I was out of my chair so fast, she yelped when I grabbed her neck and slammed her up against a wall. “I don’t have time for your fucking shit, girl. Either you start talking or I swearthiskidnapping will end with a funeral, without a fucking body,” I hissed the last part and shoved her away from me.
Breathing hard, she gripped the back of the chair to keep upright. My threat didn’t faze her. She narrowed her eyes at me. “Do whatever the fuck you want with me but I’m not telling you anything, do you hear me,” she screeched. “I’m sick of this fucking island. I’m sick of you brothers taking advantage of me. I’m fucking sick—”
“And what about me, Zena?” Rayden entered the room.
Her head snapped toward him. Surprisingly, her anger didn’t dissipate. “You don’t need me, Rayden. You never did.”
His frown matched mine. “Why would you say that?” he asked.
Her gaze shifted between the two of us and a sudden tingle down my spine told me I was not going to like what came next.
“Youknow why,” she spat in my direction.
Rayden looked at me, his puzzled eyes asking me to explain something I didn’t understand either. “Babe—”
“Don’t you fucking babe me,” she snarled.
Enraged, I went for her but she grabbed a knife lying on my desk and lunged for me the same time Rayden yelled.
“Zena, what the fuck’s gotten into you.” He neared her and she waved the knife in front of her.
“Quit playing the innocent boy, Rayden, you’re way past that.”
“Give me the knife, Zena.” I held out my hand and her hysterical laugh filled the room, startling Rayden.
She glared at the two of us. “You want to know why I paid Bianca, Lorenzo? Because I hated you. I hated every miserable inch of you. The second I found out she was sleeping with you, my head spun with the idea of getting even with you. I didn’t expect that bitch to give me up. Good thing you killed her or I sure as fuck would’ve.”
With each word she uttered, I could see Rayden was beginning to break, he was trying to stay strong. I knew it was only a matter of time before she broke him completely. “Zena, stop this shit now,” I ordered.
“Fuck you. Bianca might’ve called you in but I still got my way. I mean I fucking fell pregnant with your child, right. Mission achieved. Only, your asshole brother cut me off at the knees before I could get to you, before I could destroy you,” she grumbled, staring at me then shifted her gaze, “and you.”
Rayden’s jaw dropped on a shocked gasp. “Why, Zena?”
She laughed, a delirious laugh of a woman I didn’t recognize and by the look on his face, neither did Rayden. “Because he took what belonged to me and no one. No. One. Takes from me.” She lifted the hand holding the knife and bent it at the elbow. “You see this, Rayden.” She pointed to a scar running the length of her forearm, from elbow to wrist. Although faded, it looked like the weapon had cut deep, inflicting a lot of pain. “Do you want to know how I got this, Lorenzo.” She laughed but there was no mirth to it. “The boy that did this to me—he died within seconds of stabbing me. I killed him, Rayden. Stuck my makeshift knife deep into his chest—”
“What the fuck, Zena?”
“What’s wrong, Rayden, didn’t think I had it in me to kill someone?” her voice dripped sarcasm.
“Please, babe, stop this and tell me what’s wrong.” Rayden took a step toward her and without thinking, I shot forward, shoving him away as her knife slashed forward. He looked at me, shock turning his expression into quick annoyance.
“What the fuck’s wrong with you,” I scowled at her.
“Don’t you two make quite the team,” she grimaced. It was easy for me to take her down, a quick bullet to head but I couldn’t risk it and I needed answers. As if his sudden anger had an effect, she shook her head and lowered the knife. “He took what I saw first, Rayden. I was just twelve then. A little girl, lost in the system, abandoned by coke addict parents, raped by masochist stepfather who decided I was put on this earth for his pleasure. Then when I finally escaped, I had to survive the streets, live off the dumpsters, steal when I could while avoiding Bobby. The asshole who bullied all the kids on the street. Then he made the mistake of demanding what was mine. And I killed him.”
“Shit, Zena. I didn’t know any of this.”
“Why would you? You were just interested in getting into my panties.”
“That’s not fair,” Rayden muttered, his irritation beginning to grow.
“Well, not everything is fair in life, right? Until this asshole appeared, everything was fine,” she bit out, her tear-glazed eyes lasers of hate on me.
I gave a flying fuck. “Enough with the dramatics, Zena.” I took a step forward. “Answer the fucking question.”
Her laugh was mirthless. “I was there, Lorenzo, I saw the both of you.”
Rayden and I looked at each other. My confusion matching his. “Where?” he asked.
