Page 49 of Shattered Empire (Shattered World)

“I was hoping you were nothing like your pig of a father.” Disappointment colored my tone, and I tsked again. “Luckily, my hopes weren’t too high. I do hate to be disappointed. Now,” I twisted the knife slightly, and the man howled, “one of your clients caught my attention, and I want to know who the owner is.”

Silence.

Conrad’s teeth clenched together, his lips turned up in what I suppose he thought was a snarl, but it was more of a grimace. He wasn’t going to tell me without a little more motivation.

“Okay, then.” Grabbing the other steak knife on the table, I embedded it into his other hand. He wailed and cursed and cried, but it didn’t matter. “Sorry about that. Some people were complaining that I go for the kneecaps too often, so I thought I’d try something different. But don’t worry. A little bit of surgery, and you might regain some use sooner or later. Who. Is. The. Owner?”

“I don’t…” He swallowed back the pain and sobs. “There wasn’t a name attached, but I’ve seen him. Older man. Irish. With a cane. He was my father’s first client.”

Seamus. Or whoever the hell was pretending to be him.

“Why wasn’t there a name?”

“Guy didn’t want anything traced back to him,” Conrad told me breathlessly. “We kept him anonymous.”

“What about—” Movement at the door to the restaurant caught my attention. It was subtle, and no one else in the room appeared to have caught it.

Blue eyes beneath a wide-brimmed hat burned into my soul, the hatred bubbling up around me at the smug smile that was shot my way.

Kenzi was here.

Then, before I could blink, she was gone.

A ghost.

“Let’s continue this later, huh?” Without a backward glance, I strode out of the restaurant, ignoring the people calling my name. This was more important. The revenge I had been searching for was at my fingertips.

The street outside was nearly empty, save for a few pedestrians.

An engine revved to my left, tires squealing as it broke to a sudden stop in front of me. The window slid down. Betrayal seared my soul when she smiled at me and winked from behind the wheel of her Aston Martin.

“Come and get me, big sis,” she taunted before revving the engine again. Snarling, I ripped my father’s car key from my pocket and darted to it before she could get too far ahead of me. It was pure luck that I had insisted on driving myself to the restaurant.

The door opened automatically at the push of a button, sliding up and out of the way. Once I pressed the keyless ignition, it closed, and I was off like a shot. The Ferrari F60 America glided through the slick streets of Portland with ease. Its compact body allowed it to take the sharp turns of the city, weaving through traffic smoothly.

Kenzi managed to continually stay out of range. She was leading me somewhere. Probably a trap, but I didn’t care. This was my chance. Matthias was dead, and she was the reason why. I didn’t care if she had been tricked into it or was ready to apologize.

All I wanted was for her to bleed like my heart bled every damn day.

Rain began to pour from the open sky. The Ferrari’s wipers were working overtime as I followed Kenzi’s trail down a long dirt road just outside of the city limits. Despite the mud beneath the tires and several near wipeouts, I only inched the gas pedal down farther.

Kenzi had disappeared from my sight. Not that it mattered. There was only one place this road led. An abandoned barn surrounded by a field of trees. Because that wasn’t creepy at all.

“Bit dramatic, don’t you think, Kenz?” I hollered over the howling wind, the rain instantly soaking me as I stepped out of the car. Unease blitzed through me when I peeked at the depreciating structure before me. Summoning what little bravado I possessed, I stalked toward the dilapidated building.

“Come on, lil sister,” I mocked once I had stepped through the open door that led inside. It smelled of mold and musty hay, and the air hung heavy with disuse. “You got me all the way out here.” I let my hand rest on the gun tucked into the small of my back. “You just gonna hide?”

The echoing laugh was mordacious and dark. It made my skin crawl and my jaw clench.

“You used to like to play and seek.” Her voice was distant, and the capacious space made it hard to pinpoint where it was coming from. “Remember?”

I rolled my eyes. Oh, I remembered all right. The twins knew the inside and outside of the house. The secret hallways, the servants’ wings, everything. I’d spend hours looking for them, only to realize Kendra had taken them out for something special while leaving me home.

Yep. There were no forgetting memories such as that.

“That’s not exactly how I remember it,” I returned. “But let’s not quibble over such trivial things.” Not that those memories were trivial. They were branding. A reminder of where I truly sat in that family growing up. “Why don’t you just come on out? Let me shoot you. Get this over with nice and quick.”

More laughter.

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