Chapter 35
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
DIORA
Walking into The Morrígan Society Headquarters is different now that Mrs. Jay is dead.
I’m sure word has spread about her death.
What I’m not sure is, if they know it was me.
They don’t mind me as I walk along the red carpets of the building, riding the elevator to the top floor to meet with the Top Dogs for a special meeting.
Called by Enyo, our new Owner, of course.
I attempted to dress nicer today, in a pretty pink sundress that swishes at my calves.
Sure, my hair is still a frizzy mess, and the dirty stains from being in the greenhouse don’t exactly scream princess, but the dress will still have the desired effect.
These Dogs won’t care, but my man will. Elliot fucking loves sundresses.
“Diora.” Enyo’s voice booms in the office room with only a long meeting table and a whiteboard in it.
“Hi,” I say politely as I stand by the door.
I haven’t talked to Enyo since I killed his mom.
My purse is clenched under my armpit, and I try to think of any weapons I may have on me.
I’m not na?ve enough to think that he’s totally cool with me killing his mom, even if she was a human trafficker who haunted her “Sons”.
There is a knife in my purse, but if he advances on me, I’m not fast enough to reach for it. He’s probably faster than me, too, so there is no outrunning him, either. If he leaves his neck unprotected, I could jab him there, buying myself time to run.
“I haven’t had the chance to talk to you,” he says, gesturing to the seat beside him. It’s to the left of him, of course, the right side saved for his right-hand man, but why… Why does he want me on the left?
I play along, moving across the room with the huge table and many desk chairs, to sit in the one directly to his left. He smiles, but that isn’t unusual; he’s always smiling. The one time I haven’t seen a smile on this man’s face was at Mrs. Jay’s house.
Before I can even sit, he’s grabbing my hand, kissing the back of it, but he isn’t looking at me. He’s looking past me. Turning my head, I spot the blinking red dot and roll my eyes.
“Elliot’s watching?” I say, fighting a smile. “Kiss my hand again.”
“He’s always watching you. Wherever you are, he is tapping some sort of camera to watch you. You might want to talk to him about it—”
I shake my head, my smile breaking through my face as Elliot comes to the forefront of my mind. “I like it.”
His eyebrows raise in shock as he lets my hand go, and he chuckles before settling in his seat. “I do have something I wanted to discuss with you, though,” he says, and my heart races.
“Mrs. Jay?” I ask, and he nods. “I am sorry, Enyo, for the hurt I caused you.”
A sorry is not going to cover killing his mother, but nonetheless, I am sorry for killing someone’s mother.
This kill was different. I didn’t even turn this one in to the Society.
This one impacted someone close. I may not be close to Enyo, but Elliot is, and by extension, I don’t want to hurt him.
In fact, me killing her was never about him.
It was about Elliot and the Strays she trafficked.
“You’re not sorry for killing my mother?” he asks. His voice is level and his posture is relaxed, but I can’t tell if it’s to throw me off, to make me think I’m in the clear. I can’t forget he’s been a trained killer for probably over a decade now.
“No, I’m not sorry for killing your mother.” Honesty is the best policy and all that. “I know she was your mother. Elliot didn’t want to kill her for that reason alone, but she hurt him, she hurt those kids, and would continue hurting them both. The solution was simple to me.”
“What if I killed your parents?”
“You wouldn’t hurt me doing that. You’d hurt Juliet, though, and that, well…
” I smile as I remember Yara Holdings face as I killed her.
I kill for Juliet, even if she wishes not to accept that, I do.
Killing my parents would hurt Juliet, and in turn, I’d have to do to Enyo what I did to Yara.
Well, at least die trying to. Enyo’s much stronger than me.
He chuckles and leans back in his chair. “Elliot and I were on our way to kill Mother ourselves, Diora. So, consider it a favor owed. You only get one, so use my favor wisely.”
“Well, since I have you here,” I say, pulling out my phone and opening the screenshots I took from Juliet’s phone late last night.
“Why are you texting my sister from an unknown number… when she already has your number?” Humans confuse me. I can admit, I don’t always follow their lines of thoughts, but this… I can’t figure this one out. “You gave her your number at Sadie’s Flower Shop. Do you not remember?”
“Nah, I remember,” he says, but doesn’t answer my question.
“Are you playing her?” I ask, tilting my head as annoyance tickles my shoulders. Am I going to have to kill Elliot’s brother, too?
“No, Diora. God, no. Jeez, turn those murderous eyes off. No, I just… It’s a simple act of kindness.”
“Kindness?”
“Yeah, ever heard of it, psycho?”
“You calling my woman a psycho?” Elliot’s voice streams in from behind me.
“How the hell are we going to manage a division of hitmen if you two are constantly working my last nerve?” Enyo jokingly says, pushing his desk chair away from the table and standing up.
“When are you going to keep your crusty lips off my woman?” Elliot snaps back, not nearly as amused.
“So, she’s officially your woman now?” The Top Dogs fly into the room, laughing and talking, as if nothing is different. I guess for them, nothing is. I turn in my chair and face the crowd.
“So, sleeping your way to the top, huh?” Jone, the sharp shooter of the group, cracks, earning a laugh before Elliot shoots daggers at him. With his eyes, this time.
“You know you wish you could do the same,” I say, winking at Jones, which earns me a grunt from Elliot and hopefully a bite on my ass later on.
“So, I’m sure you’ve heard that Mother is dead.” Enyo starts his speech and the Dogs quiet down. Elliot goes to stand to the right of Enyo.
I should be on the left of Elliot, not the left of Enyo.
“So, who’s in charge now?” Tom, another Top Dog asks.
“We are,” Elliot answers.
“The three of us,” Enyo says, and I freeze. Three. Three of us? Three who?
“Three of whom?” I ask, coming to a stand with furrowed brows.
“Me, Elliot, and you.”
“Why me? I—”
“Are trustworthy, and we need a tiebreaker.”
“What makes you think I won’t just side with Elliot?” I argue.
Enyo’s face drops, and he tilts his head. “So, when you killed Mother, were you ‘just siding with Elliot?’”
“She killed Mother? How?” Parker, the knife lover, asks in disbelief. But I don’t mind them. I’ve got bigger issues at hand. Like running a division I have no claim to.
“I’ve been here for less than six months.”
“Are you accepting or rejecting?” Elliot interjects. His eyes meet mine. I watch him, waiting for any indication of what he wants me to say, but he gives me none.
Biting my lip, I gaze around the room. I look at the Top Dogs, and I think about the Strays that are here.
We’re lost. We’re the blind leading the blind, but we’re together. I have never been a leader, and I didn’t want to be.
“Accept. We still need a feminine touch,” Tom not so quietly whispers, and I chuckle.
Elliot knew my answer before we even got here, and maybe that’s why he didn’t bother asking.
“Yes.”