38. Chapter 38
Victor
“I can’t believe you’re letting her do this,” Grace snaps at me as we walk toward the club’s exit.
It’s the day after the summit, but our halls are still filled with those who attended because we don’t know who shot Jacob and why. But it feels important to keep my promise to take Liliana to see Phineas.
“She needs some closure, Grace. Let her do what she needs to do.”
Grace sighs. “Intellectually, I understand that. But he cut her. He tried to have her killed. Trinity got shot because his snipers thought she was Liliana. And that’s since we’ve known her. How are you going to make sure he doesn’t attack her?”
I glance at Lili.
“First of all, she’s taking a gun in there with her. Second, there will be guards with sniper rifles trained at his fucking head ready to pull the trigger if he tries anything.”
“I want a knife,” Lili says, matter-of-factly.
I glare at her. “A gun is better.”
“I don’t like guns. I’m more comfortable wielding a knife if I need to hurt someone.”
I shake my head. “Fine. As long as you’re good with hurting someone if you have to.”
Grace lets out a huff and shakes her head. “This conversation is ridiculous. He better not get close enough to her for that to be an issue.”
I pull Grace into my arms.
“Look at me, Mariposa. It’s going to be OK. You have my word that nothing will happen to Lili today. Is that enough?”
She sighs and lays her head against my chest. “Yeah. That’s enough. I trust that you’ll keep her safe. I just hate everything he has already put her through.”
“Me too, sweetheart.”
“You realize I’m standing right here, right?”
I shift so I can pull her into the hug, and the three of us stand that way for a long time.
When we separate, I kiss Grace long and slow. “We’ll be back as soon as we can.”
“The last time you said that I didn’t hear from you for hours and Lili got kidnapped.”
“Sit in Owen’s office and track our locations if you want. There’s surveillance at the warehouse, you can watch the whole thing for yourself.”
That seems to placate her, and I take Lili’s hand and lead her to the waiting SUV.
Lili
I’m not nervous when I step into the room in the warehouse where Phineas is being held captive.
He’s got a wild expression with wide eyes, but he seems surprised by my appearance.
“Well, if it isn’t my whore of a wife. Take a break from fucking that wannabe mobster long enough to come and gloat?”
“I came to say goodbye and to tell you I won’t be mourning your death or attending your funeral if you even have one.”
“So, they’re going to kill me, huh?”
I shrug. “I think I’m going to leave that up to Victor. But let’s just say he’s real pissed about all the scars you left on my thighs.”
“Just wait until he discovers how frigid and distant you can be. He’ll be adding to those scars before the month is out. Or he’ll just have his cartel friends dispose of your body. Why would he put up with someone as used up as you?”
I don’t exactly remember what happens next. But the next thing I know, I feel the hot, thick spray of blood hitting my face as I drive the knife into Phineas’s chest.
I pull it out and then drive it into his throat, red hot rage blinding me. His screams are short-lived as I twist the knife. The squishing sounds should be revolting. The blood spraying all over me, soaking me from head to toe should be snapping me out of this. But it doesn’t.
I stab him repeatedly, venting all the years of abuse that I put up with into his throat, face, and chest. I don’t know how many times I stab him before I hear someone behind me saying my name.
Victor’s hands grip my shoulders as he pulls me off Phineas, not bothering to remove the knife from his flesh.
It’s then that I realize I’m screaming “Fuck you,” over and over at my dead husband’s mangled corpse.
“Shh. Liliana. Shh. We have to leave. We have to get you out of here as fast as we can.”
It takes him shaking me to get me to snap out of it enough to realize what I’ve done.
And I’m unfazed.
I wipe a smear of blood off my forehead before it can drip into my eyes and look down at my blood-soaked clothes.
“Probably shouldn’t walk around like this.”
Victor lets out a relieved chuckle. “No. Owen is already getting the cleaners here. You need to stand very still now. They’re going to take all of our clothes and put us in a decontamination shower while they burn everything. Then they’ll dispose of the body.”
“It needs to be found,” I say calmly. “Otherwise, Miranda will not rest until she finds him.”
“Even from prison?” he asks.
“She has powerful connections, Vic. Don’t count on her being in prison for very long.”
Grace
My gut churns as I stare at the video monitor in Owen’s office. I’ve never seen so much blood. Not even yesterday, when Jacob died in the kitchen.
Memories of his lifeless body on the prep table make me gag, and I rush for a trash can. Nothing comes up, but I can’t look at the monitor again.
Should I call someone in here? Owen and Luke went with them, so they already know, and I’m sure they’re already in contact with Matteo. Instead of alerting someone here, I text Victor.
Grace: Tell me what you need. I saw the whole thing on camera.
Victor: Jesus, Butterfly. I’m sorry. Just make sure she has clean clothes out on the bed when we get there. We’re going to be a little while because of the cleanup process.
Grace: As in no one will find his body like Jacob’s?
Victor: Let’s not text about this, Grace. I’ll explain everything in person. You have my word.
That will have to be good enough for now. I leave Owen’s office and try not to think about the brutal violence I just witnessed.
I can’t blame her for snapping. Phineas was cruel.
But it still turns my stomach to think that people I love are capable of that kind of violence. Do I have that in me? Six months ago, I would have vehemently denied it. Now, knowing that Lili had it in her, I’m not so sure.
I just hope I never have to find out.
Victor
I hold Lili in my lap in the back of a limo the entire ride back to the club.
It took us three hours to clean up and decide what to do with Phineas’s body so that it would be found but not lead back to us.
Because Lili is right. Her mother-in-law is tenacious and resourceful, and judging from the closeness of their relationship, she is unlikely to rest without knowing what happened to her son.
If we play our cards right, the Russians will take the fall for his death, and we’ll be able to drive them out even faster than we’d planned at the summit.
I tell Owen as much, and he pulls out his tablet to begin sending coded messages to disseminate the information.
At the High Card, we head straight for the suite where Grace is waiting to help Lili with a hot shower.
She doesn’t protest when Grace climbs in and helps her wash her hair with something other than the cold water we had at the warehouse.
I wait for them to finish before I step in, for fear I won’t keep my hands off either of them, and sex is probably the last thing they want or need right now.
Lili finally breaks down as Grace nudges her towards the bed. I don’t hesitate to crawl onto the other side of her, so that Grace and I are holding her together.
“It’s OK, Lili. You didn’t do anything wrong,” Grace murmurs.
Lili lets out a strangled sob. “I killed him. And I don’t fucking feel a bit of guilt for it. That’s the part that’s messing with me.”
It’s a feeling I’ve experienced as well. I got over it rather quickly, but I don’t want that for Lili. She’s got more good in her than I do, and I don’t want to see that disappear.
“We’ll find someone for you to talk to if you want,” I murmur against her hair. “But at the end of the day, you rid the world of a monster. He can never hurt you again.”
Lili swipes at her tears and tries to sit up, but I keep her pinned down. “You need to rest. You’re going to get a false sense of energy, and then you’re going to crash again in the middle of a conversation. It’s better for you to rest now and stave that off.”
“Speaking from experience?” she asks wryly.
I let out a soft chuckle. “Something like that. Contrary to popular belief around here, I do not get off on murdering people. But I have had experience, and I know how hard the adrenaline crash can be as the cortisol takes over.”
She relaxes against me, and I squeeze Grace’s hand on the other side of her. When she’s drifted off to sleep, Grace and I slip off the bed and go to my office, where I pull her into my arms and let her cry.
“Victor, it was so horrible,” she finally whispers.
“I can’t believe you watched the whole thing, butterfly.”
“I had to make sure she was going to be OK.”
I hold her against me, one hand at the small of her back, the other against her head, cradling her gently. “Don’t you trust me yet, Grace?”
She sniffs against my chest and nods. “You know I do. But I care for her too and want to watch over her just like you do.”
I kiss the top of her head. “Let’s go watch over her now. She’s going to need us when she wakes up.”