Chapter 16
Sixteen
N erine
A little before nine in the evening, and almost forty-eight hours after the blowup that caused Andraius’s house arrest, I tightened the belt of my robe and pushed open the false wall accessing the library. I craved some time alone, to read, to relax, and to not have a single male around me watching my every fucking move.
With all the traitors who supported Andriaus still unidentified, I understood the high-alert situation we were under. But Xander and Theo were being a bit ridiculous to want to know every detail of my schedule, even when I went to the bathroom.
Telling them they were going overboard only made them more annoyingly underfoot with them stepping in to be my shadows.
Right now, I was desperate for a change of scenery. It would allow me to settle my nerves and think rationally.
Fucking men.
Yeah, my emotions continued to run the gamut of volcanic rage, depressive sadness, and complete numbness.
Andraius had spent the last two days behaving almost like a model prisoner. Which meant he was up to something.
Everyone knew it, especially Xander, Theo, and me.
When I told Theo to have extra surveillance on Andraius’s sector of the house, he grinned and made some comment about me already taking my position as the Angelos. But was I truly?
I hated the fact Theo and Xander had been right. I’d allowed myself to live in my victimhood. But over the last few months, I’d grown stronger and now I would decide what was best for me, my sisters, and my mother.
Theo and Xander wanted me to fight for the family to achieve the results they craved, become the true Angelos.
But would I ever actually be the true Angelos when there were two men who already ran the organization?
I refused to stand as a figurehead only or live under the subjugation of any man again.
This wasn’t a pity party for me but an acknowledgment of the truth. The only way to prove power was to demonstrate strength.
My confidence in my abilities continued to grow. However, fighting off another takeover or coup wasn’t something I was sure I had the knowledge to battle.
Through the walls, echoes of movement told me chaos hummed in the house. Soldiers had taken sides, and plans were in the works to see who came out on top.
I had no doubt those who aligned themselves with Andraius waited for an order or sign from him to move. Or they may have decided to abandon ship and look for an opportunity to escape.
The volatility in the air felt thick.
Yeah, the smartest thing to do was to turn back and stay in my room. Where I knew things were secure and no one could reach me.
But then I’d let everything inside me fester into an atomic bomb level of insanity instead of channeling it into something productive. Like the homework I needed to finish for Lilly.
Considering the situation going on in my world, she’d let me pass on my assignments, but at least this gave me an excuse for leaving my room if my wardens caught me.
Frowning, I entered the room and closed the panel to keep the passageway chill from seeping into the warm library. There was no point in locking it since I’d sealed all other entry points from my section of the house and the library.
And just in case anyone decided to annoy me tonight, I had my handy-dandy blade strapped to my thigh.
Keeping a weapon attached to my body that was sharp enough to split a hair in two was definitely a smart idea considering the past few days. It would also come in handy if Theo or Xander decided to give me another lecture. A slice to their shoulder or neck might encourage them to stay away from me.
For a fraction of a second, the thought of licking a drop of blood from Xander’s and Theo’s necks sent a shockwave of need and arousal coursing deep into my core.
What the ever-loving fuck?
The turmoil and rage of my life were getting to me.
I grabbed my laptop and took a seat behind my desk.
I set my hands over my abdomen as tremors shook my body. I’d only ever experienced blood once during sex, and it had destroyed a piece of me, left me nearly broken, and I still bore the scars of it.
I’d cover the scars up one day. Have skilled tattoo artists transform them into something beautiful.
No, covering them up meant Andraius won. I would never let the bastard win.
I still wanted a tattoo—a specific one designed by two people long ago. I’d hidden the design away in my childhood bedroom.
I guess it wouldn’t happen, though. Because the only person I’d allow to put it on my body was Xander.
He used to ink everyone when we were younger. Art came naturally to him, and somehow it had veered into tattoos.
“If this enforcer thing doesn’t work out, I could always open a chain of tattoo shops. I’m sure Theios Peter would lend me the seed money.”
“He knows how talented you are. He’d give it to you now. This doesn’t have to be a backup plan.”
“Nah, I like punching people too much. Just promise I’ll get to ink you first.”
I couldn’t help but smile thinking of the memory. I was a senior in high school then. My classmates loved to tease me and tell me I was fascinated with my too-old-for-me, college-aged bodyguards. Though none of them had a clue I was in a relationship with them.
That was such an innocent time for us. Our biggest worry back then was how we’d eventually break the news about the three of us to our families and the fallout we may face afterward.
Lifting the lid to my computer, I decided to focus and finish my assignments for the lady bosses. The whole process of logging into their system took as long as the homework. The only things they left out of the security protocols were a blood sample and a retinal scan.
Once in the network, I spent the next hour working through the modules to acquire various data packets from locations Lilly had set as my targets.
When I acquired the data drives, she wanted me to relocate them onto a secure network while still connected to the home server. Next, the instructions said to log in using the information provided and review the contents.
As I scanned down the screen, my hands shook. Lilly hadn’t been training me. She fucking had me hacking.
Oh my God. I’d just broken into a Bahamian bank’s security infrastructure.
My pulse drummed into my head, and dizziness filled me. That bitch. Was she trying to put a bigger target on my head than the one already sitting on it?
As I readied to close the document, my eyes caught an image of my signature. But it wasn’t my signature.
Oh, no fucking way. It was forged.
That rat bastard. He was embezzling money from the family and pinning it on me.
Motherfucker.
I clenched my jaw and decided to use those fucking hacker skills to manipulate the documents, removing any trace of my identity. I also wired the funds into a Swiss account, which would direct wire into multiple holding accounts I’d created based on Papa’s directions.
When the time came, all the money would return to the family. But until then, this asshole I married wouldn’t get a penny.
I rubbed the bridge of my nose as a throbbing ignited in my head.
Lilly knew about all of this and had never told me.
Why the hell not?
Then it hit me.
She wanted me to learn to take care of myself.
Theo’s words about living as a victim and being a child echoed in my mind.
All of these people had come into my life to help me, seeing things about me I couldn’t. I fought Andraius out of the sheer fact that I’d given up and, not because I wanted to actually fight him and take back my life.
Okay. I’d shouted my demand for a divorce. I’d better follow through with it. To hell with the event a few days from now.
I’d go alone. Nyx would probably laugh out loud and clap.
At that moment, a chat window popped up on my screen.
LILLY: Stop stalling and finish up. You’re three minutes past the scheduled finish time.
ME: I wasn’t aware this was a timed assignment or THAT IT WASN’T A SIMULATION!!!!!!!!
LILLY: Don’t shout at me, young lady!!! I will kick your ass the next time I see you.
ME: Apologies, your royal hackerness.
LILLY: Finish the job. You left one spot with your name on it. Clean it out. I’ll handle the rest.
ME: Should I learn to do all of it?
LILLY: What I’m about to do is highly illegal.
ME: More than what I did?
LILLY: You have no idea. Plus, these skills take years to master, and people like you hire people like me to do the jobs for you.
ME: I’ll remember to keep you on retainer.
LILLY: Smart woman.
I closed the window and traced back through the banking system to find where I missed the connection to me, cleared it, and linked it to Andraius. Once I backed out of all the systems, I enacted the security firewall for my computer and shut it down.
Only someone with Lilly’s skill level could break into this thing.
Now for a few hours of relaxation and reading. Tomorrow, I’d have more than my share of problems to deal with, especially when my beloved husband discovered his accounts emptied.
A chill slid up my spine. Maybe I should have just removed any connection to me and left the money.
No. I couldn’t second-guess myself. I’d made the right decision. It wasn’t Andraius’s money in the first place. It belonged to the family.
The uneasiness in my stomach continued to grow.
I needed to tell Theo and Xander what I’d done.
Fuck. They were at a late-night meeting off property.
I had to keep it together. I had to remember I was safe here. Andraius was on the other side of the compound with around-the-clock guards.
Hell, I had around-the-clock guards.
Shit, that wasn’t a good example. Mine hadn’t a clue where the fuck I was at the moment.
Rising to my feet, I moved to pick up the book I’d started a few days ago. I’d occupy myself with some mindless reading.
I thumbed through the pages, opening it to where I last stopped, and set it on the side table near my favorite sofa.
As I reached to the side to grab my blanket, a hand fisted my hair, hurling me back, and a forearm locked around my throat.
“I learned a secret of yours today. This house is full of passageways. I found one near the fireplace in the room you jailed me inside.” His disgusting breath wafted over me. “It led across the house to the kitchen. Then I had three choices. Lucky me, on the first try I found the library.”
I tried my hardest to remain calm, even though the barest amount of air passed into my lungs with how tightly Andraius held my throat. I grasped at his arm, tugging and scratching.
I’d forgotten about the connecting hallways from the other side of the house. Why hadn’t I checked all the doors? I was so stupid, thinking I was safe and letting my guard down.
I was never safe. How many times would I have to learn this lesson?
“Where is it?”
I couldn’t speak, the pressure on my neck too much to bear.
“Answer me, dammit.” He jostled my head, digging his nails into my scalp.
“A—air,” I gasped.
He eased up, and the sudden burst of oxygen forced me to cough as tears burned my eyes.
“Who did you hire to take the money?”
“What are you talking about?”
He turned me, freeing me from his brutal grasp of my hair, and then shoved me against a table, pushing me back before he pinned me down by my neck.
“I know my money is gone. In this day and age, did you think I wouldn’t get an alert the second money left my account?”
That shouldn’t be possible—they’d confiscated his phone and computer.
We shouldn’t have been so trusting with all the guards. Now it was too late.
“How could I do anything while reading a book in the library?”
“Don’t play dumb with me. I know you took your father’s money and hid it. And I know you stole my money.”
“Stole? Are you accusing me of stealing your money? You are out of your mind. How can I steal money that was never yours to begin with?”
His eyes grew darker and angrier. “You did take it. Where is it?”
He jerked me forward with the front of my robe and dragged me to the desk. “Where is your computer? I know it’s in here. Transfer the money back this instant.”
The harsh movement caused my nightgown to catch against the sheath of the blade I’d strapped to my thigh.
What was I doing? I’d trained for months to protect myself. Why was I letting this man toss me around and abuse me?
Fuck. This. Shit.
If he killed me tonight, it wouldn’t be because I refused to fight him tooth and nail. I’d give him some wounds I hoped and prayed to God that he never healed from.
I remained in place, staring at him, an inferno of hate bubbling inside me.
“No.”
“What did you say?”
“You heard me. I am not now or ever giving you anything that belongs to my family.”
He yanked me against him. “I am going to enjoy killing you. What you saw in the Caves isn’t even close to what I plan to do to you.”
“Then you definitely won’t get anything. I’ve made sure of it.”
“I will just marry one of the twins. They turned eighteen two months ago.”
“Good luck with that. According to Mama, Christina is dating the heir to the Amici Familia. If I die, she gets everything since she is considered the eldest. Even if it is by a few minutes. That’s right. My sister broke your rules about staying away from syndicate families.”
“You believe that you’re so smart. Remember, I don’t need you conscious to access your eggs. People live with head injuries for years. Don’t you keep up with the news?”
I stepped back, seeing the manic gleam in his dark eye. He couldn’t be serious.
“You will never get a single child from me. I will never allow it.”
“How can you contest it if you can’t speak?” He charged for me, and on instinct, I crouched, rolling to the side.
Andraius grabbed my robe, and I let him remove it from my body. As I jerked my arms free, I fell forward and tried to crawl away as fast as possible, but he grabbed my ankle and kicked me.
Pain shot through my leg, taking all the breath from my lungs. I countered with my other foot, kicking him in the stomach as hard as I could manage.
“You bitch.” He stumbled backward, and I managed to slide to my side.
Pulling the blade from the scabbard on my thigh, I held it hidden behind me. I would not let this bastard win. I refused to let this fucker get any piece of me.
One way or another, this was over.
My death or his. Fuck him. Fuck this whole situation. Fuck fate.
“All you had to do was behave. Be a good wife like Drakos has.”
I panted. “Are you kidding me? She’s insane, and you don’t even know it.”
“You’re jealous. Now I will teach you a lesson and take back this family.” He stormed in my direction as if he had no worries about overpowering me.
And in the past, it had been true.
But not anymore, motherfucker.
When Andraius was within reach of me, I pivoted and jabbed upward. The impact of my blade slicing into flesh reverberated into my wrist, forcing me to release the handle.
A gurgled cry escaped his lips as shock and rage glazed his eyes.
“You’ll pay for this.” He stumbled forward with outstretched hands, ready to grab onto me.
I barely scrambled out of the way of his fingers grazing my shoulder and slammed into one of the giant bookshelves in the back of the room. Pain exploded on the side of my head, making it almost impossible to see.
Through blurry eyes, I searched the area around me for anything I could use as a weapon.
This couldn’t be happening. I hadn’t fought this hard for it to end like this.
I willed my vision to clear. Slowly, things came into focus, and I found Andraius desperately trying to pull the hilt of the blade free of his body.
I should stay quiet, should let him speed up his demise, but I opened my mouth. “The blade is the only thing stemming your blood loss. Pulling it out is like popping a cork.”
“Shut up,” he gritted out. “You want me dead. Why would I listen to you?”
“You die either way. I don’t care.”
“I will use this blade to cut your tongue out.” Andraius jerked the blade free, not realizing he’d caused more damage to himself than I’d done with my initial stab.
Blood oozed from his belly, and he tipped over, landing on the floor. I couldn’t help but watch him stare off into the distance, gasping and wheezing as the life slowly drained from his body.
My attention shifted to my hands and the deep red of Andraius’s blood covering them. A sense of trepidation and elation filled me.
I finally did it. I finally killed him.