Chapter 34
Bella
“You figured it out.” I shouldn’t feel so good about it, but I do. The way Kaiser’s looking at me, with fascination tinged with fear, is so satisfying. “How?”
“The senator died at midnight. Minutes after you shook his hand. You poisoned him. How?”
I lift my hand and inspect my palm. “A little of this, a little of that.” Kaiser moves so he’s blocking the light. His hair blazes gold, but I can’t see his expression. My heart beats faster recognizing the power move. The predator in the dark.
“He’s not the first. You’ve done this before. How many?”
“I thought you’d never ask.” I scoot to the edge of the bed.
“The first was when I was eight. Papa finally let me go to a sleepover, and I was so excited. That night, my friend told me her stepfather was mean to her mother. That he hit her. She showed me bruises where he’d hit her, too.
I wanted to tell Papa, but she begged me not to.
Her stepfather was a judge. No one could touch him.
But the next time I went to her house for a sleepover, I was prepared. ”
“You poisoned him.”
“It was easy. A little monkshood sprinkled on his cake, and he was done for.”
“No one suspected?”
“He had a weak heart. He was overworked.
My friend was relieved. No one suspected a thing.
But then I did it again. My friend introduced me to another girl in my school who said her father was hurting her.
That he sometimes came into her room at night.
She told a teacher, but her father was powerful and had just been elected mayor.
So we planned another sleepover. I used a slower-acting method that time.
I made it last a few weeks. I was learning.
“See, my father, he doesn’t kill people. He prefers more subtle methods. A stroke that leaves you paralyzed. A sickness that lingers. A long, slow decline until your heart stops. Something that looks natural.”
“But you killed them.”
“I did what needed to be done. A weak man can still hurt his daughter.”
Kaiser blows out a breath. “The judge, the mayor elect.” He counts on his fingers. “Who else?”
“One more. The principal of my elementary school was touching students. He told them not to tell anyone, that they’d be punished if they did.
So I punished him. I used bloodroot to rot his skin and a compound from narcissus to torture him.
And finally, I used belladonna to kill him.
It was slow and painful. Everything that he deserved.
” I clench my hands into fists. I’m not sorry.
I’ll never be. No one can make me regret what I’ve done.
If I could do it all over, I wouldn’t change a thing.
“He was the third. Then you stopped.”
“Papa found out and pulled me out of school. Hired tutors and bodyguards. He locked me down as long as he could. But when I turned eighteen, he knew he couldn’t control me anymore.”
“That’s why he made the alliance with us.”
“Yes. You were meant to be my bodyguard. A man who could finally control me. But you can’t, can you? You won’t do anything to me.” Because the poison I gave him didn’t kill him. It bonded him to me.
Kaiser shifts closer. My heart skips a beat. He’s still dangerous. “This is why you weren’t afraid of me. You’ve been poisoning people since you were a child. You’re lethal and no one knows.”
“The best offense is a good disguise.”
“I knew you were dangerous.”
“Mmm, you did, didn’t you? Your instincts were right.
You came so close to beating me, Kaiser.
I had to come up with new ways to poison people because of you.
” I want to tell him about the lotions I developed.
The way I coated my skin to absorb the contents into my body.
How I went into the bathroom, took off my gloves, and coated my palm with poisonous balm before I shook the senator’s hand.
I want him to know everything about me. I still feel that pull between us. He’ll hear about all the people I’ve killed, and he won’t judge. How can he? His body count is so much higher than mine.
For now.
“Tell me about Livia.”
I suck in a breath. “She found me in the diner. It was my first time there, and I was so excited. I’d heard so many things about it.
A waitress with red hair told me there was someone to see me.
Then Livia sat down. I asked her if I should know her, and she said no.
Then she told me she was the wife of the man who killed my mother. ”
“No one knows who was behind that hit.”
“She did. Alfredo bragged to her about it. He and his brothers would laugh about what they did to my mother while she begged them to stop.”
“So you helped her poison her husband.”
“She wanted a way out. I gave her one. I didn’t know they would kill her. I should’ve guessed, though. She was so sad.”
“She knew.”
My heart aches, remembering Livia’s face.
I looked up a picture of her after; she looked so different.
A poised, very pretty woman with perfect hair and designer clothes.
When she came to the diner to meet me, she wore no makeup, no jewels.
Her hair was down, half covering her face.
Her true self, but she wore it like a disguise.
“She probably did know they would find her out. I told her to do it slowly, but… she wanted to get it over with. It’s my fault.
She died, and it’s my fault.” Will I ever be able to forgive myself for Livia’s death? For my mother’s?
“That’s why you killed the senator.”
“No. He was just a warning. First shot fired.”
“It worked. Spooked the Vesuvios. They refuse to deal now.”
“Good. I don’t want to deal with them. You know that after I spoke to Livia, I went to my father? I told him I found out who killed Mama. He said he knew. He’d known all along. And he didn’t do anything. For years.”
“He was being smart. Going to war with the Vesuvios was a suicide mission. He wanted to keep you safe.”
“Life isn’t safe. It doesn’t matter what you do. You can tiptoe around, or you can leave your mark. Either way you die.” I think of my mother and Livia. Then I think of my father and Kaiser. Who lives, who dies. I have never felt more like his enemy. It’s me against him.
“I’m not going out without a fight. Evil men walk around like they own the place. Like they own us. And we’re just supposed to take it? Well, I’m not going to take it anymore.”
Kaiser
I faced down men all the time in the ring. Bigger and badder men who wanted to stab me and rip out my entrails. I faced them and never felt afraid.
But I’m afraid of Belladonna Bosco. Her wicked mind, her deadly skills. The fear curls in my belly and at the base of my spine, like the respect you pay to a black adder. “What are you going to do?”
“What should’ve been done in the first place. I’m going to kill them. I’m going to kill them all.”
I don’t know what to say. Let me help, I want to help. Or let me do it for you. Let me fight for you. Let it be me.
I don’t have the right to say any of that to her. Because I am the man who would use my power over her. I am everything she hates. Everything she is right to rebel against.
The only way to fix it is to go back in time and destroy everything I am, everything I’ve fought for, and everyone I fought alongside. I can’t do that. I’m not strong enough.
But it turns out I don’t have to say anything because in the painful seconds that follow, the lights in the room go out, plunging us into darkness. I tap my phone to check the cameras on the perimeter, but they’re out. “Something’s wrong,” I say.
Bella starts laughing. A high-pitched, hyena-like sound. Chills race over my entire body.
Before I can ask why she’s laughing, a call comes through.
It’s Argos. “You okay?”
“We’re in a blackout.” I head to the lights and flip the switch. Nothing.
“I see that. Security system’s offline.”
“Sentries?” We posted guards around the perimeter. Not Fraternitas, but former Tier One operatives from a security firm we contract with. Sounds of gunfire crackle outside.
“Shots fired,” I shout. I race to Bella. I’ve got to get her somewhere safe. She’s wearing a ballgown, so I dip and toss her over my shoulder.
“Kaiser, wait—” She thumps on my back, but I ignore her and hustle out of the room and down the stairs.
“I’ve got Bella. We’re headed to the saferoom.”
“Backup’s en route. Stay on the line.”
“Copy.” I enter the safe room and hit the code to secure it. Only after the steel locks set with a muffled click do I set Bella down.
“We’re under attack,” I tell her.
She backs away, straightening her gown. “I can tell. They didn’t take long, did they?”
“You think it’s the Vesuvios.”
“I know it.” Her smile is pure evil.
Chills run up and down my arms. My heart speeds up, knowing I’m in close contact with a deadly predator. “You planned it this way.”
“I did,” she giggles. She’s giddy. “I wanted them to come for me.”
Panic flares through me. I can’t let her face the Vesuvios alone. They only understand brute force.
Fortunately, I’m an expert in brute force.
I turn to the screen on the wall. It looks like Argos has gotten the security system back online. On screen, shadowy figures approach the house. “You need to stay here in the safe room.”
“Excuse me?” She looks outraged.
“I need you to stay safe. I can’t focus on fighting if I’m worried about you.”
“But—”
“You can obey me, or I can tie you up. Those are your options.”
“Fine,” she mutters, seething. Her dark eyes glitter with dangerous light. “But it’s not fair. This is my fight. I’m going to kill them all.”
“Not if I kill them first.”