TWENTY-EIGHT
Saraya
I set my cell phone down and look at Mara. She's smirking as she stands there waiting for me. She irritates the hell out of me, but I need her help, so I have to be nice for the time being.
"What?" I ask.
"Is Daddy checking in on you?"
I shrug. "He just wanted to make sure I hadn't killed you yet."
Mara scoffs. "As if you could."
Rolling my eyes, I stand before her. "Are you going to show me how to do this or not?"
"I don't know why you want to learn this when it's easier to teach you how to stab or shoot someone."
I've been having Amara teach me basic defensive moves, and we've now moved on to the chokehold. Nyx isn't always around me, and I don't want to depend on a man to defend me every time.
"Have you forgotten that I already know how to stab someone?"
"Ha! Yes, but can you actually kill them?" she muses.
I glare at her. "I suppose you had a hand in helping with Ken's death, too, didn't you?"
"Well, Nyx did ask me to assist. I still can't believe you fucked that pansy ass…"
"Yeah, well, you will do anything if a life is hanging over your head," I say, then tilt my head and stare at her. "Well, maybe you wouldn't, but any other decent human would. Anyway, I'm learning defense, and I won't always want to kill my opponent right away, so it's good to have other options. "
"Whatever. I—" Mara's phone vibrates, and she looks at it before grinning at me.
"What?"
"Nothing. Seems Nyx needs an itch scratched."
"Oh?" I cock my hip and place my hand on it as I ask, "What itch exactly is he needing to be scratched?"
"Well, I did offer him a few services yesterday, but he still had your stench on him, so he turned them down—at that time."
The fuck?
Is he really trying to hook up with Mara?
No, I don't believe it, but I think it's best to teach little devil a lesson about staying away from men who don't belong to her.
I know I haven't officially accepted him, but it's only a matter of time and a lot of groveling on his end before I make the call.
"You can have him back when I'm done with him. Now, can we please get back to this?" My tone has a slight edge, but I don't care. It only amuses Mara, anyway.
Smirking, Mara tosses her phone onto the chair in the billiard room where she's been showing me moves. She moves in behind me, and with her wearing her stiletto boots, she can reach around my neck.
"You want to wrap your dominant arm around the fucker's neck and bring your other one up to grab behind their head like this.
" I feel her hand at the back of my head as she tilts my head forward, putting pressure on my neck.
"This will help you maintain control of them as you apply pressure to the neck.
Never put pressure on the throat. You want to cut the blood flow to the brain and make them pass out, and it won't work if you're putting all the pressure on their throat. "
I can feel myself getting lightheaded. Spots are dancing before my eyes, so I tap her arm. Mara snickers, then she steps back. Gasping for air, I glower at her.
"Did you have to put so much pressure on my neck?"
Mara shrugs. "You needed the full effect."
"My turn."
I blink a few more times to make sure I'm okay and not going to pass out.
Mara scoffs but turns, giving me her back.
She may have been my best friend back in the day, but as long as she keeps trying to fuck Nyx with me around, she will always be an enemy that I keep close tabs on.
So, what I'm about to do won't weigh on my conscience at all .
"Don't cry if you don't get it on the first try. Not everyone is perfect…"
I glare at her back, my hands curling into fists. What was Nyx thinking, leaving me here with her? Trying to breathe deeply so I don't actually hurt her, I take in her slender form. It doesn't matter how small she is; Amara is a force, so I need to make sure I have hold of her well.
I have a plan.
Stepping close behind her so her back is against my front, the bitch rubs her ass against me, chuckling. I ignore the movement, wrap my arm around her neck, and then bring my other hand to the back of her head.
Leaning in, I make sure my hot breath grazes her ear, and softly, I ask, "Like this?"
I hear her breath hitch, and she nods. "Now add a little pressure, and as long as I don't tap you, you're not doing it correctly."
Smirking, I do as I'm told, and soon, I feel her tap, but I don't let go. Mara starts to struggle, and I push us both down, pressing her into the hardwood with my body so she can't get up. She's strong for sure, but I'm able to keep her down and keep her in the chokehold until her body goes limp.
When I finally let go, I feel for her pulse, and once I find it, I breathe a sigh of relief.
She may not be my most favorite person, but I don't want to kill her.
I actually expect her to be faking and jump up any minute, but when she remains lying there, I stand slowly and stare down at her still form.
I'm unsure how much time I have left, so I rush through the Hall and retrieve my burner phone from my room, along with a set of car keys to one of Nyx's many cars.
He's going to be pissed, but I've always wondered what it was like to drive an Aston Martin.
Not just any Aston Martin, but the new DBS 770 Ultimate.
He usually drives his older black '69 Camaro that is in mint condition, but he also has a 550 Spyder—all black.
The guy is broody for sure, and you can see it in the way he dresses and now, his cars.
Pressing the button on the key fob, the alarm beeps as the doors unlock, and I slide into the seat covered with sleek black and deep red leather.
The car smells like him , and I take a moment to savor the scent.
The engine purrs to life, and I'm heading down the driveway in no time, pressing the button for the front gates to open before any security can stop me .
No doubt they'll be on the phone to Nyx within seconds, which is why I grabbed my burner phone. I'm sure he put another tracker in my phone when he replaced it after the accident. I make a mental note to check in on the Uber driver from that night, and then I get my head in the game once again.
I need answers. Answers that my mother refused to give me, and new ones that I now have.
Only one person can answer them—my father.
Where has he been my whole life? Has he always known about me, and the most important one that has my blood boiling is, what gives him the fucking right to think he can give me away to some dope-slinging drug lord?
I pull up to a set of iron gates. A mansion is set back past a rolling, green, well-manicured lawn. It's nowhere near as big as Nyte's Hall, but it's still massive. The guard at the gate looks me up and down, smiling.
"Well, what can I do for you, beautiful?" He shows me his pearly whites, and I turn on my own charm.
"I'm here to see your boss. Mr. Kappel isn't expecting me, but I can guarantee he will want to see me. My name is Saraya Abbott."
I don't acknowledge my married name anymore, and I'm pretty sure Kappel will know me by this name. When the guard steps into the little shack and picks up the phone, I watch as he keeps his eyes on me, a grin appearing just before he hangs the phone up.
"You are more than welcome to drive up to the main house. Mr. Kappel will meet you at the front door personally." The guard winks at me, then presses a button, opening the wrought iron gates for me.
I wiggle my fingers at him and smile. "Thank you so much. It's so nice to meet such nice people these days."
My smile drops the second I pass him, and I'm out of his view.
Another moment of that shit, and I might have thrown up.
The poor sap is probably going to go into his little shack and jack off to the memory of me.
Although he's a decent-looking guy, a quiver runs through me at the thought of him doing just that.
Regardless, I follow his instructions and drive up to the front of the mansion, only to see Clyde Kappel, a.k.a.
Daddy Dearest, standing at the top of the steps with his hands in his pockets, grinning.
Again, I feel like vomiting, this time at just the mere sight of the man who provided the little fuckers that invaded my mother's egg.
I guess I should be grateful to the asshole for helping give me life, but in all honestly, there has only ever been one thing that was good in the life he gave me, and that something is going to be pissed when he learns of what I'm doing.
Taking a deep breath in, then exhaling, I exit the car and head straight up the steps. Unlike with the guard, I don't put on airs for the man before me. He, on the other hand, is grinning from ear to ear.
"The meeting over already? I didn't think you would come see me after your—"
I cut him off with a glare. "I don't know if the meeting is over because I didn't go. Now, unless you want everyone and their dog to hear what I have to say, then I suggest we go to your office."
Anger replaces his grin, but he keeps his mouth shut, turns, and walks back into the house.
I'm trembling inside, but on the outside, I'm as calm as can be.
Seeing this man face to face after his audacity to try and exchange me for a part in bringing down the only real home I've ever known, let alone the only man I've ever loved, has me wanting to strangle him with my bare hands.
As soon as we're closed in his office and he takes a seat behind his desk, I walk up to the opposite side of it, lean on my hands, and glower at him.
We stare off until, finally, I feel like I'm going to explode.
In a very low and menacing voice, I ask him the one question I need him to answer right now.
"What gave you the fucking right?"
Kappel sits back in his chair and steeples his hands in front of his face.
He scrutinizes me briefly before he begins, saying, "Your mother was smart to keep her mouth shut about your parentage.
She thought I was stupid and didn't know, but what she didn't think about was how faithful I knew she was to me even though she was my mistress.
I never made Jessica promises. She was a good fuck, and she knew her place. She knew I wouldn't leave my wife for her—or for any of my mistresses for that matter—just like my wife knows that her place at my side is safe, so she turns a blind eye and allows me my playthings. "
His words are only making me angrier. My mother may have pushed me aside when she married Layton, but she's still my mother, and I know how much she struggled until she met Beckam .
"I'm not here for a fucking back story. I don't give a damn about the past, but what makes you think that you can come into my life now and trade me to get what you want? I am nothing to you. I'm not a Kappel. If anything, I'm more Beckam than Kappel."
Clyde scoffs, "You would rather accept Layton Beckam as your father over me? A man who would go out of his way to have your real father's brother-in-law come in and rape you of your virginity just to prove to me that he owned you? You were nothing but a pawn in a game he was playing against me!"
His words make my chest tighten. I knew nothing of this, but I can't let him see how much it affects me. He can't know that I'm holding on by a very thin thread at the moment. When will all these surprises stop coming at me like this?
"Yeah, and what did you do to stop him or get back at him for doing so, Daddy Dearest? You still allowed him to marry me off to a monster who did nothing but abuse and rape me every fucking day I was with him!"
Kappel slams his fist down onto the desk. "I had Stanton killed for what he did to you! You were supposed to marry Phoenyx and join our families, but Layton wouldn't have it! He took that away from me. Yes, I allowed him to marry you off to Kenneth because your husband was one of my men."
I jerk back at this, no longer able to hold in my surprise. The cynical smile that appears on his face actually scares me a little. I watch as he slowly stands and walks around his desk, causing me to take a few steps back.
"Ken took orders from me, not Beckam. I told him that as long as he kept you in line until I knew what I would do with you, he could have you any way he wanted.
" Kappel shrugs. "He was married to you, after all, and a wife should always do her wifely duties, just like a daughter must always do her daughterly duties. "
"You're fucking sick!" I sneer at him. "Fuck you and whatever plans you have. I'm not your daughter, so forget all about me."
As soon as I try to flee his office, two men, built like powerhouses, snatch me up and hold me in place. Kappel walks over to us and grabs my
jaw tightly.
"I don't think that will work for me, baby girl. Now, you'll be a good girl and stay in the room my men put you in until I can hand you over to your future husband. "
Fear grips me now. How could I have been so stupid? Why did I think that this man would be reasonable? I kick out, demanding that I be released, but he only laughs harder.
"All in good time. Now be good while I go call your fiancé." He turns but stops when a familiar voice calls out from down the hall.
"I'm right fucking here, Kappel!"