Page 9 of Seduce & Destroy

On the ground sat half a pomegranate fruit that looked as if it had been burned, its seeds scattered in a jagged line toward the next set of trees.

Taking another step, I gagged.

A pale hand stretched from beneath a pile of leaves, clutching the other half of that charred pomegranate. As my darkened eyes followed from the fingers to the wrist to the arm, a body came into view.

A girl with ginger hair, makeup freshly done and in a sundress.

Except the dress was stained, liquid oozes out of the gouged hole of her chest with pomegranate juice.

No, not with juice, with blood. Oxygenated blood that was a pale crimson. Fresh and new.

Jesus Christ.

Chapter 3

LANEY

The first thing I looked for when I started my day was her. There’s something uncanny in her refrain. Each time I caught a glimpse, I was transported back to my secondary school self, and that fearful intrigue in me was ablaze again. If she wasn’t the girl I swore I saw at school, she was my dream girl.

It was either that or I was just excited to have another woman at the estate. Tilly was coming today, or at least I hoped so. She was often late. Being both newlywed and a new mother left her with little time for friends.

It was only me here. Well, now it's me and Kenna. Mafia women usually get married just before their eighteenth birthday; they don’t stay at home long. Father even set me up once, but it didn’t work out.

Tilly had a husband, I had her. She turned nineteen last week. The kitchen prepared a red velvet cake for tonight.

Father and I sat on a balcony overlooking the front driveway of the manor house, cappuccinos in hand—mine with chocolate sprinkles on top, his without. It became our new routine as we adjusted to the new house.

“I hope you have updated the server verification system to be processed through a VPN in the Cayman Islands and disguised the extended geo-tracking into the wider Great Tenor area to comply with new public privacy laws.” My father spoke with no glamour. Believe it or not, those are the first words he has spoken to me today. I stopped expecting a ‘good morning’ greeting when I hit puberty.

“Yup, and I installed a facial recognition system in the cameras at each estate entrance, including the West porch entryway and gates. The new hires already had their likeness scanned on intake.”

His eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Great. And the April hard driv-?”

“Already encrypted and in the Cave.”

“Good.” He nodded sharply. A copy of Troilus and Cressida lay on the table between us. Father kept up with my English teachings through Shakespeare's plays. I only really enjoyed the romantic ones, even with a tragic ending. “How far did you get?”

“I just reached Act three this morning.”

“Ah, Cressida’s exchange. It’s a terrible shame that war necessitates familial sacrifice. Know, Sunshine, that I would never trade you.”

“I know, Father.” You would rather use me. “But it seems like hearts will break regardless. I don't want Grandad's death to be just a piece in a larger war. I don’t even want the conflict. It always ends in tragedy.”

“It’ll be worth it.” He said. “We’ll get our revenge, Laney. Your grandfather’s death will not be in vain.”

Hope of revenge shall hide our inward woe. “That won’t make us heal faster! It’ll just make the cuts deeper. Doesn’t it hurt enough?”

He didn’t reply. It always seemed that violence and pain was something inevitable in his mind. That it simply came with the mafia territory. I never really understood why resolutions of conflict in this world had to be signed in blood rather than handwritten signatures.

“His funeral will be in four weeks.”

“Okay.” I said, nodding, but the bounce of my knee drilled a rhythm into the ground below my feet. There was something eery about this place. Its history concealed under the thick foliage of intertwining ivy vines, but while it might be covered, it wasn’t concluded.

A heavy hand fell on my knee and froze me in place. “You know you are safe here, Laney.”

“I felt safe in London.”

“To land on top, we must hide and become prepared to fight. This is a temporary base to facilitate that.”

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