Page 35 of Vile Emotion
“Anywhere or just away from all this.”
“Do you think prison was enough for you? Juliana, I’m never letting you go.” He shakes his head and buttons his suit jacket.
He walks towards the door and I have no option but to look his way and follow him out.
I shake my head and do just that. After locking the door, Alaric waits for me on the passenger side with the door open.
“Get in.” He says and I do that.
After I get in, Alaric leans in and grabs my chin. “Know this, Juli. No matter where you go, heaven or hell… I’ll follow you there and pin you to my side. I told you, a wife for a wife and a son for a son. I meant that. What have I told you before about my word?”
My eyes narrow at him. He knows that I hate repeating this ever since the first time he made me say it.
“Your word is law.” I grit through my teeth.
“Good. Now, wife, I said I’d let you use my name to show those who fucked with you that they can’t fuck with you. Welcome to Alaric Dean Crowne’s world. Buckle the fuck up because this ride is fast and hard. People get hurt in the process. Let that never be you, Juliana Crowne.”
Alaric further leans in and puts my seatbelt on. The clicking is the only audible thing to be heard between us besides our breathing. This isn’t sexual tension, it is something much more dangerous circling the air and I’m not sure if I’m matching up orhe’s adding more fuel to my fire so that I could create a spark to set everything ablaze.
Alaric comes back up and kisses my forehead. There is nothing emotional about it. Nothing sexy or cute. It is like the kiss of death. Those hazel eyes look into mine and they affirm that it is what I think it is… a stamp to enter his gates of hell where he is leader and I am his; who hates him but needs his power to get mine back... For me.
There wasnothing to be said in the car and I was grateful but once we got into the sheriff’s office and Alaric sat down, I knew there was a shift in the air.
A certain stench in the atmosphere that would bulldoze the entire place. It was Alaric and I knew he was going to do something drastic. Something crazy that I’ve never witnessed before but I didn’t know what it was going to be.
“You know who I am so do what Cassius called you to do.”
The sheriff, Sara Johnson, looks at him like he’s out of his mind.
“Mr Crowne, this isn’t somewhere where you can come and tell me what to do. This is my town.”
“Is it?” Alaric had the arrogant confidence in him and it’s admirable in this moment, ONLY.
“It is. I won’t look into the case of a young troubled boy that we all know what happened. It was more than 20 years ago. It's dead.”
Alaric slams his hand on the table causing both the sheriff and I to jump. She looks a bit more terrified than she did when he first walked in. She’s hiding something and I don’t know what it is.
Reaching out and acting out of instinct, I remove Alaric’s hand from the desk and hold it in mine. He doesn’t wince or pull away nor does he look my way because he’s too busy glaring at the sheriff. The only thing that gives way that he noticed is the twitch in his full bushy brow.
“Like I asked…is it your town?” He asks her again and this has her sitting up, less smug and a bit more confused about the question.
“Yes, it is.”
“That’s what your father said when he did nothing for my brother or his mother. My brother was found on theFUCKINGstreet with no one there to explain why the hell an 18-year-old boy was naked and clearly beaten to death. All your fucking waste of space father said was that he probably went streaking naked. You think my brother was running around naked? And the fact that he called him some fucking slur because of who our father is, as if my brother was supposed to be ashamed of his heritage. You people took his life away from him. You made him and his mother miserable. I will eviscerate everything in this town that buried my brother’s innocence and life. I will shatter all of you and make sure there’s nothing left.”
“We had nothing to do with that. I wasn’t even born.” The sheriff tries to defuse the situation.
“You are not lucky that you’re born after him. No one is lucky. Even those that are dead and had something to do with it, I will dig them up from their graves and make sure there’s no peace. No one in this town will ever live to even whisper Godric’s name again. No one.”
Sheriff Johnson stands and places her hand on her hip near her gun.
“You need to leave.”
Alaric chuckles as he sits back.
“I will leave my office when I feel like it.”
“This isn’t your office, it’s mine. Actually, get out of my town.”
