courier. The package is for your w-wife."
My hand tightens around his neck when he refers to Althea. His filthy mind shouldn't even think of her. His face turns too white, but my mind doesn't care. I want him dead, because he thought that coming in my house uninvited is absolutely normal. And he definitely saw my four-year old and my wife.
Just the thought of him near them makes my blood boil and my hunger to kill grow.
The phone in my back pocket starts ringing, and
without taking my hand from his neck, I grab it with my other one. I frown at the unknown number, swiping right to accent the call.
Ignoring the cold sensation from earlier, I snap, "Talk."
"Let go of my man, Keaton."
My body freezes.
The hold I have on the man's neck turns softer, and my brain can't make the distinction between reality and imaginary.
"Good boy," I snap when his words invade my hearing.
My blood runs faster with a desire to devour, my body feels hot and my veins are almost popping out of my skin.
I'll show you good boy.
I grab my gun again, which I think fell when I heard the voice, and shot the man in the thigh. His roar makes the dogs react, starting barking loudly and I hear footsteps coming in our direction. I grab the back of his neck and slam his face hard against the desk, repeating the move until I hear a crack. I set him free, his body falling to the ground, limp.
"There, I let him go." I snap at the person on the other side of the call.
"You're still not good at listening to orders, I see."
"I'm not taking orders, especially not from bastards like you."
"But you listen to Althea." The amused voice makes me punch the desk in anger.
"Don't you ever say her name again."
"But she looks so beautiful next to that panther."
My body freezes.
I move quickly to the window, looking desperately
for Althea and Vincent. I find them in the same spot, but Althea looks over to our bedroom with a frown. Our eyes meet and I know she can tell that my face is tense. I see two of my men next to them, trying to take them inside. With a single nod of my head toward Althea, she lowers her eyes to Vince and takes him in her arms, going after the guards.
"I'll bathe in your blood soon, Ivan." I warn him through the phone.
"You're so loyal to her, Boss," His disappointed voice turns my hold on the phone tighter. "How can you worship her when she's been lying to you all this time?"
My heart beats so hard that it makes my chest hurt.
Don't let him play with your head, Keaton. But fuck, I am so weak when it comes to Althea Moretti.
I hear my men grabbing the half-dead courier off the floor, but my attention stays on the traitor that keeps testing my anger.
"You don't believe me, but after you unwrap that package that my man left in your bedroom, you'll see that I'm right." My eyes move instantly to the big rectangle next to the bed.
"Because of your wife's lies, I had to watch the love of my life fall for you. Marry you. While I watched like a lost dog. Maybe after you'll see the truth, you'll feel the torment I felt all these years of not being with Keres." And he hangs up.
Rapid breaths make me look like I run a marathon. My mind is blurry and I can't think straight.
The fact that Ivan finally admits that he was Keres lover feels unreal. I don't need to hear another word of his to know that he's the one who stole her body, and though he'll get away with it.
But first, I need to get this feeling off my chest. I
need to know he's the one who lies, not Althea.
And that's because I'm afraid of what she can lie about.
I move my body toward the package with little steps, praying that what's inside will be innocent.
Untrue.
I lift it off the floor and put it on the bed, tearing the brown paper wrap off it. I frown when in front of me is a big painting with a dark background and multiple stains of purple around it.
Like the stains I painted on Althea's body last night.
What game is Ivan playing?
Does he like to see me like this? Confused, angry. Completely useless in front of his words.
I look at the painting, trying to decipher the meaning of the stains. This doesn't look like Althea's work at all. It's plain and confusing, without giving you any kind of emotions. Althea's paintings are dark, with the most realistic details I've ever seen and emotions that fill your body until it drains you. And what I'm seeing right now looks like a painting made by Vince.
I flick of green gets my attention. I look at the right, down corner of the picture and see some lines that are very similar to grass. I put my fingers on that spot, but the glass stops me. Not having the patience to go grab something sharp, I punch the hard surface, but nothing. I try one more time but it seems useless.
What kind of glass is this?
I walk to the desk and grab the French key that I always carry with me. With a hard throw, the car tool breaks the glass and the dark painting moves a little.
I wipe the glass pieces out of the way, realizing the purple stains are actually printing out. I remove the picture, revealing the green that got my attention. My
breathing stops and I feel my eyes round at the picture in front of me.
Pain spreads in my chest, feeling like someone hit me right in the heart.
Can you hear me? What's your name?
Everette.
Hit.
When I open my eyes, the brightest shade of blue is looking at me with concern.
Hit.
"I'm Althea if that wasn't clear." She raises her hand toward me. "Your future sister-in-law." Her eyes are stormy, and my heart tells me I just did a mistake.
Hit.
If my sister suffers because of you, I will make sure that no one will find your body.
Hit.
Stay alive, Everest.
Hit.
You think I'm so heartless, everyone thinks I'm just a bitch for leaving Keres. But you don't know.
Hit.
My body trembles and I feel my knees weak. My fingers are gripping hard my hair and flashbacks are destroying my mind and soul.
All I hear is Ivan laughing at me right now at the sight of me, almost on my knees, with my heart crushed.
I look again at the haunting painting that reflects my unconscious figure on the ground, with her above me. Her fingers are gripping my face tightly and her brown eyes are scared, leaning over me to make sure I'm breathing.
Are you sure you want to marry her, son?
I look at the black engagement ring, feeling my blood run cold. I feel anxious, and not because I'm going to propose to her, but because I have a feeling everything I know is false.
Keres's blue eyes didn't make my heart beat like her voice did.
Am I crazy for believing that someone else found me first?
With a deep sigh, I let out the word that changed my fate. "Yes."
I take the painting in my pale fingers, looking at the painting's name on the back. Letting my eyes move from her face, I turn it to face the truth.
I read the seven letters that form the word and this time, my knees give out and I fall on the bed.
Everest.