He won’t for long.
“I’m-”
“Prince Thaddeus Ernest Weslington – Ernest being that from Ernest Hemmingway who your father was a very large fan of, which is why your sister Temperance’s middle name is Mary, after his wife.”
“Impressive,” he purrs and turns his palm upward.“And correct.”
“He is such a huge fan,” she carefully places her hand in his, allowing him to plant his lips on the back of it, “that he secretly used to dress up as him on the man’s birthday to honor him since he couldn’t join the celebrations out of Florida,” his hold vanishes post the slobbering, “andhad your mother – whose mysterious death is much less so when you’re familiar with natural poisons like myself – along with his mistresses – and later his pay to play pieces – use a butt plug onhimthat released small jolts to provide an ‘electroshock therapy’ experience further connecting him to his obsession; albeit shorter than he likely anticipated considering how quickly a little buzz up the ass made him come.”
Disgust and curiosity amalgamate in his expression.“How exactly do you know that?”
“Desearás no haber preguntado eso,” mutters Garcia loud enough to tempt me into smirking.
He certainly wishedhehadn’t asked that when he first met her.
That he would’ve just heeded my warning.
Respected the hierarchy.
That same hierarchy the Weslington family has mistakenly believed they are at the top of for far too long.
“I know about everyone and everything that crosses my territory, solo prince of Hoalkey, who issecondto inherit the throne by birthright yet first if he manages to fulfill his father’s seemingly foolish treasure hunt, the same treasure that has his twin sister,” a small finger wave is delivered to the woman being held at gunpoint, “spending an outrageous amount of cash not only to prevent him from completing the expedition, butactivelydamagingmythings.”
All of a sudden, Thad begins lightly touching his lips.“Mlipsargtingly.”
“And I donottake kindly to people damagingmythings…” she coldly continues.
“Bbbbrrrnnn,” he croaks out, frame beginning to sway.
“Ialsodo not take kindly to peopleplayingwhere they do not have permission to play.”
He stumbles towards the railing taking everyone’s attention with him.
“And Iespeciallydo not take kindly to people trying totakefrommethat which is not theirs to take, Weslington.”
His mouth tumbles open in desperation to relieve the agony.
Gasp for air.
“You did notaskto play in my waters.Zerodid.”
“Very politely too, my guy,” I interject in a low volume.
“You did notaskto play with my toys, whichZerois.”
Not my favorite label, but I won’t be verbalizing that.
“And most importantly, you did notaskcould you take it home to destroy.”
Thad frantically begins clutching at his throat.
“You also did notaskto kiss my hand, Weslington…” The appendage is lifted to display.“You merelyassumedI wouldn’t mind, much like you did when it came to being in my waters and threatening a valued member of our syndicate.”Her head angles to one side as he begins pounding on the nearby railing, anxious for aid.“The punishment for all the crimes you have committed isdeath.” Ravencroft uses the other hand to gently peel off a coating from the one she’s holding up.“Thekissof death to be exact.”
“Youpoisonedhim?!” his twin croaks out in spite of the barrel wedged against her face.
“He poisoned himself,” corrects the only woman I knew who had more power than the two of them, while continuing to remove the coating.“Manners maketh man.”Post her finishing, she steps towards his seizing body, gives it one solid push to send it over the edge, and discards whatever coating she had on both hands over his body.“Gibbons.”One of the men who had escorted Thaddeus onto the ship holsters his gun.“Chum.”
“Yes, Madam,” is all he states before rushing away.
