Page 43 of Brutal Monster
"Yes, Papá. Emilio is dead, and Alicia is in custody. I'm waiting on word about Adan."
His silence stretches for several seconds. "And you're certain? About their involvement?"
"Completely. I have the proof you asked for." I pause at the edge of the dock, looking out over the water. "The recordings, the financial trails, everything."
"Good." His voice suddenly sounds older. "Come back, Inez. We have much to discuss about the future."
I end the call and take a deep breath of salt air. The future. My future. The empire I was born to inherit is finally, truly mine. No more pretenders, no more threats from within.
Behind me, I hear Vanya approaching. "The cleanup is underway. Twenty minutes and there will be no trace."
"Excellent." I turn to face him. "And the shipments? The real ones?"
"Redirected as planned. The profits will be in the Cayman accounts by morning."
I nod, satisfied. "Then we're done here."
As we walk back toward the waiting car, I feel a weight lifting from my shoulders. Three problems eliminated in one day. My father's empire secured. My position is unassailable.
"You did well," Vanya says quietly as he opens the car door for me.
I slide into the black leather interior, the air conditioning a welcome relief from the harbor heat. "I did what was necessary."
As the car pulls away, I don't look back at the shipping container where my stepbrother lies dead. As much as it pained me to kill him, I have no doubt he would have happily killed me with far less mercy if and when he got the chance.
As we merge into the chaotic flow of traffic, Vanya thrusts a towel into my hand to wipe away the blood splatter that stains my skin. I scrub it off with an eerie detachment. Emilio is dead, and his lifeless body marks another obstacle removed.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
INEZ
The ocean view blurs through my tears as the wine turns bitter on my tongue. Blood never washes clean, no matter how many waves crash against Tulum's pristine shore.
I don't hear him approach. Vanya moves like that—silent, lethal, a predator who chooses when to be seen. But I feel him, the air shifting around me, his presence a gravitational pull I've stopped fighting.
“Nine people died today." My voice cracks. I don't turn to look at him. "That’s nine people's families who will come looking for vengeance."
The balcony railing digs into my palms as I grip it tighter. I’m not new to killing, but I’ve never been responsible for so many deaths in a single day. Below us, tourists laugh, oblivious to the monsters who walk among them. To what I've become.
"They would have killed you first." Vanya's voice is low, the Russian accent thickening his words. Not a question. A statement of fact.
I take another sip, letting the alcohol burn. "Does that make it right?"
He doesn't answer immediately. Instead, he steps closer, his shoulder nearly touching mine. His heat radiates through thethin silk of my dress. I've killed men for standing this close without permission.
"Right has nothing to do with our world, Inez."
"That's what scares me." The confession slips out before I can stop it. "How easy it was. How I didn't hesitate."
A tear slides down my cheek. I brush it away angrily, hating this weakness, this crack in my armor that only seems to appear when he's near.
Vanya's hand covers mine on the railing. His fingers are warm, calloused from years of violence that should repel me, but instead feel like a mirror to my own soul.
"You think I don't understand?" His thumb traces circles on my skin. "The first time I ordered a death, I vomited for hours after. By the fifth, I slept through the night. By the tenth..." He trails off.
"You became what they needed you to be." I finish for him, finally turning to meet his steel-gray eyes.
"What I needed to be to survive." He corrects me gently. "As you have done."
