Page 138 of Vicious Kingdom

I struck, my fist colliding with his windpipe. Accurate and precise, the punch carried the full weight of my fury.

The Tormentor stumbled back, coughing and wheezing. “You’ll pay for that!”

Before he could lunge, the door banged open.

If I had written the scene, I would have framed Leo in a bright light, golden hues shimmering around him.

But he wasn’t the knight on the fiery horse.

He was an agent of darkness, shadows glittering in his obsidian eyes.

“You know….” He stepped inside and locked the main door. “You didn’t think I was watching. That I noticed.”

The Tormentor scrambled backward.

“That was Mr. Hertz’s fatal flaw, the loophole you operated too long under.” Leo took a calculated step forward.

“If you kill me, everyone will figure it out,” the Tormentor threatened. “Plus! I have stories. Videos! Pictures. They’ll flood the internet. My laptop is set with a timer, and it will explode. There will be so much scandal surrounding her—” he jabbed a finger “—that she’ll never be able to show her face in public again.”

I gulped. It would never be over. This bastard would haunt me from the grave!

“So?” Leo stepped again. “I’m not a weak man, Jonatan, and you hurt my wife.”

Leo pounced.

The Tormentor lunged at Leo, his desperate hands clawing at my husband’s face. Leo caught his wrists with practiced ease, twisting until the bones creaked beneath his grip. The Tormentor kicked wildly, landing a glancing blow to Leo’s shin that did nothing to slow his advance.

I moved to help, but Leo said calmly, “Stay back, Annaliese.”

“You don’t understand,” the Tormentor gasped, spittle flying from his mouth. “She’s always been mine!”

Leo’s expression never changed—no rage, no satisfaction, just cold calculation as he slammed the Tormentor against the bathroom wall. Porcelain tiles cracked under the impact. His head bounced off the surface with a sickening thud, but he still thrashed like a fish on a hook.

I stood frozen, watching as Leo’s hands moved with terrifying precision. One palm pressed against the Tormentor’s chest while the other cupped the back of his head.

“No, she’s mine.”

A single, fluid motion—a savage twist—and my cousin went limp. His head lolled at an unnatural angle.

“Leonardo,” I breathed, air stinging my throat. “What have you done?”

“What should have been done long ago.” He rose and began to wash his hands. “Go back to the service, Anna. I’ll deal with this.”

My legs wouldn’t move. The weight of what I’d just witnessed anchored me to the bathroom floor like cement blocks. The Tormentor’s hideous body slumped against the wall, his dead eyes fixed on nothing.

“I can’t—” My voice cracked. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to stop the violent trembling that had overtaken my body.

Leo stepped toward me, his movements deliberate and calm, as if he hadn’t just snapped a man’s neck. His hands, now clean of any evidence, framed my face. Those dangerous fingers that had ended a life moments ago now caressed my skin with impossible gentleness.

“I’ve got you, Anna,” he murmured, his breath warm against my forehead. He kissed me gently. “Trust me.”

“I do.” I did.

I should have been terrified of him. I should have run screaming from this bathroom, from the nightmarish horror, but it was like the heavens burst open and the sweetest relief sank into my bones.

It was over.

So simple. Sofinite.Leo didn’t think less of me, and now, I was free.