“I-I… I’m sorry,” she rushes to say. “I didn’t—”
“Don’t,” I cut her off. “Don’t you dare apologize for being real with me, for calling me out on my bullshit. You’re about to become my wife, Faye. My equal. Hearing you act your part is a fucking delight. Keep fighting me, baby. I’m loving every second of it.”
A startled laugh fills my ears, and I smile to myself. “I think you might actually be insane,” she murmurs, her tone filled with wonder.
I let my eyes fall closed, enjoying this moment with her. I think this is what I’m developing an addiction to — real moments with her. No pretense, no expectations, nothing standing between us. I want more of this, of her. I just hope it isn’t too late to have that.
When I was younger, I was so certain that I could never want her, that I’d never overcome the guilt seeing her brings me. I burned every bridge she tried to build between us throughout the years, only to find myself drowning in her.
“Dion,” she says, her voice soft, hesitant.
“Hmm?”
“I… would it be okay if I asked a question?”
“Of course.”
She draws a shaky breath, and I tighten my grip on my phone. She’s nervous, why? “That day at The Lacara, when you told me you were mine as much as I am yours… Those were pretty much your exact words, weren’t they? What did you mean by that?”
I frown, intrigued by her sudden question. “I thought it was obvious, Faye. I didn’t think I left much room for misunderstandings. I was referring to mutual fidelity, and you know it.” What the fuck is going on in that warped mind of hers? Is she trying to find a fucking loophole so she can still be with Eric?
“Okay,” she simply says, her voice shaky. I stare out the window, uncertain how far I can push her, how much I can demand. Each conversation with her feels like playing Tetris — one wrong move, and I’ll be building an unstable foundation entirely in the wrong direction, getting in over my head with no way to rectify my mistakes. One wrong move, and it’s game over.
“I’ll see you next week, at the annual Windsor charity gala,” I tell her. “We’ll talk more then. Try not to miss me too much in the meantime, my darling fiancée.”
I’m not sure what brought on her question, but whatever it is, I’m going to find out. In person, when I can look her in the eye and read those emotions she tries to hide so hard.
Chapter Ten
Dion
“What took you so long?” Silas asks, annoyed. I frown, surprised to find both Xavier and Silas waiting for me inside the warehouse.
“What?” Xavier says. “You worked us both to the bone only to leave us out of the resolution? Absolutely not. This is about to be the highlight of my day.”
Silas hums in agreement as he leads me into the open space, a thrill running down my spine when I notice Hannah tied against a chair in the corner. She looks like a filthy fucking mess, her long hair matted and her makeup smudged.
“I see you didn’t bother gagging her,” I murmur.
Xavier shrugs. “There’s no one here to hear her scream. It seemed fun to let her wear herself out needlessly.”
I shake my head in fake admonishment, when truthfully, I’d have done the same thing. Hannah looks up sharply when I grab an empty chair and slowly drag it toward her, the sound echoing off the walls eerily in the large empty warehouse.
I smirk as I read the emotions flashing through her eyes — fear first, then recognition, and finally confusion. Yeah, no one ever sees it coming. They all think Sierra is the craziest Windsor sibling, while Zane is the most dangerous. Everyone always fails to realize that I’m a perfect blend of both. My sweet fiancée has no idea how right she was when she told me she suspects I’m insane.
“Hello, Hannah,” I tell her, my tone polite as I place my chair right opposite hers. I sit down, and Xavier and Silas stand behind me. “I do apologize for the delay in getting to you.” I glance at my watch, as though I’m mere minutes late for a meeting. “I kept you waiting for six days. How very rude of me.”
She just stares at me, as though she’s trying to get a read on the situation. I could tell, for a moment, she genuinely thought I’d come to save her. Silly girl.
I hold my hand out, and Silas hands me my favorite scalpel. Hannah flinches then, genuine fear flashing through her eyes. She whimpers, and I smile.
“Do you want to guess why you’re here?” I ask, my tone pleasant as I place the scalpel at the tip of my finger and spin it around. I stare at it for a moment, keeping it perfectly balanced. A slight tremor would result in deep cuts, and for a single moment, I’m tempted to loosen my iron control just so I can find out if it’ll hurt.
“Dion,” Hannah says, her tone careful, as though she’s speaking to an uncaged predator. “Please, I haven’t hurt anyone, you know I haven’t. I just… I just…”
I tear my gaze away from the metal spinning atop my finger and sigh. “You just… knowingly took what wasn’t yours and continued to inflict emotional wounds on the one person that least deserved it. For years, you watched your own sister suffer while you manipulated my brother, taking advantage of his morals and his love for our family. Even once Raven married Ares because you refused to walk down that aisle, you continued to mess with them. Did you really think you wouldn’t pay for it?”
Her eyes fill with tears, and I sigh. How irritating. I frown, suddenly realizing that I’ve never cared for tears, yet seeing tears in Faye’s eyes nearly destroyed me. Interesting.
“Ares gave me the Windsor Kiss of Death,” she tells me, her eyes flashing with anger. “I paid for what I did. He destroyed my acting career — and not just that. I can’t work in the industry at all anymore. Within a matter of months, I’ve become a nobody. He took the one thing I cared about most. Isn’t that enough?”
I grab the scalpel and hold it tightly in an effort to rein in my anger. “Considering we caught you at a luxury private resort, I’m going to say no. It’s not enough, Hannah. You can’t just mess with my family and expect to get away with it. I won’t stop until I see you looking the way Raven did each time she saw her designs burned in the streets, each time someone called her a home wrecker when all she ever did was the right thing. I want you to look like your heart is being torn out of your chest while it’s still beating, and you’re trying your hardest to breathe through it.”
I lean forward and rest the tip of the scalpel against her cheek. She freezes, and I grin as a bead of blood gathers at the tip of the blade. “You have no idea how tempted I am to carve up that pretty face of yours so Raven will never have to see you again,” I murmur. “Ares may have ended your career, but that isn’t good enough for me. Here’s the thing, Hannah. Ares has values and morals that I don’t share. He’s righteous and works within a framework that can be considered socially acceptable. I don’t. I’ll do what my siblings can’t or won’t, and I’ll do it without an ounce of shame or regret.”
“Y-you won’t get away with this,” she says, trembling. Her eyes flit through the room, as though she’s looking for an escape that she knows she won’t find.
“No one is coming for you,” I murmur. “That producer that was funding your lavish lifestyle? The one you’d been seeing for years behind Ares’s back?” Her eyes widen in disbelief, and I chuckle. “Yeah, he sends his regards.”
“W-what?” she stammers.
I tilt my head and look her over. “You still don’t fully realize what you’ve gotten yourself into, do you? You don’t realize that it wasn’t just Ares and Raven you wronged. It was all of us. You fuck with one of us, you’ll feel all our wrath. Ares you survived, but the combination of the rest of us will make you wish you hadn’t.”
I run a hand through my hair and sigh. “Did you know your little producer really wanted to be a father? Imagine his surprise when I showed him your medical records.” I tut mockingly as her eyes widen. “Aborting a baby he wanted so desperately… Even I would’ve let you live out the rest of your life in peace merely for the sake of your unborn child. I guess that’s why Ares went so easy on you, because the child you carried would’ve still been Raven’s niece or nephew.”
I sigh as I spin the scalpel around again, my mind whirling. “I couldn’t risk your little lover changing his mind about you, though. I had to immobilize him. He had no real power, no connections to protect him, just piles of money that he threw around to craft the illusion of influence. All it took was one call to my sister-in-law, Valentina. You remember her, don’t you?”