Chapter Thirteen #2
She laughed in a slow and cruel way and never once broke eye contact, then she reached for her phone and hit play on a video.
No sound came with the footage, but the image was just enough to make everything unmistakable.
She was on a bed with her legs spread, the sheets rumpled beneath her, the room unmistakably intimate.
Konflict stood there with a towel wrapped low around his waist while Eleana touched herself, eyes on Konflict before she stood and ripped the towel away, pressing herself against him.
The video ended there, unfinished, but it had already done its damage.
Rage tore through me in a violent surge, acid burning straight through my chest. My throat tightened until it felt impossible to breathe.
I knew he’d been with her, but seeing it broke something within me.
I had no right to be jealous, not after I fucked another man myself, but that didn’t stop the anger or the urge to kill this bitch.
She held my gaze without blinking.
“I’ll save you the rest. Just know he fucked me good.
Yesterday. If you think something’s still possible between you, wake up.
Konflict hates you. He’s counting down the days until he can put you down.
Don’t be stupid, take my offer. It’s all you’ve got.
And trust me or not, even though I want you gone sooner rather than later, I’m doing this because I’m generous and don’t wish for you to end up six feet in the ground. ”
My face emptied of all expression as I rose from my chair and crossed the room with steady steps.
I stopped at my safe, punched in the code without hesitation, and pulled out my Glock.
I’d never fired it before, never needed to, but I’d kept it close since that argument with Viking.
Just in case someone wanted to try me again.
Kate had always said a woman in our world had to know how to pull the trigger when the moment came.
I turned, leveled the gun, and without a second of doubt, put a bullet in Eleana’s shoulder.
The shot was clean, tearing through flesh, smashing into the wall behind her.
She screamed, the sound ripping through the office, every trace of arrogance she had draining from her face and leaving nothing but terror behind.
She clutched her shoulder where blood spilled freely, her eyes filling as her body began to shake uncontrollably. I stepped closer with the Glock still in my hand and locked my gaze on hers, making sure she saw it clearly. There was no fear in me.
“I didn’t miss,” I said. “I never miss. My husband’s mother taught me how to shoot, drilled me for years. Every time she set up a target, I hit exactly where she told me to aim.”
I leaned in until my face was inches from hers and never broke eye contact.
“She used to say if I ever got tired of being the cute little princess everyone saw, I’d make a damn good sniper.
So listen up, Eleana, next time I pull this trigger, the bullet goes between your eyes.
And after that, I’ll cut your pussy off and have it delivered to my husband, since he seems to appreciate it.
The rest of you will go back to your family in a box.
Because, honey, I’m not as cute as you think I am.
Now pick your ass up and get out of my office before my finger slips on a second shot. ”
My tone never wavered and my eyes stayed empty. She understood every word.
She scrambled for her bag, grabbed the envelope, and staggered toward the door, blood soaking through her jacket as her confidence bled out with it. She turned back once, desperation forcing one last attempt at a threat.
“You just made a huge mistake, Serenity Veylor. You don’t touch a member of the Big Six. My family won’t let this go.” Her voice shook.
I smiled.
“Tell Konflict he better kill me quick when this marriage ends. Because if he doesn’t, I’ll be the one finishing this war, and you’d better believe I’ll make sure you’re a beautiful little casualty I drag down with me.”
The fear on her face was the last thing I saw before she stumbled out. Moments later, Kalash and Valery rushed into the office, the smell of gunpowder still hanging heavily in the air.
“What the hell was that about?” Valery demanded.
I ignored her and turned to Kalash instead.
“I guess you’ll be reporting this to your boss, right?
Tell him if his whore ever steps foot in my casino again, I’ll kill her.
And since I’m still a Korven, that’ll put him at war with the Sawyer’s.
I’d love to see what Emberwick looks like when Konflict Korven has to defend a Veylor because the code demands it. ”
My jaw stayed set and my voice was nothing but ice.
Kalash just nodded, reading the threat for what it was. Valery looked worried, but I didn’t have time to explain a damn thing. I just needed to get out of there.
“Valery, take over,” I ordered. I grabbed my bag, slid my Glock inside, and walked out of the casino with fury boiling under my skin.
I needed to get the hell away and breathe. Seeing those images of Konflict, his perfect naked body pressed up against Eleana, made me want to destroy something. I wanted to punish him. I wanted to hurt him so badly.
When I got to the Korven estate, I was hit with the sight of white flowers everywhere—dozens of bouquets filling the living room, every corner suffocated with them.
“What’s all this?” I snapped, barely hiding my irritation.
“The florist dropped them off earlier,” one of the maids answered, holding out a small card.
I snatched it up, unfolded it, and read the name: Konflict Korven. My rage spiked, blood pounding in my temples. I knew what those flowers meant. He knew what they meant. Sending me a dozen of them was a message—one that made me want to kill him even more than seeing Eleana in that video.
I needed to calm down. I needed to fuck.
I grabbed my phone and called Vixen. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.
Bring Knox. Now.” I hung up before she could answer, threw on new clothes, and drove straight out.
Vixen met me at the door to tell me Knox wasn’t there yet. That pissed me off even more.
“Send him to me as soon as he arrives,” I demanded.
She nodded then led me to the room I wanted and told me to get ready. I took a bath, trying to let the heat settle my nerves, but it didn’t work. All I could see was Eleana Sawyer, Konflict’s naked body, those goddamn flowers.
I heard him enter as I stepped out of the bath. I changed into the outfit I’d told Vixen to prep—a black leather bodysuit, mask, whip, high heels, gloves. I didn’t look innocent anymore and when I walked into the room, Knox’s stunned look told me he hadn’t expected it either.
I stalked toward him. “Undress,” I commanded, eyes never leaving his.
He obeyed without a word, stripping down to his boxers, then letting his dick spring free.
“Sit. Down.” I pointed to the bed.
He obeyed, curiosity and hunger filling his eyes. I walked over, grabbed the cuff on the table stand and cuffed his wrists.
“What’s all this about, Venus?” he asked.
I raised my hand and whipped his chest, hard.
“Fuuuuckkkk” he screamed, surprised by the action.
I had never done that before and never thought I’d enjoy it this much.
Cuffing the man I desired, whipping him, holding him at my mercy—there was a power in it I never knew I wanted.
I craved using him for my own pleasure. I needed him to understand that I was in control, and I fully intended to torture him until the pleasure I gave him burned him alive.
I wanted to destroy him in the palm of my hand, then bring him back to life with ecstasy.
I wanted to dominate him, direct him completely, no resistance, no escape.
I grabbed his face and leaned in close, my mouth right by his ear.
“First of all, you shut the fuck up unless I tell you to speak. Second, I want you to suffer, Konflict. I want to see you cry and beg while I fuck you. So you never forget my name. Between the pain and the pleasure I’ll give you tonight, you’ll remember fucking Eleana Sawyer and sending me funeral flowers was the worst goddamn move of your life. ” I let go of his face.
“What?” Knox looked lost, but I didn’t care to explain.
He’d always wanted me to call him Konflict.
Tonight, that’s all he’d get. Because I wanted that.
I wanted to have Konflict cuffed, submitted to my desire, and obedient to every torturous pain I was going to make him endure.
I wanted him to taste my rage. To feel it until he begged for mercy and broke completely; until I decided when and if I would ever let him go.
My hand reached down and wrapped around his balls hard, squeezing till he screamed.
“Ahhh—fuck!”
“I said you talk when I tell you to. And tonight, you call me goddess. Nothing else. Do you hear me, Konflict?”
He grimaced in pain, breathing hard, but held my gaze. “Yes, goddess. I hear you…”
“Good boy.”