Page 7 of Twisted Kings

So instead of beating me to death, Torrance took the punch and carried on smirking. Then he handed me some paper and a pen and suggested I write a note to Thea.

It took a few goes before I could pull my thoughts into some kind of order.

We’d exchanged hundreds of love notes over the last year, so sending her a letter felt like the perfect way to tell her exactly how much I hated her for breaking my heart.

There wasn’t enough paper in the world for me to explain how much she’d hurt me, so in the end, all I said was, ‘we’re done’. Then I tore off the leather bracelet she’d made for me and shoved it in the envelope.

I’d dropped the flowers on the dusty floor and left. The next morning, I quit college and began working for Francesco, learning how to be a good little soldier.

Milo explained in laborious detail why the video wasn’t Thea.

“It’s a deep fake,” he explained in his typically emotionless way. I’d not spent a great deal of time with Milo, but there was definitely something odd about him. He didn’t seem to have the same emotional range as normal people. I’d seen him creeping around college, watching Thea like a deranged stalker.

Not that I could talk. I’d also spent way too much time watching her. Even if I wasn’t willing to admit I still had feelings for her. Big feelings. If I could cauterize my amygdala, I would. Emotions were horrible.

I didn’t want to feel anything, least of all guilt. But the more I thought about everything I’d done since that fateful night when Torrance showed me the stupid fucking fake video, the more I hated myself.

Torrance had taken her, and it was all my fault.

“I’m going to kill him,” I said.

“No, you’re not,” Kyril stated while throwing me a look that promised a lifetime of suffering. “I am.”

“How about you kill him together?” Milo said. “Does that work for you both?”

“I’m not working with that asshole,” I muttered. Kyril was violent and prone to outbursts of extreme rage. I knew this because I’d been on the receiving end of more than a few of his homicidal rampages. OK, so I deserved most of them, but still. It was fucking obvious he had impulse control issues. And if he was in charge of Operation Rescue Thea, we were fucked.

“I don’t want to work with you either, but looks like we’re both shit out of luck!”

Milo rubbed his eyes and grimaced. “Dario, you’re the expert on Francesco. Do you think Torrance will have taken her back home?”

“Yeah. He’s probably locked her up in the dungeon. It’s the most secure place he has for prisoners.”

“Dungeon?” Milo looked ill at the thought of Thea in a dungeon, and he was right to be concerned. Thea had let a few details slip back when we were teenagers. I knew Torrance had locked her up in the cells many times as a punishment. It was why she couldn’t sleep without a light.

“Yeah. If we want to get in and out of that place without dying, we’re going to need help.”

Kyril looked like he was about to call me a pathetic pussy, but just as he opened his mouth to sneer at my lack of confidence in his skills as a trained killer, we all heard a loud banging on the apartment door.

“Fuck,” Milo groaned. “Eden’s here.”

Oh, Thea’s little friend. I’d seen them together at a club some weeks back. I’d been drunk, bored with the company, and pissed off when I saw two assholes all over Thea. I may have said a fewnasty things to her, but now wasn’t the time to haul myself over the coals.

Kyril unlocked the door and Eden stormed in wearing some jeans and a sweater. She took one look at me and her lip curled with disdain.

“Why’s he here?” she asked Kyril, making it clear I was less than shit on her shoes.

“We need him,” was Kyril’s succinct reply.

“When you no longer need him, let me know. I’ll have Declan deal with him.” She sniffed derisively.

“Dream on, Barbie Girl,” I scoffed, only mildly concerned about the threat of Declan Kelly hunting me down like a rabid dog.

She smirked at me. “Declan owes Thea, so I’d beveryworried if I were you, Judas!”

I rolled my eyes but bit back a retort. She had every right to hate me. Hell, I hated myself too.

“What do you mean Declan owes Thea?” Milo asked curiously.

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