“I’d put those down if I were you; my father won’t appreciate you killing his long-lost daughter,” I say, forcing strength into my voice, channeling every ounce of authority I can muster. “I am Chloe Tao. Delan Tao’s youngest daughter. Lower your weapons. Now. The man you’re threatening is my bodyguard.”
They exchange glances, lowering their weapons hesitantly. It works.
“Miss Tao, we didn’t know you were —”
“Clearly.” I bite out, signaling for Omero to stand. “Now step aside, and let my man go.”
He’s staring at me like I’ve lost my mind. And maybe I have. The guards look at each other again, then move away from Omero.
“Now go help hold the perimeter. My father will want this house secured immediately.”
They actually listen, running past me toward the chaos I’d already passed through. The second they’re gone, Omero grabs my arm. “What the hell are you doing here? Boss is going to kill me —”
“Where is he? Where’s Basili?”
“The study —” he says, pointing further up the hall.
“Go find Emmanuel. Look upstairs; the guest bedrooms are all down the south hall. Try there first,” I order him, I’m already moving towards the study.
I run. The study door is open, and I hear voices within. Delan’s voice, Shuren's, and Basili’s. I burst through the door and freeze when I see the scene that’s unfolding within.
Basili is on the ground, on his back, bloodied and beaten. Shuren stands over him, a gun pressed to his temple. Delan is behind his desk, another gun trained on Raffaello, who’s pinned in the corner.
Basili sees me. Smiles for a split second in delirium, then the smile fades, replaced by pure horror. “No. You can’t be here. Chloe, get the fuck out of here!”
But I can’t move. Can’t breathe. Because Delan has his eyes locked on me, looking at me like I’m six years old again, small and helpless.
“Well, well.” His voice is exactly as I remember, cold and cruel. “The prodigal daughter returns.”
He crosses the room in three strides, and before I can raise a finger to defend myself, his hand connects with my face. The slapechoes through the study. Pain explodes across my cheek. And just like that, I’m back. Back in that house under his control. Worthless, frightened, and helpless.
“Look at you,” Delan sneers. “Still pathetic. Still weak. You’ve been an embarrassment from the moment you were born. A mistake I should have corrected years ago.”
“Father —” My voice comes out broken.
“Don’t. Don’t call me that.” He grabs my chin, forcing me to look at him. “You poisoned your sister against me. Made her soft. Convinced her to betray her family. For what? For you? You’re nothing. No one.”
“I didn’t —”
“You did. You corrupt everything you touch.” He strikes me again, and I feel my lip burst open this time. “I should have killed you when I had the chance. Just like I did your mother.”
My world stops. “What?”
“Oh, please. You didn’t really believe she died of cancer, did you?” He laughs. “No, dear Chloe. I killed her. Poisoned her slowly over months, made her suffer. All because she threatened to take you and leave. Because she thought she could defy me.”
He murdered her.Something inside me breaks as I absorb the truth. Or maybe it’s that something finally snaps into place. Idrive my foot into his knee with everything I have. He goes down with a howl of pain.
“You bitch —”
Shuren’s head snaps toward us. Toward me. The gun shifts from Basili’s forehead, and he moves faster than I can track, a long, sharp piece of wood in his hand. He drives it into the side of Shuren’s neck through the artery.
Blood goes everywhere as my brother collapses, gasping, dying.
Delan, on the other hand, is getting back to his feet, lunging toward me. His fist connects with my stomach, and I double over. Then Basili is there, tackling him to the ground, fist slamming into his face with a sickening crunch before fixing the gun on him and pulling the trigger.
Just like that, both my brother and my father are gone. The two men who made my childhood a living nightmare are dead. My only regret is that I wasn’t the one to pull the trigger.
“Chloe.” Basili moves to me, wrapping his arms around me, Raffaello hovering close behind. “How did you get here? Why are you here?”
