Page 39 of Lethal Vows

He places his hand on my shoulder again. “Like we’ve practiced. Shoot him in the head.”

“What did he do?” I ask, my voice devoid of any emotion. I knew better then to show a tremble of weakness around my father. Or anyone, for that matter.

“He betrayed us,” my father says matter-of-factly. “That’s all you need to know. This is an order.”

My eyebrows only knit together slightly. I’d seen plenty of people killed. Some of them because they tried to kill me. But this would be the first time I’d be the reason why the life left their body. I saw how it fed my father. In the way that he sometimes took cruel delight in it and in others he was indifferent. That the person was no more than a roadblock in his way to bigger and better things.

How will it make me feel? Will I be the same as him? That’s what I was being raised for, right?

“Or do you want your knives?” my father asks, irritated, as if that’s the reason for my hesitation.

Curtis is trying to yell something through the gag. I find it strange that such a strong man who had protected us and even showed us kindness was so easily broken.

“I’m going to count to five,” my father says.

“One.”

I raise the gun and shoot before he even counts to two.

I know the consequence if I don’t comply with his demands.

My aim is spot-on and Curtis slumps in his chair, his head hanging as blood oozes down his face.

Without so much as a word, my father leaves the room, taking a small part of me with him. I don’t know what part of me it is that he takes, but I know that I feel… nothing. No regret, no pain, no heartfelt goodbye. But no pleasure either. Not like my father. But maybe I’ll grow to enjoy being a killer.

It was onlya few years later when I turned twenty that I realized the threat I’d become to my father. He’d sharpened me so well that his men began listening to my orders, some even directly disobeying his. And once it was reported to me that he put a hit on me and Dominic with the intention of taking my mother out in the process so he could take another wife and force a much younger heir, I knew it was time to act.

Killing him had been the first time I found any pleasure in taking a life. And I found it almost poetic as I dragged his half-beaten body into that very same room where he’d once forced me to make my first kill. I’d never despised him for introducing me into this world so young. It made me who I was. Strong. Feared.

And that time, instead of the gun, I used the knives, taking into account all the times he’d undermined me. I considered the many times he’d beaten me. The times he’d hit my mother, who took punishment for something miniscule that Dominic or I had done. I’d tried to hide Dominic from it. But he’d had his fair share of kills even then.

But then… it was different.

And it became different the night I tortured my father for fun and shot him between the eyes, taking my official claim as head of the family.

I wonder now, had a woman such as Rya been in our lives how she might’ve pleaded my case. Not that I cared for what she or anyone thought… but I was curious.

CHAPTER21

Rya

Two weeks have gone by since I’ve seen or heard from Crue. At first, it had me on edge, but then I slid back into my normal everyday life. I’m lost in my cases, and I made it perfectly clear to Mr. Luca and the board that I won’t accept the new role until I’ve finalized the Torrisi case. A lot of press and money rides on this case, and it’s consumed me entirely. Between balancing that and meeting with Angel every spare second, it’s understandable I almost forget about Crue, as if that monster had been a figment of my imagination.

Just when I think he’s about given up, I look up from my desk and freeze as he lets himself into my office.

“You can’t be here,” I hiss.

As he closes the door, I look past him at some of my colleagues who are curiously looking this way.

This is bad.

“Princess,” he says with an arrogant smile.

“You need to leave.” I stand, acutely aware of the onlookers.

He checks around my office, ignoring my agitation. “I haven’t heard from you. As your husband, I’m hurt.”

“You arenotmy husband,” I grit out. When he peeks over my computer screen, I quickly pile up my notes and throw them into my top drawer. Then I cross my arms over my chest and glare at him. “What do you want, Crue? You agreed you would leave me alone.”

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