Page 61 of Consort of the Crime Queen

Papa nods slowly, processing, strategizing. Seeking the angle, the way to survive this encounter. Ever the master manipulator.

"Then what is your purpose here?" He pauses delicately. "Do you plan to press your claim as rightful heir with Nero gone? It would be…an easier sell, now that you have killed him. The men would be more inclined to consider following you, if they knew?—"

I laugh then, low and dangerous. For decades I've craved even the smallest scrap of validation from this man who by actions made clear he held me in no regard. Desperately sought to prove myself worthy of the birthright I was determined had been stolen from my grasp.

Over the last few weeks, that craving has been withering away, and the sight of my father now kills it off in an instant.

"No," I tell him. "I'm not here for the Family."

His face—very slightly—falls.

And I realize my father is almost relieved that I killed Nero. He must have known what a liability my brother had become, growing more volatile and out of control as the years passed.

By removing Nero from play, I've quite neatly tidied up one of my father's messes.

I sit down at the table opposite him. "Aurora once asked me why I was so eager to prove myself to you. I've been asking myself that question a lot lately, too."

Aurora. Her face fills my mind, luminous and courageous. She's shown more strength than this feeble tyrant ever possessed.

I smile at him. "Why on earth would I want to lead such a corrupt, honorless Family when I have my own people who would die for me? People who respect me not because of my name, but because I earned their loyalty. The Styx Syndicate is more of a family than this travesty ever was."

My father blinks, clearly startled by my words. I press on.

"So, no. I have no interest in the Imperioli Family any longer. Nero is dead—a thing you were too weak to do yourself. As long as you stay out of my way from now on, I'll consider the matter concluded."

He sneers. "I see. So you came here only to gloat at an old man, to tell him you have killed his only son, and then?—"

"No," I tell him calmly, "I had another reason. I want information." I lean in, watching him closely. "The attacks on my people, recently—I assumed it was Nero. But he thought it was you. Were you behind them?"

He exhales slowly. "No," he says at last. "It was not me. You would have known if it was sanctioned by me. I would have made sure of that."

Something about his demeanor makes me think he speaks the truth, for once. And what he says is true—he would have wanted me to know it was him. This petty man clings to his crumbling empire, lacking the strength or will to test himself against me now. Perhaps Nero's failure will teach him humility, at long last.

Satisfied, I stand up and give him a dismissive nod. "Then I consider matters between us closed for now. Stay out of my affairs, and I will stay out of yours." I head for the door.

"Brava!"

His shout stops me, and he rises from his seat now as I turn back, applauding me as though I'm some opera superstar.

"Brava! Brava! Yes, Hadria. This is what I needed to see from you. Now—put aside your foolish pride and return to us, take your rightful place as my heir now that Nero is gone. Lead the Family into a new era. It's not too late."

I look back at him where he stands framed against the bay windows, the bright morning sun at his back casting his face in shadow. He seems small suddenly, despite his imposing stature. A frail, grasping old man desperate to salvage the only legacy he has left now that I have ripped his legacy from his faltering hands.

Not the monster who shaped my fate and haunted my nightmares for so long.

"You already have my answer," I tell him.

He scowls. "Stop being so stubborn. Come now, be a good girl, and?—"

"Don Imperioli, I have never been a good girl. I'm not about to start now." I turn and stalk from the room, calling over my shoulder, "You'd better pray you never see me again. Because if you do, it will be the last thing you see."

I think he probably will stay out of my way. Whatever schemes and secrets haunt his corrupted soul, he has no appetite for open war between us, not like Nero did.

I came seeking answers about the one who attacked my people, but leave having shed the last shreds of a child's need for a monster's approval. Let him rot in this fading prison of his own making. He's nothing to me now.

Still, I leave with unanswered questions.

If it wasn't on Nero's orders, and it wasn't Don Imperioli, who exactly has been killing off my people over the past few weeks? Johnny de Luca, for some reason I can't fathom? Or like Nero suggested, was it one of the bribed Syndicate members, trying to build tension and disunity in the ranks?

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