Page 15 of My Three Enemies
Now, after tasting freedom for the first time in my life, I'm back once again. As much as I want to feel sorry for myself about it, I can't. All I can think about is the brothers, and what happened to them because of me. They weren't there when I was taken, I didn't see them as I was dragged through the woods to the helicopter either. I can only imagine what my father did to them.
The hollow ache in my chest tells me they're gone. My father is ruthless and cold and if there's something standing in his way, he's going to annihilate it. Now I know the brothers were just in their obstacle.
Tears stream down my face as I think about their fate. I try to hold them back, but I can't. Many emotions escape my body as I sob relentlessly.
The door opens and my father strides in with a smug smile. I've only been gone for a few days, but for some reason, Marcus Costa looks older. Maybe it's my own subconscious painting him in a different light, but everything about him is vile. He’s on the shorter side, and the wrinkles in his face are deep and dark, his hazel eyes beaming at me with a sinister glint in them.
“Why the long face, Emma?” he asks, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him.
I sit upright on the bed and do my best to stifle the tears, wiping them out of my eyes. A glare at him with no love in my heart. As messed up and twisted as it sounds, he's my father, and thereisa part of me that loves him. It's biological and there's nothing I can do to fight that. But I hate him. I hate everything about him. If I could, I would leap across the bed and strangle him for what he did to Gray, Dax, and Jackson.
“How long do you plan on locking me up this time?” My voice is low and devoid of emotion.
“Lock you up?” Dad laughs and tucks his hands behind his back. In just a few strides, he’s across the room. “Why would I ever do something like that when you did exactly what I wanted you to do?”
I'm confused, and he must read that on my face because he smirks then and tilts his head to the side.
“I'm sure the DeLuca brothers did plenty to taint your mind about me,” he says. “I could never get close to them—God knows I tried.” He strolls over to the bookshelf and trails his finger along the wood to look at the dust accumulated.
“What the hell are you talking about?” I spit.
“Language,” he reminds me, shaking his head slowly as he makes his way back to the door. “I needed to find them, and I knew you would lead me straight to where they were hiding. Did you really think every guard in that car needed to get out and change that tire? You escaped because Iletyou.”
A chill runs down my spine and my knees threaten to buckle. I've always known my father is calculated, but this is something else altogether.
“How could you possibly know I would find their cabin in the woods?” I say, trembling with disbelief. “I've never been there before.”
“I knew they were hiding out in the woods somewhere, and if you were out there wandering, you would either find them or they would find you. Either way worked. Lucky for me, you led me right to them.”
“How?” My voice cracks and I try to hide the emotion, but I can’t.
“The locket.” He smiles, laughing under his breath.
Stunned, I tumble as I tug the locket out from under my shirt and stare at it. A sickly, sinking feeling settles in my chest.
“I had a tracker put in the locket while you were asleep,” he sneers.
And with all the nonchalance of a man who knows he’s won, he turns and leaves me. The moment the door clicks shut, I collapse to the ground with nothing but my reeling thoughts to keep me company. My entire body trembles and shakes while I sob. I rip the necklace from my neck, tossing it aside.
“It's all my fault,” I wail, slamming my hands on the ground.
They're dead because of me.
When I finally calm down enough to take a few deep breaths, I lean against the base of my bed and stare blankly at the wall.
I don't know how much time passes, but I do know that it feels like forever.
Eventually, noise downstairs catches my attention and I look away from the wall toward the door. It sounds like chairs being broken, and there’s a general commotion. My heart skips a beat at the idea that it might be one of the brothers. I stand up and take a few shaky breaths as I cautiously approach the door.
To my amazement, it is unlocked and I ease myself out, tiptoeing to the stairs. I descend to the first landing and freeze when I see the bodies of two guards lying clumped together at the bottom of the stairs. Blood pools around them, staining the pristine white carpet. I slap a hand to my mouth to stifle the scream.
Steeling myself, I continue down the stairs, carefully maneuvering around the bodies so I don't step in the blood. The crashing noise continues and I make my way toward it, all the way to my father's office. Panic builds within me.
I stand in the doorway watching the three of the DeLuca brothers surround my father, their guns trained on him. No one of them notices me right away. The brothers are far too preoccupied with their own anger.
“Did you really think we were going to go down so easily?” Gray snarls at my father, his voice filled with ire. “Aftereverythingyou fucking did to our family?”
“It's been a long time coming,” Jackson growls, his anger seething.
