“I thought about it,” I admitted. “Being done with you. Stabbing you in the heart and giving your body to the fishes in the river. They’re hungry little things, you know. But then I thought about everything you’ve done, everything you tried to do, and you know what? A quick death is too good for someone like you. I need the satisfaction of knowing your death is slow and agonizing.”
Her eyes widened, but she could say not a word with my palm over her mouth.
“I’m not going to kill you,” I hissed as my fingers tightened around her face. “You’re going to be here, alone, knowing the world outside doesn’t miss you one bit. For every day I was in that basement, you’re going to be in here, trapped. No matter how hard you scream, no matter how hard you pull at the chain around your ankle, you won’t be able to get out. For the first time ever, you’ll know what it’s like to be helpless.”
I shoved her face away and dragged my clawed hand down her arm. She didn’t respond, but she whimpered when I left a deep cut on her bicep. I stepped away from the bed, allowing her the opportunity to grab at her arm and wince.
“Actually,” I said, leaning my back on the wall, “you owe me more than two years. You owe me a lifetime of misery, so you’re going to stay in this room and get real acquainted with these walls, because they’re the only things you’re going to see. In fact, you’ll be down here while I’m out there, living my life. I’ll be the grieving daughter at my dad’s funeral, don’t worry. The world won’t miss you at all. No one will remember Tessa Hawkins.”
Something like that? It was the worst fate for someone like her, someone who so desperately wanted to be revered, admired, and respected. A fate like that was worse than a quick death a thousand times over.
Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to dig these claws into her, to give her a million tiny cuts and watch her bleed out as she cursed my name to hell and back—but the gratification of that wouldn’t last long. No, this way, I’d be able to check in on her, to look at her chained to this bed, any time I wanted.
“A quick death is, to put it simply, too good for you,” I told her with a shrug, and then I started toward the door.
“No!” she called out to me. “No, wait! Don’t—”
I stopped when I reached the door, tossing a smug glance over my shoulder. Seeing her there, chained to the bed, gave me this warm, tingly feeling in my gut. Honestly? She was right where she should’ve always been.
“Oh,” I said, “and by the way, I’m going to havesomuch fun fucking your dad. Bye!” I waved my clawed fingers at her, leaving her with that as I exited the room and bolted every single lock on the door.
The look on her face when I said that? Priceless. Absolutely priceless. And the best thing was, I wasn’t even joking. I really was going to have a lot of fun fucking that woman’s dad.
I made it to the kitchen, where everyone was waiting for me. Kieran was the one who spoke first: “That’s it? That was quick.” I knew out of the three of my guys that were here, he was hopingI’d do a little more physical torture and less mental torment, but the mental part was what would really hurt that bitch the most.
“I said what I needed to say,” I spoke with a shrug as I lifted my clawed hand. The tips of the metal were wet with red, but not overly dripping with the stuff. “No point in delaying it.”
He didn’t seem too pleased, but he got over it pretty quickly. “Should we place bets on how long we think it’ll take for her to lose her mind in there? No TV. No window to the outside world at all. Diabolical, Laina.”
“Maybe we’ll show her a clip or two from the funeral, just so she knows she wasn’t missed.” I worked on slipping off the glove and replacing it with the regular metal fingers. Fang helped me with the bracelet part.
“So, back to the bets—”
I smiled to myself as the entire kitchen erupted in conversation, everyone saying their own two cents on the matter. Even Mike chimed in here and there. It was all so… normal. So strangely normal, considering what the topic of conversation was.
When would Tessa lose her mind? We’d have to wait and see, but in the meantime I’d have popcorn at the ready. I’d be there, watching from afar, as that woman lost her mind day after day, and I’d do it with a smile on my face.
Chapter Twenty-Seven – Laina
Things were a whirlwind after that. Tessa had already worked on most of the arrangements for the service that weekend. All it took was some sweet-talking on my part to let me take it over. I played the part—I put on a blond wig with Lola’s help and took out my colored contacts. I acted the grieving daughter, and I looked the part. Dressed in all black, I was exactly what the country wanted me to be. I left off my metal fingers, leaving the healed nubs on my left hand on full display to the cameras that were taping damn near the entire thing.
And I stood up there, during the service, alone when I made my speech about my dad. My guys—Kieran, Fang, Mike, and Jason—and Lola and hers were in the audience, along with all of my dad’s sponsors and so many of his nameless supporters.
The biggest church in the city, and it still wasn’t big enough. People were packed in the pews, to the point where many had to stand, crowding around the church’s aisles. I was pretty sure the line went out the door.
An old priest sat nearby, waiting. Everyone was waiting for me to speak. I looked at the casket front and center, where my dad was. Its mahogany wood was shut, so you couldn’t see him. We’d held a wake the night before—that had been a job on its own.
So many handshakes. So many condolences. So many people who apparently cared about my dad.
As I stood there, splitting my time between staring at the casket and gazing out at the surreal crowd, I realized: I wasn’t just playing the grieving daughter. Iwasthe grieving daughter. This wasn’t simply a role for me to play; it was who I was, who I’d be for a while, until the wound wasn’t so fresh and the grief didn’t hurt me like a searing hot knife to the chest.
“Before he was mayor, Vance Hawkins was my dad,” I said, choosing to ignore the notecards I’d scribbled down in haste. “He was a single parent who tried his best to keep his daughter out of trouble. I didn’t make it easy for him.” I smiled softly at the memory. “I was taken before he became the mayor of this city. I didn’t get to see it happen—” A lie, but one the public needed to continue to believe. “—but I heard all about it when I escaped.”
My fingers traced the bottom edge of the top notecard. “When I got out, everything was different. Too different, I used to think. He had more responsibilities, more pressure, but underneath it all, he always wanted to do the right thing. I realize now, looking out at you all, that he wasn’t just my dad. He was everyone’s. He wanted to protect this city and everyone in it, wanted what was best for everyone, regardless of their political beliefs.”
I shut my eyes for a few moments, the weight of what I was about to say weighing down on me like nothing else ever could. “He was a good dad, and he was taken from me, from all of us, too soon. The world is a little colder now that he’s gone.”
My men sat towards the front, their gazes fixated on me. Support radiated from each of them. Honestly, they were a sight for sore eyes, each one of them. Turned out, they could clean up quite well. Mike wore a dark suit, while Fang opted for a black button-down long-sleeved shirt, neatly tucked into his black slacks. Kieran wore a crisp black suit, mirroring what Jason wore. Jason had even shaved the scruff on his jaw and cheeks for the occasion.
