Rather than answer, she turned and walked away. I could see she was crushed and just a little bit fearful. I tried to put myself in her shoes and knew I wouldn’t have reacted any less defiant. She’d only lost her mother four months ago, and now she was being uprooted from the only home she had known.
Just before she passed me, she stopped and stared at me directly. There was nothing in her eyes. They were blank from defeat.
“I hate you.”
Soundlessly, she left the kitchen, and I couldn’t help but think I would have hated me, too.
I glanced at Theo. He stared after her—his stance was relaxed now. I think we were all relieved that she hadn’t fought him. He didn’t want to hurt her any more than she wanted to be hurt.
My father cleared his throat in a subtle command for my attention. I gave it to him. He stood and closed the distance between us. His strong grip seized my shoulder. “Don’t fuck this up, son. This is the only chance you’re getting.”
Chapter Seven
A missing legacy.
ANGEL
Present
I made Lucas set Mian free because while I had a secret fetish for self-torment, I knew I wasn’t ready to see her again. Hours later, her presence lingered in my father’s home. I swore I could smell her scent. The possibility raised the hairs on my skin.
Lucas said he found her in my old bedroom hiding under the bed of all places. The knowledge that she hadn’t changed pleased me when it shouldn’t have. She was impulsive and challenging. Perversely, I liked that she still had fight left in her.
I looked forward to breaking her spirit.
Instead of my old bedroom where Lucas had found her, instinct led me to my father’s study in the west wing.
The door was left cracked, something I would never do, so I pushed it open and took in the havoc she wreaked. The desk and bookshelf had been left untouched. My inspection of the room shifted to my right where six generations of bandits were displayed proudly.
The last two in the lineup were missing from their rightful place. The safe hidden behind my own portrait had been discovered and left exposed.
Son of a bitch…
My glare shifted to the floor where a toppled chair lay among the discarded portraits. I was impressed that she even managed to lift them considering I could bench press her body weight easily.
Curiosity morphed into desperation. With quick, angry steps, I stalked to the safe and punched in the numbers. The sole content of the safe was detrimental to the prosperity of the Knights. There was no way she could have gotten inside without the code. It was only ever known by a Knight, but I needed to see for myself that I hadn’t just ruined my family by letting her go. The keypad beeped and flashed green after I entered in the combination. The lock disengaged. I yanked on the handle and shoved my entire forearm inside the metal box.
Empty.
She got me.
She fucking got me.
Fortunately, for me, she had no idea who she was fucking with. My lips spread wide, and my cock hardened from the promise of the great pleasure I’d get by teaching her.
Mian.
Sweet Mian.
I’m going to destroy that little girl.
*
“ You look like shit.” Lucas walked into my father’s study where he found me the next morning. I’d been too eager to plot my little bandit’s demise to sleep. “What the hell was last night about?”
I watched him get comfortable on my father’s couch while I sat on the other side of his desk. I took over the study after he died, but it still felt like his. The study, the house, the business. The only part I felt was truly mine was my reputation. I earned that shit.
Too fucking bad my father would never know how ruthless his only heir had become. Maybe even more than he had ever been.
Lucas stared while I clicked at the mouse and brought up a game of solitaire. I usually plotted best when I indulged in the game. “What would that be?”
“I’ll see you soon,” he mimicked. “Are we terrorizing kids now?”
“She’s not a kid anymore.” No one recognized that irritatingly, dick-hardening fact more than I did.
“Then why else would you let her go?”
“I want to play with her a little.”
His teeth clicked. “Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to play with your food?”
I cut my eyes at him and saw his smirk. “I’m going to savor this then.”
He chewed the corner of his lip in silence. I could tell he was thinking, and Lucas thinking was never a good thing since he was intuitive as fuck. “I think it was obvious last night that you two know each other. Did something more happen between you two?”
I paused the card game and turned to bring him into focus. “No.”
What I left unsaid was the fact that she’d been too young for something to happen. We lived together for five years but in that time, she turned my world upside down.
Nothing and no one tortured me more than Mian.
Not all the shit I stole or the lives I took.
Not the money or power.
None of it compared to little Mian Ross.
She would grow older. Her body would change. The sound of her voice would change. Hell, even the look in her eyes…