Page 2 of Violent Reign (Violent Kingdom)

But then...if she finds me, Nathan might kill her too. I can’t do this now. I have to wait, as much as it kills me.

“Of course he is.” Nathan’s voice is casual, the same tone he’d use ordering coffee or picking up drycleaning. “I’m the one who stabbed him.”

The sobbing cuts off, and for a horrifying instant my mind fills in the blank—maybe he’s stabbed her, too. But there’s no gurgle, no struggle. Just a rustle—Eliza standing up, perhaps—as she clears her throat.

“Youstabbed him?” All trace of her crying is gone, replaced by a casual incredulity. “You.Youstabbed Lorenzo. Are you out of your fucking mind?”

What in the ever-living fuck is going on right now? She’s not running or screaming, the way I want to be. She sounds… pissed. But more than that, she sounds inconvenienced. I must be imagining it, though. She must be trying to get away, right? She has to be trying to get away. Words fly uselessly against my closed lips and the duct tape holding them shut.Get the hell out of here, Eliza. Get away from this psycho. Call the police. Call someone so I can get out of here, so they can find me one more time.I only need one more miracle and then I’ll never ask for anything, ever again. I swear on my life. I swear it.

She doesn’t get away. She doesn’t even try.

A rumble of a laugh from Nathan. I didn’t think it was possible for the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up more than they already were, but it happens. “Oh, but I did.”

“Baby. Why?”

Baby?That’s something you call a toddler, not a grown man. Not a killer. My stomach rolls again. “You know better than that.” Eliza’s tone is mildly scolding, as if she’s caught Nathan sneaking out after curfew. “How many times have I tried to teach you, that’s not the way to solve problems.”

My stupid, premature relief crumples and bursts into flame. It’s ashes in seconds. This is not the way a mother talks to her son. This is something else. Something sick.

“It solved plenty of mine. I thought you’d be pleased.” The casual way Nathan confesses to his crime chills me to the core.

“I’m always on your side. You know that.” Her voice gets a bit muffled, like they’re hugging. Or worse. “But what about the fallout? Baby, our family is going to have a PR nightmare on its hands with Enzo downed like this and Augie in the hospital. And Avery—where is Avery?”

“She’s having a little nap. I’ve got everything sorted, don’t worry.”

“And that annoying boyfriend of hers? The Montague boy?”

Nathan chuckles. “Not a problem anymore.”

Rome.No.

Eliza must look concerned, because Nathan follows it up pretty quickly. “I didn’t kill Rome Montague, mother. Jesus fucking Christ. Always the pessimist, you are. He’s a chess piece I still need in play.”

Tears of relief roll down my cheeks.

“Nathan,” I hear Eliza speak. “You didn’t stab your father because of… me, did you? Because of us?”

Nathan laughs, and Eliza makes an exasperated click with her tongue. “Don’t flatter yourself, Eliza. You and I both know Dad couldn’t have cared less about who you let fuck you while he was busy running the goddamn criminal underground of California.”

Oh, God. Oh, shit! This is some Game of Thrones, Cersei Lannister level shit I’m hearing.

“You watch your mouth, Nathaniel,” Eliza snaps.

A low groan interrupts the conversation - At first I think it’s Nathan groaning, but the sound stops almost as quickly as it starts. An anguished sob, so quiet it’s barely perceptible.

I struggle to listen. It’s not coming from me. It’s not Eliza, or Nathan making the sound. My heart beats faster. Who else is here?

“Do you have a girl here?” Suddenly, Eliza sounds on edge. Nathan murmurs something I can’t make out. “Nathan—”

“Don’t worry about it, Mommy Dearest. Didn’t I promise you that everything would be all right? Don’t you believe me? Or do you need me to prove it again? I mean, that’s why you came over, right? For me to scoop you up off the ground and help you forget all about Papa Bear?”

A muted slap—skin on skin. She’s batting him away. At least I hope she is. “Who is in the bathroom?” The second bathroom in this apartment butts up against Nathan’s bedroom. What - or who - am I sharing a wall with?

Not enough air, not enough air.Tighter, Rome. The ghosts of his arms around my body, holding me tight, get me through the next heartbeat, and the next. “Is it Avery?”

“Don’t go in there.” A warning. His voice is as cold as ice.

But Eliza has been Nathan’s mother for longer than he’s been her fucked-up lover. Eliza Capulet is a woman who does what she wants. She barges into the bathroom, the door slamming open against the tiled wall. Her gasp is what I expected to hear when Nathan announced that he killed his own father—a high, involuntary thing. I’ve made that sound myself. I made it when I found Rome hunched over my sister, when I saw the knife in the XO Killer’s hand. In my uncle’s hand.

---