Page 54 of Hell Hath No Fury

Antoinette laughs in the background, the eerie sound sending a chill down my spine. Then Antoinette yells, “They’ve been delayed a bit, but I’m sure they’ll catch up once they figure it out.”

Lilith’s smile is smugly mischievous, and dread coils inside me at the insinuation behind Antoinette’s statement. I’m certain none of the guys would’ve condoned their current plan, and since none of them are on their plane, it seems a safe assumption that they managed to sneak around them. Or, worse yet, that they forced this delay on them.

I’m leaning toward the latter.

Agatha already has her phone out, quickly typing a message and then calling, shaking her head after each failed attempt. Then she sits there, tapping her finger against her chin, so I mute my call, putting my hand over my mouth as I say, “Call the Chameleon. If you don’t reach her, call Declan.”

Agatha’s eyes light up, and she goes to work, throwing me a thumbs-up as someone finally answers. I turn my attention back to Lilith, who’s watching me intently. There is a challenging expression on her face that has me leaning so close to the camera that all she can see is my face. “If you wanted a spanking, Lilith, all you had to do was ask.”

She gapes at me, quickly followed by a gasp of outrage as Antoinette cackles from the other side of the plane. Lilith glares at Antoinette, then turns her glare back on me as she huffs, “I want nothing of the sort.”

“Well, I guess that’s too bad then because you just wait until I see you again.” I don’t wait for a response. I end the call without further comment, the look of outrage on her face making me feel better.

“Did you just hang up on her?” Agatha asks as I take my seat across from her. I nod, and she laughs loudly. “Oh, that’s gonna piss her off.”

“Can’t say I fucking care right now,” I answer petulantly, outrageously annoyed that Lilith decided to take the bad guy out of the basement on a joyride. I won’t assume she did it just to spite me, but I do know that she knows it will infuriate me to no end, so it was like killing two birds with one stone.

“Camilla said she’s already on her way over there, so she’ll let us know what’s up.”

“That’s good. Camilla will know what to do.”

Agatha studies me silently, her fingers tapping on the tabletop. Then she asks, “Why do you think they brought the enemy with them?”

“Likely just because it was quicker in terms of catching up with us.”

“Do you think they know where we’re going?”

“If they don’t, it’s only a matter of time before they do,” I answer honestly. “Dmitri will tell them everything he told us. That last person he would keep information from is Antoinette.”

“Why is that?” Agatha asks with a look of disgust. “After everything he did to her, you’d think he’d want to set her up for failure.”

“The first reason being Lilith will be able to sniff out most of his bullshit. She knows every fucking person who has ever been involved in the criminal world—living and dead. Misleading her will be nearly impossible.”

“And what’s the second reason?”

I raise my brows at her and shake my head slowly. “He loves her.”

“The fuck he does,” she growls, her fist coming down on the tabletop with a bang.

She stares at me, nostrils flaring, those blue eyes so like her mother’s sparking with rage. I place my hand over hers, still fisted on the table, squeezing as I reply quietly, “I’m not making excuses for his abhorrent behavior, but in his twisted, fucked-up brain, he has convinced himself he loves her. That everything he did was for her protection.”

“How do you know that?”

“I guess he must’ve admitted that before you snuck down to spy on us. He truly believes what he put her through over the last few months was a sacrifice he made to prove his love for her.”

She glares at me, shaking her hand in an attempt to free herself from my grasp, but I just tighten my hold, and she spits out, “And you believe that bullshit? You believe anything that swine says?”

Sighing, I release her hand, sitting back in my chair. “Don’t get it twisted, Aggie. Regardless of what he said or what is proven to be true, he’s gonna die for what he did.”

“Then what’s the point in proving anything?”

“Because it helps decide the direction of his fate?”

She frowns and shakes her head. “Direction?”

“Whether he dies easy or dies hard.”

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