Chapter 32
32
KNOX
“ S o which one of you fucked the waitress?” Eliza asks, peeking over the top of the book in her hands.
We’re lounging in the study, rain pounding against the oversized window panes as a storm rages outside. There’s a fire in the hearth to chase away the chill, and my pussy-whipped brother allowed Eliza to bring the dogs inside, the two of them curled at her feet as she rests sideways against the arm of the leather sofa opposite me. Roman is positioned on the couch across from us, and at her question, he lowers his own book with a frown.
“When?”
“That first dinner with Anton and Cherie,” she clarifies.
My brother cuts me a glare, stress tightening his jaw. “You told her I fucked the waitress?” he grits out.
I shrug innocently, fighting back a smirk. How was I to know he hadn’t fucked her?
Fine , I was almost positive he didn’t , since I actually know the man, but I couldn’t be sure he wasn’t playing his own game, and far be it for me to interfere if he was. He knows better than to tread on my games, so I was simply paying him the same courtesy.
Roman swings his gaze back over to Eliza. “I didn’t fuck the waitress,” he deadpans.
“You didn’t?” she asks, surprise coloring her features as her brows shoot up to her hairline. “But that’s obviously why she invited you to the wine cellar, and you were gone for a while…”
“To select a decent bottle,” he scoffs. “You think I’m that easily seduced?”
Her lips slowly spread into a smug grin, gaze flickering askance. “Well, I mean…”
Roman tosses his book down on the cushion beside him and pushes up from the sofa, advancing on her with a predatory gleam in his eye.
Nox suddenly perks up from his post at Eliza’s feet, the hair on the back of his neck bristling as he stares his master down, upper lip curling back from his teeth in a snarl. My brother snaps his fingers to call him off, but in a strange twist of events, the dog doesn’t react to his command. To the contrary, Nox growls even louder at him in warning, keeping himself planted firmly in front of Eliza to block Roman’s advance. Interesting.
“ Ryadom !” Roman snaps irritably. Heel in Russian.
Nox snaps his teeth, barking at him.
Roman huffs out an annoyed breath, looking to me for assistance. “Tell your dog to move.”
“You think he’ll listen to me?” I snort, arching a brow. “We both know he’s always preferred you.”
“Well now he prefers her ,” Roman grumbles, tipping his head toward Eliza.
“ Molodets ,“ I chuckle. Good boy.
A mischievous expression comes over Eliza’s face as she flips her book closed, setting it aside and looking down at Nox. She raises a hand, snapping her fingers, and Nox immediately heeds her command, slinking back with a whine and turning to lick her palm.
A smug grin creases her lips as she lifts her gaze to Roman, and something akin to pride sparks inside me at her victory. That’s my girl.
“We’ll see if they remember who they answer to after spending some time locked up in the kennels,” Roman grumbles, huffing out another breath as he retreats back over to the other couch and flops down on it with a grunt.
“Don’t bother, she’s got my skeleton key,” I murmur as I lean back to scroll on my phone.
Eliza’s eyes pop wide, her head snapping in my direction.
I lift my gaze from my phone to meet hers. “Did you honestly think I wasn’t aware you swiped it from my room that night?”
“Did you just say skeleton key?” she asks, bypassing my question with one of her own.
“Yes, it unlocks every door on the estate,” I reply.
She throws herself back against the cushions with a groan, scrubbing her hands down her face. “Why didn’t I think to try it in other doors? I thought it was a key to the tower!”
“Are you encouraging theft now?” Roman mumbles, arching a brow at me disapprovingly.
Come to think of it, I might’ve forgotten to mention the key to him.
I shrug in dismissal. “More places for her to hide only ups the stakes of the game, brother. You know I live for a good hunt.” I slide Eliza a wink, her cheeks flushing pink.
She likes the game, too.
She’d never tarnish that prissy good-girl persona of hers by actually saying it out loud, but some part of her is just as twisted as I am, and I get hard just thinking about her sinister side. The side of her that thrives on pain; that revels in degradation. The one that joins me in the darkness so our demons can dance together to their own malevolent tune. She’s passed every test I’ve put her through thus far with flying colors, but now there’s only one final measure of her true potential.
“What do you want to do about Victor?” I question, perceiving her slight flinch at the mention of his name.
“What do you mean?” she asks hesitantly.
“How do you want him to be punished for what he’s done?” Roman interjects, flickering me a glance that conveys he knows exactly what I’m getting at– and his doubt as to whether she’ll provide the answer I desire. His eyes refocus on Eliza as he asks, “Do you think he deserves death?”
She worries her lower lip between her teeth, a little crease forming between her brows. “Are you saying you’ll kill him for me?”
My brother gives her a shallow nod.
She returns the gesture, as if she was expecting that response. No surprise, given she grew up in this world. She knew exactly what type of family she was marrying into.
Well, not exactly . We did catch her off guard by revealing there were two of us, but there wasn’t any point in leading with that when Roman had no intention of getting close to her. Neither of us did; I was only in it for the exhilaration of the games we played together, even when I realized she was starting to play me, too.
I’m still not sure who bested who.
“He shouldn’t be able to live after what he’s done,” Eliza muses angrily.
“Then you’ll kill him,” I say flatly, bringing my ankle up to rest on my opposite knee.
She whips her gaze in my direction, eyes widening. “ Me ?”
“This revenge is yours to take, is it not?” I challenge.
She draws a measured breath, brows knitting together as she considers, my brother and I sharing another glance. He still thinks Eliza is soft and delicate; that she won’t want to do this. I think she’s got more in her than either of us initially gave her credit for.
“Okay, I’ll do it,” she finally declares, throat bobbing as she lifts her chin with false bravado, eyes flickering between the two of us. “For my mother.”
“Glad we’re agreed on that,” I quip, tossing my phone down on the cushion between us. “I already had Lev dig the grave, right after I got that tox report. I’m sure you remember it, don’t you, pet?”
Eliza’s cheeks redden, her breath hitching.
I think she enjoyed our time in that grave almost as much as I did.
“We’ll go to the top with this and get approval for the execution first,” Roman says sternly, giving me a pointed look.
“Of course,” I nod, stroking a hand over my chin. “Then we just need a scene for it, and I have the perfect one in mind…”
They both look to me expectantly.
“We never had a wedding reception, and we do have a ballroom,” I point out, glancing from Eliza to my brother. “Don’t you think it’d be appropriate to officially introduce her as ours now that we’re intent on keeping her?”
“I can’t be both your wives,” she scoffs, shaking her head.
I look her way, our eyes locking. “You can be whatever you like.”
“Free?” she asks hopefully.
“Except that,” I growl, leveling her with an icy glare. “We’ll secure the order, invite your father, and you avenge your mother by sinking a knife into his heart.” I shrug a shoulder as I turn to my brother. “Simple. Clean.”
“What makes you think he’ll come?” Eliza asks dubiously.
“Because he doesn’t know we’ve dug up the proof to expose him,” Roman answers. “And Victor won’t pass on the opportunity to rub elbows with so many powerful people in one room.”
She nods slowly, still seemingly unsure.
“In the meantime, we’ll prepare you for what needs to be done,” I tell her, a ripple of excitement simmering in my veins at the promise of violence.
Eliza has always looked stunning in red, after all.