Page 119 of Tyrant

Behind me, Demo, Vic, and Peri have secured both Danielle and Bridgette.

I gently stroke Serafina’s left cheek and then I stand up. I remove my mask and my robe. This is me. The real me.

Danielle’s eyes grow wide when she sees me. Bridgette starts to cry.

“You’re not dead,” I say to Danielle.

“I missed my husband too much,” she says.

I walk toward her. Then I stop and turn and look at Bridgette.

“Please,” she says. “No.”

“Too late,” I tell her. “Look at what you’ve done. Look at what you’ve fucking caused.”

“Do you know what he was worth when he died?” Bridgette asks. “And what he gave me? And what he left behind for his daughter? His daughter? A child! I was his wife!”

“And you waited as long as you could, huh?” I ask.

“We all did,” Danielle says. “Your father lied to you about me, Tyrant. Didn’t he? I’m alive and well. I was just sent away. Punished for being a bad girl. But I could not stay away forever. No fucking way.”

“How?” I ask. “How the fuck did this all come together?”

“A scorned wife and a mother’s love,” Danielle says.

“She’s first,” I say out loud.

Vic and Peri grab Danielle. One of them places a hand to Danielle’s mouth to keep her screams from being heard. Demo wraps an arm around Bridgette’s neck.

I walk over to Serafina and scoop her up off the floor. Her body is completely lifeless. Just the way I need it right now.

She doesn’t need to see what’s going to happen next.

Danielle ison the edge of the diving board. She’s tied up and we’ve gone a little old school here with a rope around her neck and a cinderblock at the other end. I stand at the edge of the pool, sort of behind her.

“Tyrant, please,” she whispers.

“This is the part where you confess everything,” I say. “But you know I’m going to kill you no matter what. You attacked the woman I love. More than once. I already know this was nothing but revenge. Des hated what happened between you and me. I allowed it. I broke the rules. I deserve punishment for it, not Serafina. You saw an opportunity and took it. I have plenty to deal with right now, but some useless whore like you? You’re last on my list. You’ve been nothing this entire time. You’ll always be nothing.”

I reach up under my shirt and wrestle the nipple piercing Danielle gave me away. I no longer need any reminders of this cunt. Her fucking hell that she brings with her. The fact that she attacked Serafina. Stabbed me in the back. I guess I’m lucky the knife she used wasn’t long enough to actually cause much damage. Or the fact that she probably thought she was stabbing me in the heart, but when I turned, my heart was on the other side.

None of it matters.

I take the metal bar that’s been through my nipple for a long time and I grab Danielle’s mouth and squeeze as hard as I have to. Her mouth opens and I drop the metal bar into her mouth.

“Just so you know, Des sold you out really quick,” I whisper to her. “He told us everything. He ensured his life would be safe. That’s how much he really thinks of you. He would never die foryou. All he wanted to do was get back at me for fucking you. Let that be your last thought.”

Danielle tries to scream but Demo hands me a roll of tape and I tape her mouth shut, then push her into the pool.

There’s a brief splash of her body and the cinderblock hitting. Then it’s quiet. The cinderblock drags her down into the water and I turn away. She’s had enough of my attention.

Let her die alone, suffering at the bottom of a pool, panicking, begging for her death to come. Which it will. Soon.

I’ve given the orders to Demo, Vic, and Peri on what to do next with Danielle’s body. They’ll handle the outside cleanup so there will be zero evidence of what just happened.

Inside the house, Bridgette sits in a large chair at the large formal dining room table. I can’t imagine many thoughtful meals have been had at this table since Serafina’s father died. Serafina is on the table. Hands folded at her belly. She looks…

“Dead,” I whisper into Bridgette’s left ear. “Look what you did to her. You got what you wanted, right? She’s dead.”

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