Chapter Sixteen #4
does not take orders well. You fucked her over, too. I am finding many friends
in your enemies. I think you are going to meet some of them. They didn’t know
you were their enemy, but they will know now.”
“I think he killed Oliver,” Vivian said.
Sosa’s eyes flared and then she sniffled slightly. “Well,
Archie won’t forgive me then, but I never… I do not deserve his friendship. I
deserve only vengeance. So I will take it.”
Vivian felt Charles move before her ears could register the
sound of the gun going off. One minute she was wrapped in that disgusting man’s
arms, and the next, she felt the warm spray of blood and the sound of two more
shots.
Both men dropped to the floor.
Vivian’s hands shook. Sosa hadn’t used a suppressor. They
would know where she was now.
Tatiana was weeping and moving across the floor. “I am
Tatiana Tottenham. I am no other.”
She usually spoke with a perfect, upper-crust British
accent, but it was replaced with one that sounded more Eastern European then
anything.
“Sosa, what is happening?” Vivian was surrounded by blood
and death, and her whole body shook.
“Justice.” Sosa stood there watching as Tatiana moved to the
open window.
“Sosa, please, whatever you’re doing, stop. You don’t want
to do this.” Vivian was desperate, but she didn’t dare move closer. Was Sosa
going to shoot Tatiana now?
“I am no other. I will be no other. Not until I die,”
Tatiana said, her voice a tortured sound.
And then she ran for the window.
Vivian moved, but Sosa caught her just as Tatiana threw
herself out. She didn’t scream. She didn’t make a sound, but something did.
Something wet. The sound of a body breaking and the gurgle of death.
Sosa held her. “I’m sorry you had to see that. Vivian, I’m
sorry, but this must happen. I hate Gabby for what she become, but I am the
only one left who can avenge us. I will find the rest, and I will find the one
who took my life.”
“Vivian!” Mal. He was here.
But if she shouted back, Sosa would leave. She needed a few
seconds. “Don’t do this. Come home. We’ll help you.”
“I can’t put the only family I have left in danger.” Sosa
had tears in her eyes, but she didn’t shed them. “Please tell Ian and Charlotte
not to be looking. And tell them Kit Lowe holds the key. Kit might not know
yet, but he is smart man. He will figure it out. He will find the connection.
There’s someone new running The Chateau. Charles will call her an assistant,
but she is not. She is someone powerful. Be careful. And tell Archie I enjoyed
our talks.”
Sosa stepped back and walked to where Charles’s body lay.
She spit on it.
The door burst open and Mal ran in, followed by Ian.
Mal ran straight to Vivian, shoving her behind him.
“Everyone okay? Oliver’s alive, but the ambulance is coming. Charlotte’s with
him. Sosa, we were worried. Come here. I want to get you and Vivi out of here.
Someone set off a fire alarm.”
“Mal, I need you to be careful around Sosa,” Ian said in a
low, soothing tone. “What did you give Lucy?”
Sosa backed up carefully, the gun still in her hand.
“Nothing that will harm her. It will only make her sleepy.
But I make sure it is organic,” Sosa said as she stepped close to the same
window Tatiana had gone out of.
“What’s happening?” Mal asked, obviously confused. “Why is
Sosa here?”
“She’s here for revenge,” Ian said quietly. “You don’t have
to do this alone. Come back with me. Sosa, there is no need.”
The tears in her eyes seemed to double, and they began to
cascade down her cheeks. She looked so fucking young in that moment. “I have
to. You have many people you love and who love you. I cannot risk them. My
journey is one of blood and corpses.”
“It doesn’t have to be.” Vivian moved from behind Mal, who
tried to get in front of her again. “She won’t hurt me.”
“I never mean for you to be involved,” Sosa said, the wind
from the window brushing her hair. The sky had gone dark and thunder cracked as
though the world knew something terrible was happening. “I have always known I
would do this. I leave you letters. Please tell Penny I’m sorry. I was the one
who tampered with her computer. I did not wish for her to find out I was the
one who hired the kidnappers. I thought I could do this without you knowing,
which is why I hire them, but Vivi is too good a shot. I wanted a chance to
stay, but fate took that from me, too. Tell Charlotte she is best mother.”
Ian held a hand out. “Sosa, whatever you’re going to do, I
will help you.”
“Your hands are clean now. I will not dirty them again. Proshchay, otets, kotorogo mne tak
ne khvatalo.”
Then Sosa jumped. Vivian screamed, trying to get to her. Ian
moved to the window, looking down. “Mal, tell Damon we’ve got a body. It’s only
the second floor, but the fence around the garden had spikes and Tatiana is
skewered on them. Sosa has a handhold that got her down safely. We’re going to
see if it can hold my weight. Get the cams back. I’m going to try to find her.”
Ian made the leap, and Mal took her hand.
“Come on, love. It’s time to go.”
She followed him out of the chaos.