I could kill her if I had to. If it meant keeping my own children safe.
He knows that about me by now.
“A truce.” The words sound diseased from his lips.
“If not,” I keep my tone light, “she’s gone.” I threaten where I can. His loyalty has never been to his most direct descendant. Becauseheis a part ofme,and as much as Lynx loves me, hehatesthe fact he does.
His face is blank. He wonders how he fucked a monster. He marvels at it, too. It turns him on. Exactly why we’re here.
He doesn’t bother saying nonsense about how I “wouldn’t do that.”
We both know I would.
“This is it,” I say. “No more.”
“Is he really nothing to you?”
I want to murder him for the question alone. But what good would it do? No doubt Lynx has contingency plans for his own death. He’s reminded me of them many times.
“If you harm him…” I let the unspoken threat hover between us.
He waves a shaky hand, brushing my words off. “I know, I know.”
I echo myself. “No more.”
He says nothing, but I see the smile on his face. He always wanted to hurt me more than I ever cared about him.
Today, he’s done it.
BEFORE
LYNX
She leaves the private room reserved for grieving families with her hair a mess, and the boy lurking behind her.
One step.
Another.
Floorboards creak under her weight and she glances both ways before her eyes finally find mine.
Right across the hall, the empty kitchen at my back.
There’s a red mark along her throat.
The boy is glaring at me, and he hovers behind her, protective. His mother would be proud.
I smile at him, then shift my focus to the girl.
“Did you have fun?” I ask my niece softly.
She lifts her chin in defiance but I see her fingers curl, as much as they can with two in a splint on her left hand.
“Is it over?” She asks it with no remorse.
The funeral is a formality, so I don’t blame her for the indifferent disrespect. She didn’t know the man; a tycoon with so much blow in his system when he died, he could’ve fed a small village with the cash it was worth.
I always knew, too, it was a risk coming here, never mind the fact Virginia ismine.The Learys always overstep. But I knew Cassia would be along too, forever Hawthorn’s jewel and nightmare.
