Page 23 of Revenge

Catching a breath, I told myself I didn’t care how I looked and opened the bedroom door. After staring down the long, dimly lit corridor, I assessed my situation. The man, Cillian, was nowhere to be seen, nor was anyone else. The passageway was empty, but I was still cautious. I had realised growing up in mafia households that if a situation appeared too good to be true, it usually was. Expect the unexpected at all costs.

The hairs on my neck prickled. I felt very aware I was in the lion's den. As I turned a corner, walking past several closed doors, the corridor opened into a landing with a circular staircase. It spiralled in both directions, up and down and the ceiling was the highest I had ever seen. I wondered what was up those stairs.

Taking a deep breath, I pursed my lips. Where now? What did Connors say, the ground floor?

Squinting, I could hear classical music playing. It sounded like it was coming from beneath me, so I started down the stairs, holding the rail. You needed eyes in the back of your head dealing with the mafia.

As I got to the bottom, I saw a face I recognised. It was the man who had attacked me in the lobby of my apartment building in Milan the previous week.Hewas the reason I’d had to stay with Anton. I remembered the satisfaction I’d felt when I’d knocked him out. The self-defence classes I’d taken in Milan had been worth the money. My instructor told me I’d taken to it like a duck to water and was a born fighter.

“You,” I said, screwing my face up with distaste.

He held his beefy arms up in a gesture of surrender. “Good evening, Miss Cawthorne. Good to see you again.”

“Is it?”

Before I had rendered him unconscious, I’d kicked him in his misters, so hard I imagined he may have been pissing blood for days afterwards. Interesting, that he didn’t appear to be holding a grudge, either that or he had an amazing poker face.

“You look well,” he responded politely, unfazed. I wondered if his breath still smelt like an ashtray. After his fuck up, I was surprised Kai had let him live to be honest. Maybe my stepbrother wasn’t quite as bad as his father. Gerard Kinlan wouldneverhave given one of his soldiers a second chance.

“You don’t,” I muttered under my breath as his face was still bruised. “But, thank you, I guess,” I tacked on. I didn’t mean it but my manners took over. Turning away, I spied the main entrance, registering the two front double doors as a possible escape route. One that didn’t appear to be guarded. Morons. They had no idea who they were dealing with. I was no longer the stupid seventeen-year-old. I prayed that they would continue to underestimate me.

On autopilot, I stepped towards that promise of possible freedom but the ashtray moved to block me with a shake of his head.

“It’s locked anyway so don’t trouble yourself, Miss.”

My heart started to thud erratically at the thought of possible escape. So much so that I had forgotten he was standingrightthere. Plus, would Ireallyhave left my mother there?

“Supper is being served in the dining room. Through there,” he said with a flick of his head and anice tryexpression. Drat, busted by a man who was nothing more than a minion. I should have stuck the sign I’d clocked him with up his arse.

I gave him a haughty look. My senses were now on high alert and I moved swiftly towards the archway he had directed me to. I was surprised he was so polite, considering I had handed him his arse.

Standing in the open doorway, I saw Kai and my mother sitting at one end of a long polished oak dining table. Damn him, he knew I wouldn’t chew him out in front of Suki, she was way too delicate to witness altercations of any kind.

You drugged me you bastard; my expressionmusthave screamed.

The table would easily hold over ten guests and I wondered if Kai entertained. In the olden days, he’d been a bit of a loner, apart from his second, Nico.

My eyes roamed over the pretty flower arrangement in the middle of the table. You can’t polish a turd but you can roll it in glitter. It looked so fancy considering this was the crib of a well-known criminal thug.

The room was spacious, with just the table sitting centrally. There was wooden panelling on the bottom half of the walls and then chintzy patterned wallpaper running up towards the ceiling. Oil paintings of various landscapes were hung and the windows down one side looked out onto the gardens. Cream velvet curtains with sags and sashes were draped around each window and held open by gold-roped tie-backs. I cast my gaze over several plants scattered around the room. They made it look less stuffy.

Kai, who appeared to be messaging someone, looked up and slid his phone into his suit jacket. His expression darkened as his gaze roamed over me. He then motioned me to join them with a flick of his hand, “Ava. Please, join us.”

I shot the man who’d met me at the bottom of the stairs a dirty look as I moved away. He remained in the doorway with an unreadable expression.

My shoes clicked against the marble flooring in time with my heartbeat. The house appeared to be a mansion set in the countryside and I wondered how far away we were from the centre of London.

I felt very aware of all eyes on me and the atmosphere was thick and unpleasant. It felt far too formal and forced. The classical music I’d heard earlier bled out of state-of-the-art speakers mounted near the ceiling.

Both Kai and my mother were formally dressed for dinner. Suki wore a black high-necked dress, and Kai his usual suit, although it was grey and paler than the dark version he’d worn at Anton’s apartment. He had shaved and looked smoking hot, much to my dismay. I noted the grey tie which was unusual as I knew he preferred red; it was more striking and reminded people of danger.

Straightening my shoulders, I walked towards them, attempting to appear like I belonged there when I didn’t. I swallowed that feeling of regret for wearing jeans as it made a statement, Kai did not get to decide things for me. Not anymore.

I didn’t know that my thoughts on that matter would turn out to be wishful thinking.

The judgemental once-over Kai gave me had my temper rising; his expression was a mixture of annoyance and something else.

He could be such a self-righteous prick. Kai looked like a king sitting on his throne, much more refined than he’d been at Anton’s. That restless energy was still humming beneath the surface.

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