Page 22 of Monstrous Grave

Merely remembering the night before has left me rattled, shaken like a leaf consumed by a strong gale. Throughout the ride, it was as if a weighted stone pressed against my lungs, attempting to steal all my oxygen. Almost as if a hand reached inside my ribcage, grabbing hold of the organs beneath before ripping them out.

Now, it’s like a distant memory, and I can’t even begin to fathom if it was reality or a dream, though the bandage around my shoulder blade hints at the truth—that someone was inside my apartment as I was asleep.

Not someone.

Him.

The biker.

Viper García.

He’s the only one I was supposed to meet. Did he kill the guard, stealing the corpse, only to threaten to reveal it all to the Grimaldis? It’d put the whole heist in danger.

Clearing his throat, Mr. Valenti eventually comes closer to both Alec and me, settling into an office chair among the many lined around the conference table. I’ve always despised being near him, memories from years I’d rather forget washing up in my mind like sand along the shore.

“Get on your knees and kiss my shoes if you want me to show mercy,” Antonio growls, his striking brown eyes narrowing down on me. Running his fingers through his brown hair, now peppered with gray, showing his age, he exchanges a look with Mr. Valenti. They both share the same kind of glance before inching even closer, and I have no other choice but to comply, lowering myself down on the ground.

A surge of bile rises in my throat at the thought of that first year when they exploited my body for what they deemed the greater good. It was all bait to capture my attention and manipulate my desire for my well-deserved revenge. I wonder if Alec even knows what a fucking pervert his father and his second-in-command is.

I lift my gaze, noticing how close Mr. Valenti is—close enough for the scent of his expensive cologne to envelop me.

“We only have a few more preparations to make before we can proceed with the heist, but the time is running out. The other organizations are directing their attention on this matter, assuming we’re building up for war after they’ve seen us—” His eyes flicker to mine. “—You, driving around their lands.”

His words have rage boiling within me, hating that he insinuates something from merely a false observation.

“Do you think you’re capable of executing such a complicated heist, Arcane?”

His words catch me off guard, so cold and uncaring with no hint of emotion to them. It’s as if he doesn’t care whether or not he crushes me from the inside with the words he just spoke. He only wants to hurt me in the same way everyone has always hurt me. Betrayed and ruined me.

Clenching my fists, I tilt my head up in a show of defiance. “Yes, of course.”

I barely even recognize my voice, gritting out the words. He fucking knows that this heist is my chance to finally get the revenge I’ve sought out since I was abandoned by the Grimaldis, left to fend for myself because of him. Because they only wanted Kaiden, and I was the baggage.

How fucking dare he?

Acknowledging the fact that I’ll only make matters worse should I talk back, I opt to sit my ass on the chair while giving him a feigned sweet smile. “I won’t disappoint you.”

Nausea grips me, turning my stomach inside out as the urge to gag rises. Swiftly, I swallow down a mouthful of saliva, desperate to conceal the disgust welling up within me from those words.

“I’ll hold you to your word,” he declares, a glint in his eyes underscoring the implicit threat. “I expect you to work with Viper García and find out everything he knows about this. Or else this entire heist will be ripped out of your hands, much like I’ll rip your heart out if you don’t fall in line, girl.” With such venom, he spews out the last word, leaving me half expecting a snake’s tongue to lurk within his mouth.

He strides out of the conference room with Antonio in tow, as well as his closest personal guard. I have to restrain myself from going after him and lashing out all of my annoyance against his face, crushing it underneath my already bruised knuckles.

Too fucking bad I have to play the dutiful part of a submissive woman, lowering to her knees for men whenever they tell her to, obeying their every command if only to protect my own life. That is how it works in our world, dominated by men who have all the power the Devil gifted them, leaving us women alone in the shadows, constantly fighting for our time to shine.

“Are you okay?” Alec asks me, his voice laced with concern.

I force a smile, attempting to brush off the annoyance stirred by his despicable father. Alec squeezes my uninjured shoulder.

It appears my only chance for vengeance lies in aligning myself with the one man I’ve avoided like the plague.

“We’re getting the sonar equipment today,” he merely states, shifting my attention from the floor up to his eyes. I nod, hoping everything will go well with that mission.

Before diving into the depths of the main heist, a myriad of preparations needs to be done. We’re halfway there, with the impending doomsday looming so closely—on the third of July. Two weeks stand between us and the robbery that will reshape it all. I steel myself, anchoring my resolve to that knowledge of how little time is left. I can hold on for that long.

I have to.

Only then will I finally let go of this clawing agony shredding me apart with each passing day, reclaiming justice against those who ruined my life and future, who relished in the twisted desire of seeing me fail in this man-made world.

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