Chapter 28
Choyce Mancinelli
"Can you believe this shit?" I ranted, sliding my phone across the kitchen table for Emersyn to see.
Emersyn and I weren't friends. Calling us friendly was even a stretch.
She was here because I needed her services, not because she actually gave a fuck about my family problems. Her time was money, and since I'd paid for it, I figured I might as well use some of it to vent, especially since my only real friend was Kage and he was barely speaking to me.
She frowned after reading the text. "What am I supposed to do with this information?"
She stared at me, waiting for an answer, until something clicked, and a crease formed between her perfectly arched brows.
"Is Chosyn the reason you called? You want me to—"
"No," I cut in before she could finish the thought.
"Then why show me her text?"
"Because I have no one else to vent to." I shrugged like that should've been obvious. Emersyn was there when Chosyn reminded me that I was on her time.
"Where's your best friend?"
"Dropping my daughter off at her grandmother's. This isn't something I can talk to him about anyway."
"Then what's the point of calling him your best friend? I thought best friends tell each other everything."
"Maybe that's what you do with your best friend, but—"
"I don't have friends." She shrugged.
"Oh, well, Kage isn't the friend you vent to. He's all logic. If you go to him, you better want a solution because that's all he's gonna give."
"That makes sense." She nodded. "Logic moves the world forward. Emotions stall you, and when you're stalled in our world, death is usually the outcome."
I stared at her, recognizing too much of myself gazing back. The difference: her demeanor wasn't a facade. Emersyn didn't wear a mask. She was every bit the bitch I pretended to be.
"How did you say you got into your line of work again?"
"I didn't." She twisted the cap off her water bottle. "But if you need to vent about your sister finally making time for you, then vent away. I get paid whether you give me a target or not."
I laughed under my breath. It made sense why Emersyn didn't have friends.
"I'm happy she finally wants to work on things between us—"
"But?" Emersyn smirked.
"But I know she's only doing it out of pity."
"And?" Emersyn shrugged. "You wanted a relationship with your sister. She's giving you an olive branch. If you care that much about fixing things between y'all, why she reached out shouldn't matter. Take her up on her offer and see where things go," she advised.
"Kage isn't the only one driven by logic, I see," I scoffed.
"What I said isn't logical at all."
I frowned. "How isn't it?"
"Because logical advice would be me telling you to question your sister's intentions.
" Her gaze narrowed. "I know what you did to her, and I remember how she spoke to you the last time we were together.
She doesn't hate you. You broke her heart, and that takes time to heal.
Healing only starts when the truth is on the table.
Y'all haven't talked yet, so the truth about everything hasn't been told, so… "
Emersyn let her thoughts trail off, giving me space to fill them.
"So how are we supposed to heal our relationship. You think she's trying to set me up?" As much as I hated it, the thought existed, but I didn't want to believe Chosyn would choose Navy over me.
"I don't know what Chosyn is trying to do," Emersyn said. "I was just explaining what logical advice would sound like."
"Well, put yourself in my shoes," I pushed. "If Chosyn were Killian, and I were you… what would you think?"
Her gaze dropped. Her fingers tightened around the water bottle until it crinkled under the pressure. Then she looked back at me.
"If I were you, there'd be no thinking," she answered flatly.
"I'd already be dead. Disloyalty is punishable by death in my family.
No matter how small. The Teixeiras don't raise their children like everyone else.
The men are raised to rule. Politics, real estate, law enforcement, hospitals, tech.
In any industry you can name, there's a male Teixeira at the top having his way.
Of course, they engage in illegal activities, but they won't get caught because their hands are never dirty. "
She paused, then a soft laugh slipped out.
"The women are taught the essence of being a woman. How to move with poise, how to charm with intention, how to kill with precision. We fuck better than most, bear the children, and can end a life without having to be in the same room as our mark."
"So, the men lay the dirt, and the women tend to it?" I asked.
"The men lead, and the women make it possible for them to do so. So, if I betrayed my brother, I wouldn't be alive to question the sincerity of his forgiveness."
"Damn," I muttered.
"The real question is, what are you going to do now that Chosyn is welcoming you into her life?" Emersyn asked, her voice noticeably lighter after talking about her family.
"I'll set up lunch." I shrugged. "I doubt we'll get far."
"Is this the part where you tell me Navy is the reason I'm here?"
"How did you—"
Emersyn lifted a hand, cutting me off, and stood from her chair.
When she walked toward me, her left foot dragged just slightly behind her right, hips following with precision.
It wasn't a normal walk. It was calculated and hypnotic.
Her chin dipped, eyes lifting through her lashes.
She didn't stop in front of me. Instead, her hand skimmed my shoulder as she passed, stopping only when she was behind me.
"Choyce," she whispered.
Her fingers gathered my hair, tugging just enough to tilt my head back. Any words I had vanished before they reached my mouth. Then her lips brushed my ear.
"It's my job to pay attention," she spoke melodiously. "Having a keen eye for detail is the reason the police have yet to connect me to any of the murders in Ember Hills."
Her free hand lifted, fingers tracing the bandage wrapped around my neck.
"This," she continued, "is why you want Navy gone. How did it happen?"
"She—"
"Wait. Let me guess." She held me there for a breath. "Someone was behind you, holding your head back, kind of like I am now, which means Navy was in front of you." Her voice stayed even. "Take the bandages off. I want to see the wound."
Without thinking, my hands went to my neck, giving her what she wanted freely.
"Mhm," she hummed. "It's so clean. Straight across. No jagged edges."
Emersyn's fingers hovered just above my skin.
"She straddled you, didn't she? This wasn't her first time doing something like this.
A novice would've killed you. What Navy did was haunting.
The scar won't be crazy, but it'll be memorable.
The world won't see it, but you will. You'll touch and remember the blade and smell the iron in your blood mixed with her perfume. "
"Are you done?" I asked, swallowing hard.
"Oh yeah," she half-smiled. "Sorry. I get carried away sometimes."
"I see," I muttered, knowing that wasn't the full truth.
Emersyn wasn't my friend. She was Crown's friend. I hadn't thought much of it until she showed me just how easy it was to get caught up in her. How she pulled you in with her walk, disarmed you with a soft touch, and made danger feel like sweet comfort.
"Nope," she said, stepping away. "I won't lie. I didn't get carried away."
She looked at me, all softness gone.
"That was a warning. Ask me to kill Navy again, and it'll be you who dies."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because I like you."
My brows lifted.
"Not like that." She giggled. "I like you as a person, and I'll hate to see you go out sad over a man that'll never be yours.
Honor loves Navy, and Navy loves Honor. There's no room for anyone else.
So, trying to kill her won't end the way you think it will.
It'll just leave your daughter growing up without you and probably calling Navy mommy. "
"That sounds a little too much like friend advice. Does that mean we're friends?" I asked half-jokingly.
"Maybe." She shrugged, pulling her phone from her pocket just as mine chimed.
Honor
Meet me at the mill.
Me
Fuck you!
Honor
It's about Lucian.
I sucked my teeth. "I have to make a run."
"Same," Emersyn stated. "Honor wants me to meet him at the mill."
"Funny, he told me the same thing."
"Wanna ride together?" she offered.
I almost told her, yeah. "I'll drive myself and follow you."
Her lips curved, "You're learning. But understand this… I don't hunt, and I don't toy. How I show up will always announce why I'm in your presence." She started heading toward the front door, then peered over her shoulder. "I'll be in the car."
I waited until the front door closed before running upstairs to change out of my pajama pants and oversized t-shirt.
I kept it simple: cargo pants, a fitted cropped top, and a pair of black Timbs.
I pulled my hair into a ponytail, grabbed my gun and coat, and was gone.
I slid into my car and pulled out behind Emersyn as she drove off.
Her warning replayed in my head for obvious reasons.
A meeting at the mill could easily be a setup.
Navy could've gone crying to Honor, filling his head with lies about what I supposedly did to her when I didn't lay a finger on her.
If this was a trap then Honor, Navy, and Emersyn misjudged how far I was willing to go to make it home alive.