Chapter Twenty- Four #2
He nodded and fished a cell phone out of his back pocket. Tapping in his key code—in full view to memorise—he navigated through a bunch of files and opened a document, then passed it to me.
Taking it, I scrolled through the list of names.
An endless list of names.
Addresses, phone numbers, even some medical records.
“What’s this column?” I tapped the one to the far right.
“The clubs.” He crossed his arms. “Traffickers and rapists enjoy their smoke-and-dagger shit.” Glancing at the screen, he curled his upper lip. “Roscolo is in Norway. I believe there were thirty members last time we checked. They’re next.”
“Next?”
He smirked. “I made a promise to Tess that I’d never put myself in undue danger, but...I also made a promise to myself to exterminate those who don’t deserve air so...they’re next.”
Whip-hot violence coiled through me.
I was...jealous.
Jealous of whoever delivered the killing blow to those motherfucking bastards who deserved it.
Scanning the file again, I stopped at a number of names with The Jewelry Box listed beside them. “You haven’t killed them all yet?”
“Franco is working on tracking the final few down. Once we’ve marked them all, then we’ll act. Some fled. Some are in hiding now that they’ve heard what happened to Victor. But they’ll pop back up. They always do.”
Shoving his hands into his pockets, he exhaled. “That isn’t what I wanted to talk to you about.”
I fisted the phone, my eyes snapping to his at the change in his voice. “What did you want to talk about?”
“Ilyana Sharma.”
I went deathly still. “What about her?”
“The doctor has advised that it might be prudent to...” He sighed and squeezed the back of his neck. “He advised that certain processes should be followed. Just in case.”
My throat closed. “Certain processes?”
He frowned. “Twenty days is a long time, Henri. It goes without saying, I will continue to do whatever I can to bring her back to you, but...I’m also not such a romantic to believe true love fixes all.”
His phone almost cracked in my hand I fisted so hard. “Would you speak so callously if this was your wife unable to wake?”
“No.” He shrugged. “I’d either be drunk or committing murder.”
“And if she died?”
“I have a child.”
I laughed coldly. “If you expect me to believe that you wouldn’t try to follow her, even with other responsibilities, you’re—”
“I hope for both your sakes that she wakes. I truly do, but—”
“I’m not having this conversation.”
“Shut up and let me finish,” he snapped. “I know how you feel, and I know this is hard but—”
“You don’t know a fucking thing about me!”
“I know you’d probably throw yourself off this roof if it meant you could trade her life for yours.”
“If you know that then it was risky bringing me up here.”
“We needed privacy.”
I crossed my arms, trembling with rage. “I’m going back to her.” Turning on the ball of my foot, I stalked toward the exit. My bare feet ached against the cold stone. My jeans and black hoodie barely kept out the winter’s bite.
“Do they know about you? Do they know what you did? How you were involved?”
I stiffened and turned back to face him. “What are you talking about?”
Stepping toward me, he shoved his hands into his pockets. “Ily’s parents. Do they know who you are?”
I glowered at him. “Why?”
“Her parents and brother are flying in tomorrow. I’m sending my plane to collect them.”
I blinked. “You what?”
“I’ve held them off as long as possible. They’ve wanted to visit ever since I called and told them she was safe here. I’ve been honest with them. They know about her condition. But they don’t know where she’s been or what happened.” His eyes darkened. “I figured that was up to her to tell them...”
His unspoken words hovered between us.
If she ever wakes.
A black pit of despair clawed me. “They’re coming to say goodbye?”
“They’re coming to offer support. I’ve been able to keep them satisfied with regular chats with her doctor, and they haven’t pushed the issue as they have a son who doesn’t like to travel.
Apparently, he doesn’t do well in society in general.
But...” He shrugged and glanced at the last coils of sunlight.
“I think it’s for the best that they come.
Perhaps hearing their voices will help her wake—”
“You’re doubting how she feels about me? You’re saying she’s staying asleep because I never leave her side?”
Shit, that hurt.
It magnified all my own fears and doubts.
Am I making it worse?
Is she afraid of me?
Perhaps she’d forgotten all the good between us and only remembered the bad. In her dreams, perhaps I was the nightmare, hurting her, abusing her...just like I had at the start.
My heart tried to tear itself free and hurl itself over the parapet.
“No.” He narrowed his eyes. “I’m merely saying, they’re her family. And you’re...”
“The guy who strapped her to a cross, bled her, fucked her, and then bragged to you about it on the phone.”
His jaw clenched. “Hence my question. Did she have time to tell them about you? Could she have mentioned your name and where you were taking her?”
I scanned back over our first meeting. The instant punch in my soul as I recognised her as different. The chemistry between us. The intensity. We’d been so fucking wrapped up in each other, but...I hadn’t seen her text or call anyone.
Didn’t mean she didn’t...
“I don’t know.”
“In that case, it might be best if you’re not there when they first arrive.”
“Not possible.”
“Her brother is coming too. That’s why I offered the use of my plane.
So her parents can travel with their son and not have the chaos of public transportation disrupting him.
I’m unsure how much stimulus he’ll be able to cope with so...
I’m asking you on behalf of Ily. Stay out of it when they arrive.
And hold your tongue.” He stepped into me.
“I mean it, Henri. Three weeks ago, you were ready to die if you lost this girl. I know you have a shit ton of remorse and guilt for what you did, but you cannot use them as a confessional, do you hear me? They must never know what you did to their daughter. You tell them a single thing and you’ll lose her forever. ”
Sourness splashed on my tongue.
I looked down at his phone still in my hand. The screen had gone dark, but the lists of rapists and psychopaths burned my palm. Their names seemed to swirl around me, teasing my fury, and making the beast inside me crawl out of its den.
I’d hoped that fucking curse was finished.
That all the pain and torture I’d survived had ensured I would never again want bloodshed, but...standing there—with my brother telling me that I could never be honest and so many lives staining my hands—I had to face facts.
I could never atone.
Could never be free from what I was.
All that bloodlust and anger clotted into a twisty, sickening mass inside me.
I didn’t want to use Ily’s parents as my confessional, but I did need to earn their forgiveness. I needed to earn Peter’s forgiveness. I needed to earn my own forgiveness for being half man, half monster and finally realising...I will never be whole without the other.
I would never raise a finger to Ily again.
But my mouth watered to hurt them. The guests. The Masters. The sinners.
To tear them apart and feast.
“Revenge helps,” Q muttered, following my thoughts. “But you have someone to protect now. You can’t just prosecute those who hurt her without taking precautions.”
“Precautions like you?”
“Yes.”
I sniffed and met his eyes. “Tell me, brother. You say you love your wife.”
His muscles coiled with suspicion. “What’s that got to do—”
“Just answer me.”
“Fine.” He cocked his chin. “Yes. I do.”
“Do you hurt her?”
His nostrils flared. “None of your fucking business.”
“That’s a yes.”
“What we do behind closed—”
“When I first got to that island, I wished I’d asked you how you managed to get married and be normal when you have the same darkness inside you that I do.”
He didn’t speak, watching me carefully.
“How do you do it? How do you stop that darkness from building?” My hands balled. “Because it’s building. Every day that I get stronger, it gets worse. So tell me...how—”
Something crashed in the chateau followed by an ungodly scream. “Henri! Henri!”
Rachel.
No.
Fuck no!