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He hums, and I hear the distinct zip of a body bag being sealed shut, disappointment settling in my gut. Normally, I’d take care of the cleanup myself, but since I had to chaperone my new wife, there was no time.
Still, I’d hoped to be the last person Mateo’s physical form saw on this planet before he’s tossed to the bottom of the Charles.
“Have you made contact with your target, then? Let her know what’s going on?”
Voices rise behind Elena’s closed door, and I pause, my gaze flickering toward it. Who is in there right now?
I haven’t seen anyone come or go, and I’ve been keeping watch for the last ten minutes. After leaving the foyer downstairs, I’d set up shop here, ready to bust in the second it seemed like maybe she was trying to flee.
Until now, it’s been silent, and I don’t like the way the sudden intrusion tightens the tendons in my neck.
Slinking toward the door, I answer Jonas with a brief “no,” aware that if I don’t he’ll start badgering me again.
When we met a decade ago on Aplana Island, the place my mother used to drag me when she had the money to spare, the only thing I’d known about him was that he wasn’t allowed near Primrose Manor, where the island’s owning family lives.
I had no clue what I was getting into when I bailed him from jail and hired him to come work for me, but it’s one of the only lasting relationships I have, so I put up with him despite his incessant chatter.
“So, you’re really not thinking any of this through,” he says.
“Everything has to happen a certain way, Wolfe,” I snap, keeping my voice hushed so as not to draw attention to my presence to whoever is inside the room. “I can’t simply drop her into the thick of things and expect her to be okay with it.”
“But… marriage? When you left for Boston, you never mentioned that.”
“Plans change. It’s the easiest and quickest way of getting me what I want.”
Money. Power.
Family.
Jonas sighs. “Okay, okay. I’m sure you know what you’re doing.” A pause, hesitancy pulsing through the line. “You don’t think she’ll be a problem?”
My hand finds the doorknob, twisting slowly, my heart racing as I begin pushing open the door. As my eyes adjust to the scene in front of me, laughter bubbles up in my chest, teasing the back of my throat.
Though the humor in it is missing, replaced with betrayal so hot, it knocks the breath from me.
Hanging up and pocketing my phone before giving Jonas an answer, I step inside, gritting my teeth when my gaze connects with that of Elena’s mother.
Even being in the same room as her makes my lungs feel like they’ve caught fire and I’m trying to breathe through the singed rubble.
Carmen’s eyebrows knit together when she sees me, the tan skin around them remaining perfectly still.
“What the hell have you done, Kallum?” she hisses, making my hands ache as they curl around empty air. “Why is my daughter not marrying Mateo de Luca right now?”
“Elena chose to marry me instead.”
“You fucked her, didn’t you?” Carmen’s lips curl back. “You knew that if you screwed her, you’d screw us over, too. You’ve just been waiting for your opportunity.”
“She chose to marry me of her own free will.”
“Oh, and I’m sure Mateo was just all too happy to step aside.”
With her, it’s always been about the reaction. She knows what buttons of mine to push, and how hard to push them until I pounce.
Once upon a time, it was almost a game we played; she’d dig beneath my skin with her quips and harsh words, her jealousy and spite, and like a fucking lamb I’d follow her right to the slaughter.
I smirk, not bothering to answer as I sweep the room, noting the half-cocked balcony door just behind her.
The layout of this room is seared into my memory, its white walls much more familiar to me than those of my actual home, the books on the built-in shelves ones I’ve mentioned over the years.
