Chapter 19
Nineteen
A vra
A week after what I liked to call the elimination at the vineyard, I waited for Cali outside a new modern art gallery. She insisted that I would surely find a piece that Eli and I could agree on for the dining room.
I doubted her optimism. However, Eli and I had decided to meet here after he finished his business with his chiefs.
My phone buzzed with a text from Cali.
Cali: I am running late. Be there in a few minutes.
“A few,” I muttered and shook my head.
In Cali terms, that could mean anywhere between five and fifty. I might as well check out the pieces on my own for a “few” minutes.
I smiled to myself as I approached the door to the gallery and then frowned as my security lead, Besa, pushed open the door.
“I can go in without assistance. Eli is going overboard with this.”
Besa shrugged. “We have our orders. He doesn’t want you straining your arm until the doctor says you have completely recovered.”
“It’s a door. This is annoying.”
No matter what Eli believed, my arm worked perfectly well, and outside of healing skin, there was nothing amiss. An occasional muscle twitch was part of the process of things knitting together. It wasn’t as if the bullet hit anything vital.
Pello had barely grazed my arm. The idiot needed glasses. He shot like stormtroopers used their blasters—everywhere but at the target.
My phone dinged again.
Eli: Stop giving Besa a hard time.
Me: I know he didn’t rat on me. He’s a Vitalis. How do you know I did anything to him?
Eli: I know you. And let me correct you. Besa is a Xenos with Vitalis ties.
The hell he was.
Eli: Stay calm. We can fight and fuck about it later.
Me: I hate you.
Eli: Do you?
I sighed. What I felt for Eli was nowhere in the vicinity of hate.
Me: No .
Eli: That’s what I thought.
Me: Finish up and come find me so we can argue about the proper aesthetics for our dining room.
Eli: I’ll be there shortly.
I tucked my mobile back in my handbag and strolled through the blown glass section. I came across a beautiful piece resembling flowers at one angle and ocean waves at another. It was perfect for Eli’s office.
What the fuck was I doing?
Was I looking at art for a home I shared with a husband?
Me. Avra Maria Vitalis.
How was this my reality?
And why wasn’t I upset about it?
If it had stayed mind-consuming, livewire attraction and sex, I wouldn’t have accepted Eli into my circle as my family.
There were genuine emotions between us, a strong connection. We trusted each other in a way I never thought possible. I wasn’t sure when it had happened or precisely why. He was the only one, aside from my sisters and Vik, who knew how we maintained the Vitalis fortune and continued to grow the family influence. It felt natural to share with him, and he reciprocated in kind. We even discussed future plans for managing the territories, details that I’d never shared with anyone, not even Vik or my sisters.
We’d become a partnership, and I knew without a doubt that he would never betray me. We fought still, but in unimportant ways that would always happen when two headstrong people butted heads .
I touched the brilliantly colored glass and pulled my fingers away, almost as if it had burned me.
I felt the emotions in the piece and would buy it.
The fire that created this sculpture burned hot and frightening, exactly the same way my emotions whirled inside me. They were too big, too heavy, molten, and I feared naming them.
Was it too soon? Could I really feel this much? What was happening to me? For the first time in my life, something intimidated me.
I pushed those thoughts back, blinking a few times.
I had to snap out of this. Cali would notice my mood in an instant, and so would Eli. Those two had a way of reading me when no others could.
I blew out a deep breath and glanced around me. Besa nodded as he kept a discreet distance in the background, pretending to admire a painting.
No, something wasn’t right. A prickling sensation skittered along the back of my neck like eyes other than my security’s were on me.
Knowing never to question my instincts, I took a path closer to Besa and his men. I paused in front of a bicycle shaped out of old spoons. It was whimsical and amusing.
At the same time, a woman approached to study the piece. I’d noticed her earlier in passing but thought nothing of it. She tilted her head side to side and expelled little sighs and murmurs as though she were some great art critic.
God, if only Cali was here. She wouldn’t keep her mouth shut about this one. Our experiences with “art connoisseurs” in Prague were too many to count. We’d turned it into a game to pick out those who truly enjoyed art versus the fakers.
Go ahead, lady. The piece isn’t something I’d buy. I’ll stick to the glass.
I barely finished my snarky thought when she moved closer, stepping too near for comfort. Besa shifted as if to intervene, but I shook my head.
I couldn’t be in danger here , in public, in the daylight. Even if I were, I could handle it.
Deciding to be just as rude, I stared at her, taking her in, giving her my, as Laya called it, “bitch face.”
If she wanted something from me, she should come out and say so. I turned, facing her without changing my expression. At first glance, something seemed familiar about her, but no name or specific memory came to mind.
She was a natural beauty, years younger than me, closer to Laya’s age, with long glossy locks of a light chestnut. She wore a tailored black jumpsuit, accentuating a curvy, toned body. Her eyes were nearly black and held no kindness or feeling.
It was apparent she didn’t like me.
Something about her looked familiar. Perhaps I’d passed her in town, but nothing came to me. I couldn’t place her.
“I’m Francesca,” she stated as if I should know her.
Was she a local celebrity? Cali may know, or Laya.
When I gave her no reaction other than a head nod, a flash of irritation crossed her face before she schooled it away.
“Isn’t it a lovely design?” she asked, annoyed. She gestured at the artwork, and I nodded again. “Such a masterpiece. All that blue. The incorporation of those tones with the theme…”
The theme of what? It is a fucking bike made out of spoons sitting on a blue tablecloth. What the hell are you talking about?
I remained quiet, letting her ramble about the piece. None of what she said matched the description provided by the artist, an environmentalist aiming to highlight the waste humans leave behind in the world.
After a few minutes, she asked, “I’m sorry, what was your name again?”
“I didn’t say.” I glanced at her. “Then again, you already know it.”
A crease formed between her perfectly arched brows. “You shouldn’t have come back.”
“Do I know you?” I asked in a tone one used with an errant child. “Did we meet in a different life? Let me guess, we weren’t friends.”
“The Vitalis name died fifteen years ago and needs to stay that way.” The venom in her words made me wonder if her hatred came from last week’s elimination.
“It never died. It’s time to relearn local history.” I kept my face an emotionless mask, and my focus trained on her.
The best way to poke at an unhinged being was to get them to act the fool.
She jabbed her finger at my face. “Mark my words, you and your sisters will regret returning.”
Fire burned under my skin, molten and ready to scorch. She could threaten me all she wanted, but not my sisters. I’d do it if it meant buying every piece in this gallery as I destroyed that pretty face.
The muscles in my hands quivered, ready to grab her hair and smash it into the masterpiece of blue.
“Listen, Francesca. Word to the wise. Stay out of matters that don’t concern you,” I warned. “I’m one enemy you can’t afford to make.”
“It does concern me.” She put her face in my space, clenching her teeth. “Elias is an idiot to downgrade to a woman like you.”
Downgrade?
Definitely a former lover. All of this because he left her?
“Meaning?” I ordered.
“Exactly what I said. You have a name tied to an old family, nothing more. The influence and connections it had are long gone. You’re old, worn out, and unremarkable. Walking away from the power I brought was a huge mistake.”
Well now.
Vik had mentioned lovers, and considering I wasn’t an innocent, I couldn’t care less about who Eli had banged in the past.
Yes, Eli knew how to fuck the hell out of a woman and leave her begging for more, but this level of crazy? Eli sure knew how to pick them.
What the hell was I talking about? According to Cali and Laya, my past choices weren’t much better.
I studied Francesca, giving her no reaction to the barbs. People like her hated when the targets of their ire refused to engage.
She fidgeted, and her face flushed. That’s when I remembered where I’d seen her before—at my wedding. I hadn’t taken much notice outside of the fact Cali had pointed out a brunette who scowled at me every time she glanced in my direction.
Everyone’s eyes were on me and my sisters that day, so curious and dirty looks were par for the course.
“Used up,” she repeated. “Elias will tire of you.”
I sighed. Eli’s stance on fidelity was well-known. There wasn’t a single speck in my soul that believed he’d cheat on me. Plus, he knew I’d cut his dick off if he thought about it.
“He’ll lose interest. I promise you. He’ll want someone young. Someone fun.”
I wanted to say it was the fact she was young and couldn’t see this was a losing fight, a one-sided one at best, but there had to be more. But honestly, I was over it.
Pursing my lips, I said, “Are you done? This tantrum is boring.”
Turning, I nodded to Besa and walked toward the front of the gallery.
“You don’t believe me?” She hurried after me. “I know him. I know how to please him. I know how to drive him crazy and make him come back for more.”
Cali would get an earful for standing me up and making me endure this insanity.
And where the fuck was Eli? I’d rather he handle this fucked-up twat .
I continued to ignore her as I stepped out onto the street. Besa blocked Francesca’s way.
“Stand back,” Besa ordered as two other guards positioned around me. “You need to leave Mrs. Xenos alone.”
“I’m only speaking the truth.”
A headache began to brew at my temples, and I stared at my waiting car. I thought of something Vik had said before we left Prague.
“Your enemies come as men and women. Never forget this. Be prepared to exact your power wherever necessary. Sometimes, it’s in private, and at others, you will make a public lesson of them.”
My hands shook. It was time to shut this gasbag down.
I returned to where the three men blocked Francesca from following me. “Step aside, gentlemen.”
None of them moved.
“Xenos will discipline us if anything happens to you,” Besa stated.
“Get out of my way.”
Reluctantly, they all moved but stayed nearby.
“Look, Francesca. I have nothing against you, so I suggest you leave me alone. I’m giving you this second and last warning. Your loud display does you no service. It makes you look desperate. You are above this. Get yourself together.”
She clenched her jaw. “I’m not a child. Don’t talk to me like one. Your name doesn’t give you power in this city. All Vitalis are scum.”
And my patience with this brat was over.
“You know my family name and background enough to call me scum. That’s power in itself. In contrast, I don’t know or care to know yours. You are nothing to me and less to my husband. Come near me again, and I will retaliate.”
Fucking hell.
I dismissed the altercation and pivoted to walk away. Before I could get far, a piercing scream echoed out, and a body hit me from behind, knocking me down. Francesca grabbed my throat. I shifted to the side, fast enough to break her grip.
With my elbow, I clocked her on the side of the head and then clutched her neck in the way she had attempted to get mine. I shoved her to the ground, squeezing her airway, and held her in place with my knee on her chest.
“Attacking anyone when their back is turned makes you the scum. I can kill you with a small twist of my wrist.”
Whimpers and moans escaped Francesca’s lips, and tears streamed from her eyes, but they still blazed with hatred.
“I could let you live. Show Vitalis mercy if you don’t speak of my family again. This includes Elias.” I eased my hold and leaned in. “But we know that isn’t possible. You’ve made me your enemy when I don’t know you.”
She croaked out, “You will die.”
“Not before you.” Grasping her throat with one hand and the back of her neck with the other, I broke it, giving no fucks that I’d killed someone in public.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Why would you do that? We were here,” Besa said as I stepped away from Francesca’s body.
“He’s going to kill us.” He stared at me with sheer panic, and then the expression on his face changed to fear as he saw Eli. “I swear it happened within seconds. She does what she wants. You know this.”
“Yes, I know. Have it cleaned up as if this never happened. Make sure to wipe all surveillance.”
Eli approached, taking my hands in his, and then tilted my neck to examine the marks. He turned his attention to Francesca, sprawled on the sidewalk, and fury lit his gaze.
“I will never allow anyone to threaten or attack me and get away with it again.”
He nodded, brushed his lips against my forehead, and touched my head against his chin. “That’s what a blood queen does.”