Page 61 of Sugar Coated

With a sly smile, Kieran deadpanned, “Are you suggesting we let my sister sleep with the fishes? That’s such a mafia thing to say.” His sarcasm died down. “I’m not opposed to it, if that’s the only option we have. She’s proven she doesn’t care about my life, so why should I give a shit about hers? Still, there might bea smarter way to go about this. Not everything needs to end in death.” With that, he glanced at me.

As much as I’d enjoyed my little torture session with Lola, Kieran was right. It might’ve been what Tessa deserved, yes, but there were other ways we could go about this. If my dad was indeed involved somehow, a dead wife would only help his image of a vengeful politician who wants to change the system and stop the criminals from getting away with things—even if said politician had criminals backing him up.

Politics. A messy thing, and it didn’t always make sense.

But to be the better person? To forgive and forget? Oh, no. We had to do something. Death would be too good for Tessa. No, what would hurt her most would be to lose it all, to watch as her ambitions and her goals were taken from her and placed just out of reach.

The same thing I used to want to do to my dad, basically.

“We’ll give her a chance to keep her life,” I whispered darkly, “but if she keeps it up, I wouldn’t be opposed to using my claws on her.” At that, I glanced at Fang, finding he was watching me with a grin on his face.

To my right, Kieran lifted a finger. “Uh, excuse me?Claws? What, uh, what are these claws you’re talking about?”

Fang reached for my left hand, lightly running his fingers along the metal fingers. “This was not the only set I made,” he said. “I made another set for our princess, sharper and stronger. She’s beautiful when she’s using them, so gorgeous I could eat her up—”

That got Mike to groan and bring a hand to his face and Kieran to gag and mimic throwing up, but I only smiled and beamed beneath the praise.

Moving the conversation away from the claws, I glanced at the others. “I don’t want to kill her. It’d be too quick, too easy.No, I want to destroy her. I want to take everything she loves, everything she strives for, and rip it out of her grasp.”

Kieran said, “Chills. Did anyone else just get the chills? I did.” He raised his hand, like he was a student in a classroom. “Damn. When did you get this diabolical?”

“Sometime in the last two years” was my answer. “We all know what Tessa wants more than anything: money and the power that comes with it. She got them both by marrying my dad.” I quieted, lost in thought.

If we didn’t kill Tessa, if we simply wanted to take everything away from her, there was only one way we could.

“I have an idea,” I said. “It’ll destroy Tessa and test my dad at the same time, but we’re going to need some help pulling it off.”

Fang leaned a bit closer to me and whispered, “You have at least three bodies here, ready and willing to do whatever you want. Tell us your idea, Princess, and we will do everything we can to make it come true.”

“First, we need a location. Give me a second.” Pulling out my phone, I excused myself from the couch and paced around the island in the kitchen as I called Lola. She hadn’t been feeling well enough to come to the dinner last night, so I doubted she’d be up to coming over now.

On the third ring, she answered, “Hey there, sweetie pie, what’s going on?” I heard her sniff, and her voice did sound a tad more congested than usual. “Sorry I couldn’t make it yesterday, but I heard it was a success.”

“It was definitely a success.” On more counts than one.

“You talk to Kieran, yet? Tell him the shooter was after him and not you?”

“Yeah. That’s actually why I’m calling.” I glanced over at the guys, mainly at Kieran, before I said, “It’s a long story, but I know who the woman is.” Lola might’ve asked who, but I wastoo lost in thinking about my plan and how we’d pull it off that I didn’t really hear her. “It’s Tessa.”

“Tessa? Ain’t that… your stepmom?”

“It is.”

Lola asked, “And you’re sure whoever told you this information is reliable? You sure it isn’t a lie to point you in the wrong direction?”

I didn’t want to get into everything Kieran had told me—telling Lola he was my Devil was something that was, perhaps, better off said in person, so I could gauge her reaction and make sure she didn’t try to go after him, thinking he knew where her other missing person was. So, I settled for saying, “I’m sure.”

“She wanted her own brother killed? Damn, that’s cold. Then again, I come from a family who never gave a shit about me, so I can definitely see it. What are you going to do about it? Or, since you’re calling me, I guess I should be asking, what arewegoing to do about it?”

“I need a location,” I told her. “Somewhere we can control all the exits. Somewhere we won’t be overheard or watched.”

“Could do the same warehouse—”

“No, I was thinking something a little more… comfortable.”

Lola thought on it. “Comfortable, huh? I could do comfortable. I might have a guy. Let me give him a call and see if he’s willing to lend us his club. It’s only open in the evenings, but I’m sure I can get him to clear it out one night.”

“I don’t need it at night. I need it during the day.”

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