“You know, I considered letting you live,” I tell him, “for Kylie’s sake. But then I realized killing you would be doing her a favor. It’s better for her if you’re not around to use her. To abandon her when she needs you the most. To offer her to someone without her consent in exchange for money and power.”
I get down on my knees beside him and run my free hand over his face as he watches me in fear.
“If you’re thinking they’re going to save you, they’re not. Mom and Kylie should be long gone by now, with all the proof of your little affair and enough money to last them the rest of their lives. And you? The only place you’re going is to hell.”
Bending down until my lips are by his ear, I whisper softly.
“This is for me.”
I raise the knife up above my head and plunge it into his rib cage, repeating the motion over and over. Blood splatters everywhere, splashing onto my face, making it hard to see. And when I’m done, and he lies there, lifeless, all I can do is smile.
Wiping my face with my shirt, I get up and go to sit in the chair.
Down falls the king. Now we just wait for his queen.
RIGHT ON SCHEDULE, THE door opens and heels click against the door as she comes in. I sit on the chair in the corner, keeping me out of sight. She checks the living room first, then the kitchen.
“Dalton?” she calls.
Even the sound of her voice hits me where it hurts. There was a time when that voice brought me comfort and solace. When I would listen to it give me advice and promise me that everything was going to be okay. But those days are long gone, never to return, because she killed me. I may not be dead, but she left damage that will stay long after my scars fade.
The sound of her heels comes closer until she’s right outside the office. A frightened gasp echoes through the foyer and she screams.
“Dalton!”
I watch from my seat as Nessa runs into the room, dropping to her knees and trying to wake my father despite his blood-soaked clothes. She’s too engrossed in her own panic to realize I’m here. Laying her head on my father’s chest, she sobs over the loss of a man who doesn’t deserve to be mourned.
“Daughter of New York’s Elite Dies Tragically at twenty-one,” I say, reading the headline and alerting her to my presence.
Nessa picks her head up, spinning around to see me across the room. “Saxon?”
She fakes a smile and jumps to her feet, but as she rushes to hug me, she’s met with the same knife plunged into her stomach. She inhales quickly and grips the knife, effectively putting her fingerprints all over it. Kage would say it’s risky, letting her have a weapon, but there’s no doubt in my mind I could take her if she tries anything.
“I have to say, the picture that goes with the article is grade-A acting,” I tell her as she pulls out the knife and lets it fall to the floor. “Truly. You deserve an Academy Award for that performance.”
Squatting in front of her, I tilt my head as I watch her panic internally. Her hands are covered in blood, both hers and my fathers, as she stares at me in disbelief. I don’t blame her. She was always the tough one, while I would rather curl up in bed with a good book.
I guess shit changes when your best friend tries to kill you.
Her purse lies on the floor, the contents spilling from inside after she dropped it trying to make it to my dad. I pick up her phone and shove it in front of her face to unlock it. After it lets me in, I dial 911 and wait for them to answer before I play the recording Beni created.
“911, what’s your emergency?”
“I need the police. I killed my boyfriend and I tried to kill myself, but I don’t want to die. I just wanted him to leave his wife.”
Nessa watches in horror as her voice plays through the speaker, saying things she’s never said. I watch her closely, waiting to hit the mute button if she tries to scream, but deep down, she’s a smart girl.
She knows I’ll kill her if she tries.
The 911 operator types vigorously in the background. “Okay, just stay calm. Is he breathing?”
I press the appropriate recording. “No, he’s dead. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it.”
“It’s okay. We all make mistakes,” the dispatcher says. “What’s the address where you’re at?”
Grabbing my phone from where I left it on the desk, I put it to her head and hold the phone in front of her. She leans her head against the bookcase and breaths heavily as she recites the address. When she’s done, I run the barrel down the side of her face, mouthing “Good Girl.”
“Okay. I have officers on the way. Can you stay on the line with me?”
I hang up and toss the phone beside her.
“Why?” she croaks.
A dry laugh bubbles out of me. “Next time you try to kill someone, don’t wear the designer heels they bought you for your birthday while doing it. Though I have to say, faking my mom’s tattoo and trying to frame her for it was clever. You really lived up to your name…Monster.”
She coughs and then whimpers from the pain. “So kill me then. If I’m such a horrible person, fucking kill me.”
I shake my head slowly, smirking at her. “No, death is way too easy for someone like you. I’d rather see you rot behind bars, getting beaten to a pulp every time I feel like offering a person on the inside some money. And then, when I think you’ve finally suffered enough, I’m going to rip you out of there and kill you myself.”
“I’ll tell them.” Her voice is weak but it’s there. “I’ll tell them everything.”
“Aw, babe.” I smile sweetly at her. “I’m dead, remember? Thanks for that solid alibi.”
Sirens sound in the distance as the door opens and Viola looks at me impatiently. “Sax, come on. We have to go.”
She comes into the room, dodging the blood that stains the carpet and grabs my wrist. Nessa’s brow furrows as she looks at her.
“Who are you?”
Viola grins and flips her hair. “I’m you, with better fashion tastes and life choices.”
I grab my things, including my father’s cracked phone and the bullet that shattered it, and head for the door. But just before I leave, Nessa’s voice rings out.
“You’re going to burn in hell for this.”
I stop, looking back at her and lifting a shoulder in a careless shrug. “I’m not worried. The devil and I get along just fine.”
I used to think that feelings were fire. They ripped through your body and made you weak, ripping you apart from the inside out. I spent most of my life blocking them out, only to have them rush back in at the sight of an eighteen-year-old society princess with an attitude that stopped me in my tracks.
Over the time we’ve spent together, I’ve never felt so much pain. The devastation I’ve had to face has threatened to send me over the edge. But at the same time, it’s also brought me her. Someone who didn’t try to save the beast because she was becoming one herself. My perfect match, my other half.
My favorite little psycho.
Her heels click against the tile floor as she makes her way through the house, dressed in all black and looking like sex and candy. Her eyes meet mine and she smiles, licking and nibbling at her bottom lip as she imagines all the things she wants to do with me. To me. For me.