Suddenly I started to feel dizzy, his confession got worse by the second the more he talked. I was lost for words, what was left of my broken heart turned into tiny shards.
“I told Grand everything that he needs to know about you because Tylaniah is my everything?—”
I choked off of his words, I quickly blinked away my tears. He could have fucking lied in this moment instead of making me feel so stupid for claiming him as my everything in front of Grand as a kind and caring attempt to save his fucking life.
“We have three kids and twins on the way. I love my wife and promise that you, her, and me could be a happy family once I sorted more stuff out.” He sighed weakly. Darius’s eyes rolled to the back of his head; he readjusted himself in the puddle of pissmixed with some of his dried blood. He opened his swollen eyes and eyed me sadly.
“Originally, we were looking for another woman for our relationship. You were different and going through so much, I told Ty that, and she felt for you. She wanted me to heal you before I introduced the two of you. Ty was always caring, even loving. She didn’t like to be suffocated with affection, so she enjoyed the time we spent apart while I got to know you.” He continued to make my head spin.
I frowned at him as my insides twisted into tiny painful knots. I wanted to kick Darius in the mouth over and over to shut him up.
“She saw you a couple months ago at her cousin trap house buying drugs…I didn’t believe it. You seemed regular to me, until I went through the closet and found the shit myself?—”
“Enough!” Grand cut him off just as I felt like fainting.
“Our entire relationship was a lie?” I said out loud more so to myself.
“No, I love you, Mira. I want what’s best for you and?—”
Grand snapped his fingers, silence swept over the room. His white owl appeared out of nowhere accompanied by a gray and black owl with bright yellow eyes. Seconds later, Staress walked in, her hips swayed seductively with each step she took. In her hands, she held black platform boots, the boots were odd looking. My eyes gazed at the bottom of the boots and gasped when I realized what was attached.
Staress looked flawless wearing a strapless red mini dress that hugged her slim, thick curves like a second skin. Her long legs shined with oil; she had on six-inch red bottom heels. Effortlessly she squatted right in front of Grand and placed the boots in front of him. Without looking down, he stepped into them calmly. My heart rate sped up when he took his first step over towards Darius.
“You still want to save him?” He looked back at me with a wicked stare.
My mouth moved but nothing came out, I didn’t know what to say. Darius looked at me with pleading eyes but all I kept replaying in my head was the words that left his mouth.How could he fucking play me like that when all I ever was, was good to him?I thought he cared about me, my pain, the way I mourned and told him all the things I had gone through?
“If you say yes, I’ll let him go.” Grand stated confidently.
He and I locked eyes, and I still couldn’t speak. His white owl landed on my shoulder, instead of me jumping out of shock, I released a breath that I didn’t know I was holding on to. I turned my head, and me and the owl stared at each other. The weight of the room suffocated me, until I felt someone step behind me.
Instead of me looking back, I looked at where I once saw Grand standing. He was no longer in front of Darius. Next, his cologne consumed me, that’s when I knew he was standing behind me. I kept getting so lost within my own thoughts that I was losing focus on what was happening right in front of me.
His breath went down my spine.
“You want freedom?” He murmured directly in my ear.
I nodded my head yes.
His deep raspy voice made goosebumps rise on every part of my body. My nipples stiffened involuntarily as he stepped around to the front of me. His two gold teeth on the bottom row flashed into a slow cruel smile.
“Freedom’s an illusion, baby.” He licked his full lips.
“I can give you that, and way more when the time is right. Tonight, could have been different, this punishment could have waited but you pushed me to this moment. I was saving him in my ice room for the Grand Finale.” He chuckled.
“I gave you a chance to save him, you didn’t say anything. So, watch me erase a deceptive part of your past.” He clicked his teeth then moved like time belonged to him.
The weight of the owl and its nails digging into my shoulder was the pinch that I needed to tell me that I wasn’t dreaming. It all was real down to the modified soles of his boots. I listened to the click clack that echoed from them. The thick nails were drilled into the bottom like teeth.
He walked toward Darius who didn’t move or beg, he already knew his fate. Grand paused in front of Darius then tilted his head to the side just like the owl did when he landed on my shoulder.
“Silent tears.” Grand asked amused.
“Please—”
Grand raised his boot high; I shut my eyes then heard a loud crack. It dawned on me seconds too late that I didn’t beg for Grand to spare Darius life. Something inside of me snapped, the darkness that I fought hard to keep locked out of my life blossomed. I never in life wished for the death of anyone, not even the truck driver who fell asleep and end up killing my mom.
Figuratively I thought about killing Darius, I even pictured Grand whooping his ass and enjoying it. I opened my eyes up and watched the nails on the bottom of Grand boot drive into Darius’s shoulder with a sickening crunch. Darius screamed, it ripped through the air and bounced off the chandelier where the other owls exploded into flight. Their wings flapped wildly, they circled above us in a chaotic storm. The one on my shoulder didn’t move, it stayed watching Grand.
