Page 90 of A Girl and HER Prince
A gun clicked behind them. “Drop the weapon.”
Livvy made a sound of dismay, even as Venice turned to see the man who’d ripped his family to shreds without a second glance. Achilles had done his job—he’d kept his victims in place until Atreus Mnon could take over.
Strange how similar his uncle looked to his father, and yet, how menacing. Atreus Mnon had come out into the dark forest in a lightweight cotton button-up and shorts, dressed like a regular old chap on holiday… ready to do murder. When Venice didn’t move, his uncle pointed his gun at Livvy. “I said, drop your weapon.”
Venice had no choice. He laid the gun on the ground, his glare never leaving Achilles.
His uncle scooped it up with a grin, shoving it into the back of his ridiculously short khakis. Atreus Mnon seemed far smugger, and much more in control, than his new charge.
Achilles shifted, wiping back his glistening black hair with the back of his hand. “I told you I had it handled.”
His stepfather ignored him. “Call off the search.” The command wasn’t directed at Achilles.
Who was he talking to? A closer look revealed a compact transmitter in his uncle’s ear. Venice froze in horror as he gave orders through an earpiece that could only be obeyed with more traitors in their ranks: “Take the boats back. Tell the coast guard we just found bodies here.”
The order shook him to the core. Atreus Mnon had control of all those search and rescue boats circling Scheria Island like sharks.
Venice’s hands dropped to his side in defeat. Deedee was still out here, and yet, Achilles had sent her off, like he was afraid of her witnessing this. That might mean she stood a chance. Maybe Venice could find a way to bargain for Livvy’s life, too. He desperately tried to come up with any blackmail he could use against his uncle. And what about Bris? Panic tickled against his throat when he asked his uncle the dreaded question. “Where’s my sister?”
Not answering, Atreus Mnon glanced over at the duke. “You know, that’s nota bad idea,” he said. “Youshouldmarry my niece, Achilles. That could solve a lot of problems for us.”
“Shut up,” Achilles muttered. Despite his success at catching them, Achilles was scowling, but then again he never liked authority figures of any kind, even ones who’d fed him lies that turned him against his adopted family.
What a sorry excuse for a rebel.
His uncle glared at Venice like he was the one to blame for Achilles’s sullen looks. “I honestly thought you’d be dead by now. You’re a lot tougher than your father. You sure you’re his?”
Venice’s fingers itched to tear the man limb from limb. Atreus Mnon was about to fill his head with a bunch of lies like he’d done to Achilles. If Livvy wasn’t here, Venice would tell him to put him out of his misery already.
“Your mother and I had a soft spot for each other,” Atreus Mnon said.
Venice couldn’t keep back his snort of derision. “I doubt it—she was smart, unlikesomewomen.”
Achilles jerked at that. Venice didn’t care—his mother had started this!
“But you know what?” Venice said mockingly. “Sure, let’s go with that. You can say I’m illegitimate, and we can be on our way here.”
“No, I think not,” Atreus Mnon said, “not after you went through my papers on my desk. Where are my bank statements? My ledger?”
They were a soggy ruined mess, but his uncle looked panicked. Sudden hope flickered through Venice. He might’ve just found his blackmail. “They’re safe,” he said.
Atreus Mnon glared. “Oh yeah, I think I’ll have a lot of fun finishing you off in front of your cute little girlfriend.” He tossed the gun he’d taken from Venice to Achilles. “Why don’t you do the honors?”
Achilles caught the gun, his fingers tightening over it. “I don’t know,” he said lightly. “I say we go with the illegitimate angle. That would really get to your brother’s pride.”
Even through his haze of shock, Venice knew when Achilles was pulling a fast one. Did he not want to be the one who pulled the trigger or was he having a change of heart?
Atreus Mnon smiled coldly at his new acolyte. “Your mother was asking about you, Achilles. She’s quite recovered from her fall, if you remember… she wasn’t doing so well last you visited. We don’t want a repeat of that incident, I’m sure.”
Venice stilled at the horror of it all. Was Atreus Mnon using his mother as a hostage to pull his stepson’s strings?
Achilles swallowed. His knuckles on the gun were white. He wasn’t here by his own choice, was he? He was being controlled like a puppet.
A loud rustling in the trees alerted them to more trespassers in the woods. Venice prayed it was the coast guard, that somehow Turner had seen through the orders to take off, but as soon as the men burst through the trees, he realized they were Myrdons.
The next instant, the loud burst of a flare gun screeched through the air. Livvy had shot the emergency signal at Venice’s uncle. Screaming, Atreus Mnon dove for cover, not knowing what came for him. The flame ricocheted off the tree. The Myrdons scurried back from what they could only assume was a rocket.
Achilles’s chest heaved with his ragged breaths. His eyes were on them before he lowered the gun and dodged behind the trees.
