Page 50 of Hell Hath No Fury

“I’m not looking for retribution.”

“Then what are you looking for?”

His eyes move back to Antoinette, and the naked longing I see there is genuine. “Just her.”

“I’m not up for grabs,” she replies blandly.

“You were. Even if only for a moment.”

Antoinette glares at him, her fists falling to her sides. “You want to hit him?” I ask encouragingly.

She takes half a step toward him and then stops. “There really isn’t any point.”

“Isn’t there always a point?”

He glances between us again and says, “Well, you can hit me if you want, but it’s not necessary.”

“What do you mean it’s not necessary?”

“I’ll tell you the same thing I told the guy who was down here earlier. I’ve got nothing to hide at this point. I know my life is forfeit regardless, and I don’t owe any allegiance to anybody.”

“Not even to the people who put you up to this?”

“Least of all to those fuckers,” he sneers. Then he looks back at Antoinette and adds, “Don’t confuse that statement with the misplaced idea that I have even a shred of decency in me. They may have gotten the ball rolling on all of this, but at the end of the day, I took you because I wanted you. I’m only sorry I didn’t do it sooner.”

Antoinette ignores his statement, though I’m sure, on some level, it must bother her. But then she asks, “And who arethey?”

He stares at her for a moment and then turns his gaze back to me as he replies, “My mother, for starters. It seems a few of us have a crazy mother problem.”

I tilt my head at him and retort, “Very funny.”

He smiles, seeming rather satisfied with his joke. But then he sighs and says, “My mother’s entire life has revolved around the idea of hurting you in the worst ways possible.”

“Me?” I point to myself and then to Antoinette as I say, “Then why try to hurt her?”

“She knows the only way to hurt you is through your two surviving children.”

“Then why not Agatha?”

Dmitri laughs hollowly. “Do you know we tried? But I swear to Christ, that bitch is never alone.”

Antoinette smiles faintly, a small laugh escaping before she manages to school her features. “Sounds like Aggie.”

Dmitri sighs deeply and shakes his head. “We were hoping to throw you off with the Darius disguise, but then all you fuckers showed up looking like Darius and fucked that up big time.”

“Yeah, Camilla is going to want to talk about that.”

“Ah, the Chameleon,” he replies slowly. “Well, I don’t know how much I have to tell her, but I’ll happily share.”

I frown, not trusting a word this fucker says. “And we’re just supposed to believe you?”

“Believe whatever the fuck you want. It’s all the same to me.”

We stare at each other, his cool gaze unflinching, and then I ask, “So what’s your mother’s problem?”

“You. Everything about you.”

“Do I even know her?”

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