Chapter 21 Choyce Mancinelli
Choyce Mancinelli
Sleep seemed to constantly run from me since that night at the dock.
Still, I chased it as a way to ignore what I should've been focused on.
Lucian wasn't a man who tolerated disrespect, yet he allowed Honor not only to disrespect him but also to deny his wishes.
Honor wanted out, which meant killing Talon was likely to fall on my to-do list.
I couldn't do it. The love I had for that man had long ago vanished, but my daughter didn't feel the same. Talon was a crappy husband, but an amazing father, and Cherish deserved to grow up with one.
I tossed and turned, troubled by Lucian's last words before he walked away from Honor and me.
His sentiments weren't directed toward me, but I knew the consequence of Honor declining an order would hit me just as hard as it hit him.
Whether he liked it or not, the two of us were a team.
Whatever affected him and his affected me and mine.
"Ugh!" I gritted, throwing my legs over the side of the bed.
I slipped my feet into my slippers, threw on one of Talon's t-shirts, and moseyed into Cherish's room.
I walked in quietly to avoid waking her.
Out of the blue, the usual peace being around her brought on vanished, and the energy shifted.
I looked toward her bed to make sure she was there.
Sound asleep, Cherish looked like she didn't have a care in the world.
Yet, the feeling that something was terribly wrong lingered.
The rocking chair I once rocked Cherish to sleep in creaked. My gaze shifted from my daughter to the corner where the chair's slow creak sounded more like a warning than comfort.
"Lucian." His name left my mouth before my eyes fully registered that he was sitting in my daughter's room.
"We need to talk, Choyce. I hope now is a good time."
Crudely, his voice commanded my body to transform. My sleepy slumped posture straightened. My hands stiffened and clasped in front of my stomach. The sleepy haze in my eyes cleared, and my gaze tightened, drawing my brows together.
Just like that. Just that quick. I became her… the bitch I needed to be if I wanted to survive.
"Now is a perfect time," I finally spoke. "We can talk in Talon's study."
"If I wanted to speak in my son's study, that's where you would have found me. I missed my granddaughter and wanted to lay eyes on her." He peered over at my daughter's bed.
"Cherish is sleep, and I'd like it to stay that way. Having a conversation in here will—"
"We'll talk here or not at all," he snipped, barely raising his voice but making his point.
"Okay."
I didn't want to think Lucian was capable of hurting Cherish, but a man who moved pieces on the board flawlessly was one whose behavior couldn't be predicted.
He baited you and allowed you to see his next three moves just so you could try to block his victory.
But that's what he wanted. Those three moves he made you privy to didn't matter because when he showed them, he was already ten moves ahead.
Sitting here was his tenth move, and I couldn't tell whether he'd come to kill me, force my hand, or rob me of the only thing keeping me sane.
"Aside from missing my granddaughter, there's another reason for my visit."
"Okay."
I fought the urge to step in between him and Cherish's bed. His eyes hadn't left Cherish, yet the heaviness of his stare pressed down on me, caving my chest in.
"Cherish is my only living heir. Had she been a boy, she wouldn't be in that bed.
She'd be at my house learning everything I am, everything she's destined to be.
Unfortunately, Talon couldn't even fill you with sperm correctly.
" He snickered as my stomach churned. "A grandson was to be my reward for all the strife your father and my son caused me. "
"What did my father do wrong?"
"Chance had a lot of great qualities, but reading people wasn't one of them.
He allowed Chosyn to take what he taught her and use it against him.
A knife to the throat was a… great touch.
" A sinister smile hiked the corners of his mouth, almost as if he were proud yet disappointed that such talents went to waste.
"I can't imagine dying at the hands of my own child. The day Talon, Navy, or Honor tries to take my life is the day hell will rise from beneath the earth."
I swallowed hard.
"You even managed to pull the wool over his eyes." An eerie chuckle rumbled from his chest. "The damsel role was well played. You behaved as if you were incapable of being deadly like your sister and became a threat that neither Chance nor I accounted for."
"What happened with Chance happened because of his own blindness. He labeled me a victim and underestimated me. That gave me the time I needed to understand the world I was forced into. I'm a survivor in the eyes of society, but to you I'm an asset, not a threat."
"A threat isn't a bad thing," he said voice hollow. "La minaccia è un'ombra lunga. Ti spaventa, sì… ma ti dice anche da dove arriva la luce."
I tilted my head, brows knitting, questioning what he'd said.
"Still haven't learned the language of the men you wish to lead," he said, finally meeting my eyes.
"I haven't learned because I envisioned Talon standing next to me."
"Talon or Honor?" A crude smile curled at the corners of his mouth. "What I said is along the lines of… a threat can be a blessing and a curse. In my world, a threat is an unexpected shadow. At first, it frightens you, but if you follow it, eventually you'll find the source of the light."
He leaned forward slightly.
"Once you find that light, a decision has to be made. Snuff it out or continue to allow it to shine."
Lucian's smile narrowed just enough to show it wasn't kind. "Are you following me, Choyce?"
"Yes," I lied.
Saying I understood was better than telling Lucian I was confused by everything that was happening. The sun was just now getting reacquainted with the clouds, and Lucian was in my home, tucked away in a dark corner of my daughter's room like the grim reaper himself, waiting to collect a soul.
"Then why am I here?" he asked darkly.
I swallowed, twisting my wedding band as my eyes fell to the floor.
"Tick tock, Choyce, tick tock."
"Because she's my light," I murmured as it all started to make sense.
"Precisely. Had what I planned for happened, I wouldn't be here watching your light sleep.
It was never supposed to be you. Chosyn was who I wanted.
However, things have a way of working out in my favor.
Had Chosyn been the one to marry Talon, I wouldn't have an heir.
She wouldn't have let him climb on top of her.
She's too strong-willed. Like Honor, she might've tried to take her life. "
I closed my eyes to keep the lone tear from falling.
"She might have succeeded because there wouldn't be anything to tether her to this world. Honor had Navy. They met maybe ten minutes before he put the gun to his head, and she came running out screaming for him not to do it."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because you need to understand it will never be you. I cemented the bond between Honor and Navy. Their relationship is my insurance that Honor will always do as I say. The same way Cherish's well-being will ensure you'll do whatever I say."
"Lucian I—"
"Now isn't the time to speak," he interrupted, his voice colder than before. "Now is when you listen. What happens next is entirely up to you. Honor is pushing back, and I need you to reel him in."
"How? Navy seems better suited for the job," I scoffed, momentarily forgetting who I was talking to.
"That hint of jealousy you spoke with is how you'll make sure he does what I asked. If you don't, I'll have no other choice but to dim that pretty, innocent light of yours."
Shock set in as my voice trembled out.
"Yo-you wouldn't hurt her?"
"Lynx's parents have to die. Make sure Honor handles business, and the answer to that question won't matter."
Lucian stood from the chair and ambled over to Cherish's bed. As he leaned down, my heart went numb. He kissed her softly, then came over to me.
"You're my second because you agreed to do unimaginable things when the time comes. That time is now. If you can't handle what I'm asking of you, then maybe—"
"Consider it handled," I quipped, squaring my shoulders.
"Great. Report back once it's done." He smirked, walking toward the bedroom door. Before stepping through the threshold, he stopped and looked back.
"You traded in your mansion for a small house… why?"
"I wanted a break from all that house. Plus, I wanted to see if Talon and I could rekindle our friendship."
"Even though you know he'll be dead soon?" he challenged.
"Distance is where men get brave. Proximity is where they behave," I recited, repeating what I overheard him tell Chance long ago.
"Smart girl. If you understand that, then you understand my reason for wanting to keep Honor close."
I nodded.
"Make sure you tell my son to bring his ass home. He has a daughter to raise and can't do that if his mouth is full of sperm."
My stomach knotted as I relived Lucian's visit.
I drummed my fingers against the counter as my mind looped in search of a solution.
Lucian made it clear he was out for blood and didn't care whose blood had to spill to get what he wanted.
In a matter of moments, Cherish went from being my daughter to a pawn in Lucian's game.
"Fuck!" I groaned, slamming my hand against the counter.