Page 91 of Carnival
“My, my,’’ I mock, chuckling, which causes her to tighten her grip on my throat. “You can afford to spend thousands on clothes, but not on good-quality Botox?”
She shoves the finger as deep as possible into my wound, blood gushing out, dripping down my chest, splashing all over her wrist and clothes. Her teeth clatter together, and her pupils dilate as rage slowly starts taking over.
“Calm down, Vivian,’’ one of her men speaks, and it’s as if the words do the trick. I don’t know his name. I don’t want to know his name. All I know is that he’s constantly near, around her age, and he seems to be the only one that can control her, even remotely. Aw, how unfortunate. I thought I’d get enough time to play around with her mind.
She pulls her finger out, wiping the excess blood on her blouse. She steps back, her hand disappearing from my throat. Vivian clears her throat, straightens up, and fixes her blazer, still glaring at me.
“It’s been two weeks, James,’’ she says. “I won’t stop with torturing methods until you speak.’’
“Speak what, exactly?”
“Who has the chip?”
“Oh,’’ I chuckle. “You should’ve just asked directly. I would’ve told you. It’s not some dirty secret, you know? Hudson has it.’’
Her jaw clenches, her hands fisting by her body. She cusses under her breath, kicking the small stool with as much force as possible. The stool slams against the wall, the sound echoing in the dirty, little room. Vivian begins pacing around, mumbling something under her breath. The man behind her looks as bored as I am, and it’s clearly something he’s used to seeing.
Abruptly, Vivian stops, right in front of me. She faces me, a million thoughts running behind those ugly eyes.
“What will De Santis do with it?”
I sigh, annoyed by this whole conversation already. I glare at her, trying to get my point across, all while trying to figure out a way out of these chains. The man behind Vivian has the key, and I doubt he’d be delighted to give it to me.
“Who knows?” I roll my eyes. “He wasn’t going to go public with it. But then you kidnapped his daughter, and well…’’
“She is not his daughter!” She all but screams in my face. “He might’ve had a hand in helping her out, giving her a roof over her head, and paying for her needs, but that doesn’t make him a parent. Not hers, anyway.’’
“Then what would? Blood doesn’t define family. Which is evident, given how you murdered yours in cold blood.’’
Much to my surprise, a deep, rich laughter fills the room. Even the man behind Vivian straightens up, indicating that this is a rare sight to behold. My brows narrow, her pearly white teeth shining as she bares them at me.
“You see, James,’’ she inches closer, immediately grabbing a fistful of my hair. She yanks my head back, exposing my throat to her, dragging her long nail all over it. Yet again, she’s trying to scare me off. But she doesn’t seem to remember that I’m not the one to get scared at all. “You’re talking about things you have no knowledge of. You should be very, very grateful that I haven’t killed you yet.’’
“Why haven’t you, though?”
I’m genuinely curious as to why she’s kept me alive. If she’s sadistic enough to torture me, and get off on it, that drive should’ve died out the moment I stopped resisting. Instead, she seems keen on healing my wounds, only to hurt me more. But what is the point of it all?
“Because I want you to watch.’’
“Watch what, exactly?”
She smirks, releasing my hair and stepping back. She keeps the suspense up by remaining silent for a while, looking me up and down a few times, before her eyes settle on my face for the last time.
“I have big plans for my granddaughter. And her falling in love with a delinquent like you isn’t one of them. I trusted you, James. Hell, you were one of my most valuable men. You did your work, took the money, and never asked any questions. In this line of work, a man like you is hard to come by. Partially, I did pick you because of the past that tied you to Rosalie. I thought that I could use it to keep her close, but apparently, you had another plan. You’re so obsessed with her that you’re willing to die for her. As admirable as it is, it’s also very stupid. I gaveyou everything. I gave you power, money, and freedom. And you tossed it all away in a blink of an eye.’’
A scoff escapes me, and I’m unable to take anything this old hag says seriously.
“Really? You’re that mad that your granddaughter fell in love with me?”
“Oh, I’m not mad, James,’’ she chuckles. “Just disappointed. But worry not, it will all fix itself.’’
The way she speaks and the way she grins at me, as if she knows something I don’t, makes me slightly uneasy. My eyes narrow at her in suspicion, and she relishes in the fact that she finally provoked a reaction out of me.
“What does that mean?”
“I found a suitable man for her,’’ she says, casually, as if she were talking about the weather. “A man is a far better choice than you ever were. It’s nothing personal, but once I do kill you, I need someone to help me with Rose.’’
“Don’t. You. Fucking. Dare,’’ I hiss out, my words low, with evident threat in them. “I’ve killed people in cold blood. I’ve done it to people who were meaningless to me, to people whose names I do not even care to remember. What do you think I will do to you, and to the man in question if you so much as dare to take Rosalie away from me? What do you think I’ll do if you so much as try to use her against me? I will slaughter you, you cunt. I will tear you apart, limb by limb, until you’re broken beyond repair. Then, I’ll use the butcher knife you gifted me, open you up, and destroy everything you once were.’’
