Page 11 of The Killer Cupcake
“Assassination?” she asked in horror.
“The fate of all the powerful men that have come before my father,” Carmelo said bitterly. “If you are Don, your ending is already written.”
“Just promise me. You can't go up against your father again. Promise me you won't ever try to replace him or be him,” she pleaded, gripping his hand tightly.
"I'll make you that promise," he said slowly, "but first, tell me the truth about Janey. Did she kill DeMarco? Did she kill King Redmond? I've confessed my darkest secret to you. Now tell me yours."
Kathy sat back in her chair, shaking her head as if she couldn't—or wouldn't—answer.
“Don’t you trust me, Kat?” he asked.
“I do but—” she began.
“No secrets. Remember? Not for us,” he said.
She nodded. Her gaze lowered then, in a voice so quiet he had to lean forward to hear: "She didn't kill King Redmond, Carmelo. I did."
Carmelo blinked, certain he'd misheard. But Kathy's tortured expression told him everything.
In halting, painful words, she confessed the entire story. The threats against her father and mother. King Redmond's attempt to assault her mother escalated to the point that he wanted to take down her father next. The family secret of revenge was passed down through generations of Elliot Wynn’s daughters. Each of the girls was renamed the Elliott women, daughters born from their parents’ violent war of dominance and submission, taught to fight back with sweets and trickery.
“Daughters?” he repeated.
“Far as I know, only girls. Maybe a boy here or there, but mostly all girls were born to the sisters.”
“I’m a daughter of one of the eight sisters," she mumbled, “My Gran was a woman barely out of slavery who became a forced mistress. Every daughter was from rape.”
“I’m sorry, Kathy,” he said.
She shrugged. “Her only act of rebellion, she taught each girl the art of herbs, those that can heal and those that can kill—how to use them to make someone fall in love, cure sickness, or to make them disappear forever. The knowledge was passed down to my mother, to Aunt Janey, and then to me."
She told him about the special recipe, mixed with cherries, the poison made King Redmond's death look like some strange blood disease. How she'd baked it into a cupcake with her own hands, delivered it with a smile, and watched justice be served when Redmond took the first bite.
“A killer cupcake took down King Redmond?” he frowned.
"I've tried to repent, to ask for forgiveness," she whispered, tears streaming down her beautiful face. "But I know in my heart I don't mean it. I'll never be able to escape what I've done. Not truly."
Where she saw shame and sin, Carmelo saw nothing but courage and fierce devotion. These women didn't cower—they fought back against monsters who thought they were untouchable. How could he ever blame her for that?
Carmelo pushed up from his chair and went to her, pulling Kathy from her seat and into his arms. She went to him, letting his strength support her.
"I guess we're not the innocent people we pretended to be," she said softly against his chest.
"We never were innocent, Kat," he murmured into her hair. "Maybe that's why we understand each other so completely."
"I can't escape what I am, what I've done," she whispered.
"Maybe someday you'll forgive yourself," he said gently, "because you're the only person in this world who's blaming you."
She looked up at him with eyes full of love and gratitude, seeing acceptance instead of judgment, protection instead of condemnation.
"Want to go upstairs?" she asked with a soft smile that held promises and healing.
His answering grin was filled with eight months of longing. "Yes."
Kathy took his hand and led him out of the parlor toward their shared future, two damaged souls who'd found perfect understanding in each other's arms. They'd both did what they could to protect the people they loved, and somehow that terrible bond made their love even stronger, more precious, and absolutely unbreakable.
CHAPTER 6
