She wasn’t trembling. She was breaking.
Veil thrown over the back of her head, she stepped closer to her father as if his trim-cut body would protect her from her fate. It only made me smile more. Finally,fucking finally!She would take a taste of the bitter medicine. She was about to feel her father’s betrayal and see him for the demonic sonofabitch that he was.
As I reminded Loring of his sins, showed him my power, Amanda grew smaller and smaller.
I…hated it.
This was what you wanted.I steeled my resolve, forcing my shoulders tight. But a knot formed in my chest as I watched defeat sink in. It shouldn’t bother me. I was made of sterner stuff.
“You can’t do this!” Loring launched forward, looking around for help.
It was too cute. His money and connections weren’t here. There was no escape from this reckoning.
“I can, and I did,” I said calmly, rocking forward onto my toes. It took every drop of control not to close the distance and obliterate him. Oh, how he would squeal with my knife poking holes in his belly.
Amanda, standing by herself, watched her father sit. Alone, defenseless, she had no power to stop this.
I felt her gaze on me, searching for any shred of mercy behind the mask. There was none.
Loring finally came to his senses. “What do you want?”
You. Rotting and hanging from a beam as I strip every pound of flesh from your bones.But I would settle for something else. Something warm and wonderful…for now. I crooked a finger. “I want what’s always been mine.”
“My daughter? What does that mean, always been yours? Who the hell are you?” Loring spewed daggers.
“This time, you won’t be able to stop me.” How sweet those words tasted. I’d been waiting years for them. “I’m more powerful, have more money than you, and my allies are stronger.”
And I’m going to destroy you.
I kept that part to myself. It was more fun to save a little suspense for later in the show. Let my enemy think this was my grand move, the biggest blow to his ego. I would attack when he least suspected it and burn his world to the ground.
He should have killed me, but the only thing he had the stomach for was sending me to prison. That forged me, made me the monster he saw today.
“Come here, Amanda,” I beckoned, crooking a finger. “We have a plane to catch.”
A golden ray of sun fell on the bride. It was as if heaven stamped her with its approval. Under the shroud of warmth, Amanda drew herself up straight.
“No.”
One word. One little act of defiance.
It made my blood thrum hot.
Not because I enjoyed the challenge. I did. But that wasn’t why.
No…it was that it felt like the first honest thing she’d said in years. That was the response of a woman who defied the changing tides and wrestled for control of her destiny.
Too bad fate already molded it to mine. “You don’t have a say, cara.”
The endearment slipped out, and I wanted to kick myself for it.
Turning to the lawyer, I finalized the terms of the negotiation. “You’re going to let me take her, or they’ll know all about your sins, Loring.”
“You’ll be arrested before you leave the island,” Loring spat, pushing to his feet. “You can’t get away with this. There are witnesses.”
I spread my arms wide. “What witnesses? The staff saw nothing. It’s your corrupt word against mine.”
“Where are the guests?” Amanda demanded.
