“Seeing is believing.” Suddenly, my head was grabbed from behind to keep me still. I hadn’t realized there was anyone else in the room. I should have known. Eliana’s voice may have been what I heard before I was knocked over the head, but she looked like she hadn’t lifted more than a hair brush in her entire life. She approached with her phone and thrust the screen in my face.
The video played clear footage of a naked couple going at it on a red cushioned settee I didn’t recognize. The woman was mostly hidden by the strong body of the man. His back faced the camera, and I could see the muscles in his ass bunch as he thrust deep. Her legs were wrapped around him, and the only thing she wore were her heels. Their clothes were scattered on the floor around the chair they were fucking on. It was clear they didn’t know they were being recorded. It was impossible to see faces, but I closed my eyes anyway knowing who it was.
“Now open your eyes, dear. This part is important.”
I was repeatedly slapped until I complied, and when my eyes flew open, my heart cracked, letting every horrible feeling imaginable inside.
“Why are you showing me this?”
“You need to know what a whore your mother was.”
I wanted to burst his bubble and confess that I’d known about the affair for years, but at my mother’s pleading, I had filed it away and forgotten. Bea giving me the doll I broke the day I found out triggered the memory and everything after poured out. Art never visited my mother again, and my mother became distant. I told myself it was because she was sick, but I now knew it was because she blamed me for taking away what she truly wanted.
Art.
Not Daddy.
And not me.
I chose not to give Victor the satisfaction and kept silent.
“I think that’s enough story time. Don’t you?”
“What are you going to do with us?”
“I’m going to kill both of you. Bea’s death will make me a very rich man and yours will just give me the satisfaction.”
“Why haven’t you already killed us then?”
“Oh, but temptation does pour from your sweet lips, doesn’t it? Alas, I have to wait until the guest of honor arrives. He dies last.”
“Do you really believe you can kill him?” Victor may have been capable of murder and manipulation, but Angel made the devil want to step his game up.
“Certainly, dear. I have you to convince him. He’ll die because of a woman, the same as his father. It’s oddly poetic.”
“He’s here, Father.” I snorted. Her formality would have made her a good wife for Angel. He wouldn’t have felt the need to compete with her father like he did with mine. I loved my dad, and I wasn’t willing to give him up for Angel. Just then, the doors opened, sunlight poured in, and Angel casually walked through them promising death with every step.
Chapter Sixty
…if two of them are dead. – Benjamin Franklin
ANGEL
I took one look at my gagged and bound mother and wanted to cut down everyone involved. “That’s far enough, and you can drop your gun.”
I stopped walking but didn’t lower my gun. “Not a chance.”
“Then I’ll shoot her now, and your mother can join her in hell.” He aimed his gun at Mian’s head. The true test of control was ignoring my rage. Reacting in anger would be stupid and fatal. I needed him to think I was calm inside and out. It meant control.
“If you shoot her, what will stop me from killing you?” I rationalized.
The fucker pursed his lips as if he hadn’t thought about it. I almost snorted. He thought he could actually kill me. “It seems we are at an impasse.”
“What do you want, Castro?” There was only irritation in my tone, but the truth was, I was scared as fuck. This was the first time I was the one with something to lose besides my life.
“Revenge before I take your family’s empire.”
“Not going to happen.”
“When you’re finally dead, I’ll inherit your power.”
“Not. Going. To. Happen.”
“I have your book. It will happen.”
“Then why do you need me dead? Why do I still sit on my throne while you hide and creep among my court like a coward?”
“Because fear creates a false sense of loyalty. Having the book isn’t enough. No one is willing to believe you aren’t smart enough to keep a copy. It seems I can’t do business unless you’re dead.”
“Whispers can ruin you.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“I don’t have a copy. I guess I’m not as smart as people think.”
“You’re lying.”
“Maybe. I would be smart to lie. But since I’m not…”
He exploded. “Enough with the mind games! Do you have a copy or not?”
“If you’re going to kill me, will it matter? Without me to refute it, you can make them believe anything you want.”
“Is that the same thing you told your mother the night your father died?” I watched his gaze move to Mian while he continued to speak to me. “Isn’t that why you want Theo dead?”
I felt the first crack in my control. “Shut up, Castro.” But it was too late. Mian’s ears were already wide open.
“A dead man can’t talk,” he continued. He had a death wish. I started to pull the trigger and unload on Castro until he was as dead as my father, but her voice stopped me.