Page 69 of Wicked Revenge

“I’m sure they will. Go grab your bag,” Maddox tells her. He pulls her up from her seat before planting a kiss on her pouty pink lips and slapping her ass to get her moving.

Her cheeks flush the cutest pink I’ve ever seen, and she’s smiling as she walks away from us and heads upstairs. I want to see her smile like that every day for the rest of our lives.

All three of us are still staring at the empty doorway leading upstairs, smiling like a bunch of love-sick idiots when the sound of my phone ringing pulls us from our peaceful moment.

Digging it out of my pocket, our peace is severed the second we see who it is.

“Oh look, it’s Daddy King,” Maddox sneers.

Chapter 36

“Mr. Wolfe, please. I just got her to sleep, she had a rough–,”

She doesn’t get to finish those foolish words when I slam her into the wall, my hand tightening around her delicate throat as I cut off her words and her oxygen. With her feet dangling a few inches above the floor, I lean in, relishing in the way her fear filled eyes screw shut.

“You remember what happened to the last nanny? Hmm? She tried to stand in my way. It didn’t work out for her. Try to keep me from her again, I fucking dare you.”

She slides down the wall when I drop her, sucking in gulps of air. Her pathetic cries fade as I storm down the hallway, throwing the door open. Em is curled in her bed, a soft pink blanket tucked around her, all the way up to her chin.

“Get up!” My voice booms through her room, startling her from her sleep. Her eyes shoot open, darting around the small space.

When her eyes land on me, she sits up, drawing her knees up to her chest, and scooting as far away as she can. Tears pool in her wide, terrified eyes, but not a single whimper escapes the child's lips as I move toward her. I grab her arm, jerking her from the bed and dragging her into the middle of the room.

“Don’t move, Little Soldier.”

Putting my knife to her throat, I quickly snap the picture and release her arm. A satisfied hum rumbles through my chest when she doesn’t move from the spot I put her in, even as tears stream down her cheeks. She has learned far quicker than Royal ever did.

Of all the mistakes I made when choosing him as my heir, showing him compassion was the greatest. I should have broken him from the beginning. Made him watch as I slaughtered his family, instead of trying to play the savior. It got me nowhere.

I look over the picture, smiling as I walk in a slow circle around her. It’s perfect. With her blonde curls plastered to her tear-streaked face and the knife at her throat. Royal is losing motivation it seems, and this will light a fire under his ass to find The Hunter.

Putting the phone and knife back into my pocket, I kneel in front of her. She doesn’t cower away from me this time. Her haunted eyes stare back at me, reminding me so much of her mother. “Chin up, little soldier. I’ll be back soon.”

Walking out of the room, I don’t even speak to the nanny when I pass her, her arms wrapped around herself as she hugs the wall I left her on. If she values her life, she won’t try that shit again. I’ll slit her throat as easily as the last one.

***

“Yeah?” Royal snaps through the phone.

My leg bounces impatiently before I force it still, shoving the anger from my obsession down.

“Well, hello to you too, son. Where are we at with the Hunter?” Masking the simmering madness, my voice reflects a facade of calm, pissing him off. Nothing, and I mean nothing, pisses him off more than me calling him son.

“We are working on it,” he grits out, hatred spewing in every word. “Kind of hard when Jackson is hiding like a scared little bitch at your place.”

“So you have nothing? Tsk, Tsk.” I click my tongue mockingly. “You know, I’m getting tired of making empty threats. I think it’s time little Em finds out just how much her brothers have forgotten her.”

“I want proof of life. How do I know she’s even alive?”

Picking up my phone from the desk, I pull up the picture I took. Little Em looks terrified, and truth be told, she was. However, unlike her brothers, she’s already learned not to fight back when I tell her to do something. Even at a young age, she knows to obey me.

Their muddled growls rattle through the speaker, reacting exactly as I’d hoped when I took that picture.

Good. Get pissed off.

Royal has always been a protective bastard. He’s delusional, though. His loyalty will be the death of all of them. All of his weak spots are exposed, like low-hanging fruit, ripe for the plucking.

“You son of a bitch. If you touch a single hair on her head, I swear, I will slit your fucking throat.”

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