Chapter Forty-One
My throat bobs as I swallow hard, steeling myself when I pull the door to Threads open. I knew I recognized the address. I’ve been here a total of two times since the incident. But each time, the familiar space with the beautiful aesthetic that Tabatha has created has welcomed me inside. The first time my experience was shrouded in a cloud of evil. My breath hitches as I step into the space and find that same evil standing next to my dad with his arm wrapped tightly around her waist. He looks better than he should, given how badly I beat him the last time we saw his face.
I take a step toward the woman who tried her damnedest to break me all those months ago. Her appearance hasn’t changed much, apart from the way her hair is styled, now the platinum blond hair cascades in waves over her shoulders. However, there is a change she’s not aware of which I’m reveling in. She doesn’t realize I’m no longer the broken girl who was afraid of her own shadow. Now I’m a woman who will not hesitate to end someone who tries to hurt the people she loves.
“Janelle?” Her name holds a thousand questions.
The woman stares at me with a vile grin.
“You don’t recognize Mommy, dear?” Her voice is laced with a fake sweetness that leaves my skin crawling.
My jaw drops to the ground, burrowing itself all the way to China. That’s how shocked this revelation has made me.
“Sorry, what? I thought he killed you?” I shake my head and glance around her to find my father smirking like he’s won the lottery.
Janelle meanders closer to me and slowly circles me like a predator who is ready to pounce on its prey.
“You see, I was never interested in being a mother.” She admits as she looks me up and down. Her critical gaze looking for anything to taunt me with. “Daddy dearest over here begged me to go through with the pregnancy and said he’d take care of you. However, when he found out that you were going to be a girl, he couldn’t bear to announce your existence to the world. Shame and all that misogynistic bullshit that comes with his lifestyle.” Her explanation leaves me speechless.
My eyes gleam with unshed tears as I absorb everything this woman is sharing. I never thought that someone could be as evil as Mateo Barone. Fuck me, was I wrong.
“I asked him to spread the story that we both died during childbirth. He can bury you and I’d disappear. It wasn’t until I returned with my partner to address some concerns about our business arrangement with Mateo that I found out you were still alive. He asked for my help when the Ludovico shithead took possession of you which is why I opted to get a job here with ‘ Auntie Tabs’,” Janelle mocks the relationship Giovanni has with Tabatha, the owner of Threads, with air quotes. “You’d expect that their closeness would have been held under wraps, but no. It was easy to find after some cyber sleuthing. His mother was here almost daily for a visit until you arrived at their home.”
She continues her trail around my still frame as she proceeds with the monologue she so clearly has been dying to have since she last saw me.
“My idea to abduct the Ludovico kid for my own vengeance, given how rudely he treated me the last time I saw you, was supposed to end with a trade for you. Not with this.” She scoffs as she gestures to my dad who is still leaning against the counter. “I never expected when I ran out to grab lunch that I’d return to the mess you left.” She stops moving and stands still with her eyes trained on me, a wide grin spread across her face. “That’s when I decided I needed to make my existence known.”
I let out a shaky breath as I absorb so much new information.
“Had that shithead’s grandfather,” she snarls as she points over my shoulder. I quickly glance to see Giovanni cautiously walking forward with a gun pointed at Janelle. “Had his grandfather not had the gambling problem he did, I never would have had to step a foot back in this god forsaken town.” She snarls.
Giovanni stands close enough that I can see the confused expression on his face now. Janelle snorts before she continues, her attention entirely on him now.
“Your grandfather made so many bets with my partner over the past few years he was about to lose everything before we brought the opportunity to Mateo.” Her confession seems to spark something in him which she hasn’t realized because she continues to run her damn mouth. “I knew he would be a good lap dog and do as he was told. Helping us get the drugs into the city so that we could both make money. It was my way of apologizing for making him kill his daughter, only color me surprised when I find out that she’s alive and well enough to be used as a bargaining chip. Or alive at least. Though, you do look a little better than the last time I was forced to look at you.”
I roll my neck to loosen the tight muscles her yammering has caused. When she turns back to me, I offer my most innocent smile which seems to infuriate her enough to approach me. Before she has a chance to continue her speech, I do what I should have done before she began talking. I pull the gun I grabbed from the armory in the gym and lift it in front of me.
Janelle’s eyes go wide just as I squeeze the trigger. A loud shot sounds and reverberates through the space. Thankfully the secret practices I’ve been having with Michael have paid off because my aim is true and hits right between the eyes.
“You talk too much.” I groan and roll my eyes as she falls to the ground.