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How often had she practiced this routine after an altercation with Andraius?
We’d left her with a monster, thinking we were making the safer choice. We knew nothing.
Silence descended when Nerine came into view on the main floor. In unison, the Angelos men tipped their heads to her.
The true Angelos now held the seat.
She remained quiet while walking through the soldiers but halted at the intersection leading to the security sector of the mansion.
“I want to see his body.” Her words were an order, with none of the uncertainty from before.
I blocked the way to the front of the house. “Why?”
“Am I not the head of this family, Theo?” Her blue eyes held mine, the mask she wore of the emotionless Mrs. Andraius Angelos firmly in place.
“You are.”
“Then I don’t need to explain myself to you or anyone. Take me to see my dead spouse.”
My lips twitched, ready to smirk at her command. But she caught the slight tug at the corner of my mouth, and her gaze narrowed a fraction.
I moved in beside her, with Xander flanking her other side. We strode down the long corridor to the front of the house.
“Where did you find him?” she asked, but her movements directed us straight to the library.
I leaned closer to her. “You know exactly where, Angel.”
She abruptly stopped and waited as if I hadn’t spoken.
After a few moments, Xander set a hand on her upper back to guide her forward, then dropped it when she glared at him, realizing what he’d done.
“Library.”
She slowed her pace and approached the men posted to bar anyone from entering the room. They rose from their seats, inclined their heads, and readied for instructions, keeping their attention on Nerine.
She wasn’t even aware of how the organization had immediately accepted her. With Andraius, everyone turned to Xander or me for instructions, and the “boss” hadn’t a clue.
“Open the doors.”
“Yes, Mrs. Angelos,” Luther, one of the men, answered, and followed her order.
Andraius’s body came into view. He lay in the same position as when we’d left the room. The only difference now was the pool of blood around him had started to dry and darken.
Nerine studied him, not making any motion to go near him. Everyone remained still watching her, waiting to see what she’d do.
After five minutes of complete silence, she clenched her jaw, tugged the diamond band from the ring finger of her left hand, and dropped it on the travertine floor.
The clang of stone hitting stone rang out all around us.
“I hate him—hated him. Everyone knew it. I’m not sorry he’s dead. I wished for it from the moment he put the gun to my head all those years ago.” A smile tugged at her lips as she turned. “Luther, it’s time to clean up the mess of the last few years.”
“What would you like me to do, Mrs—um—Nerine—um—” His face reddened. “I’m not sure how to address you.”
Nerine’s smile disappeared, and she became all business. “What did you call me before the bastard betrayed the family?”
“What your father called you. The Angel when referring to you and Nerine when we spoke.”
“Then you have your answer.” She glanced over her shoulder in the direction of Andraius’s body. “Since we can’t dispose of him like the garbage he is, put him in the refrigerated holding room. Then have my library cleaned up. I’d prefer to have no trace of him in a room I use as my retreat.”
