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And just like that…the time in the hourglass ran out.
“How did you get this?” Her voice was barely audible.
For the first time in her life, Diane Hill was faced with all the sins she and her daughters had committed. Every secret they’d tried to hide was there for her to acknowledge.
I had the upper hand and she was about to eat out of it.
“The better question is why I have this.”
Her throat bobbed with a swallow. “Whydo you have this, Zeno?”
I mock-sighed, glancing ceilingward and staring at the molding like it was the most intriguing thing ever. Dragging out this exchange only enhanced her anxiety and I had the terrible habit of playing with my food.
“I already said it, Diane. I want you to tell the authorities to stop sniffing around my family. I’m a powerful man and I will not have you drag my name through the mud. You want justice for Armel—you want a scapegoat for the man’s senseless murder? Find one. And if you don’t, I’m going to make the content in that folder public knowledge.”
She felt the weight of my words.
I could destroy her with a single snap of my finger and she was finally coming to terms with this fact.
Even if she suspected I killed Armel, she wouldn’t say shit. She might love her dead godson, but she loved her reputation more. She would do my bidding because this would not only affect her, but her children as well.
“W-What guarantee do I have you won’t release this even if I comply?”
I enjoyed the ashen quality of her complexion and the shakiness in her voice.
“I won’t. But to ensure my utmost silence on the matter, you need to give me one more thing.”
“What would that be?”
“Darla.” I reached forward to flip the hourglass around one more time. “I want your daughter’s hand in marriage.”
Diane put up a fight.
She yelled.
She screeched.
She did everything in her power—which was non-existent, mind you—to get me to step down.
I wouldn’t budge.
“I want Darla as my wife for twelve months.” It was all the time I needed to please my family and take over the seat. “After that, I’ll gladly divorce her.”
“This is barbaric!” Diane continued throwing a tantrum like a five-year-old. I examined my watch, bored. “I will never coerce Darla into this!”
“You will do as I say, or you will regret the day you ever met me. Not only will I ensure you lose your position as mayor, but I’ll make it so your daughters never find work in this city. I’ll drain every cent to your name and leave you one step above beggars. Don’t test me, Diane. You had the audacity to fuck with me and now you have to bear the consequences of your actions. Close the case and tell your daughter she has a new fiancé. You have forty-eight hours.”
To make the deal even sweeter, I’d throw in a couple of million dollars. I was a generous man and I’d make sure the Hill women were even richer after our contract came to an end.
Diane trembled and her mouth moved the slightest, like she was saying a prayer. I didn’t particularly enjoy taunting the elderly—I usually condemned those who did—but she had it coming.
The cherry on top of this piece of shit cake?
Diane Hill may play the part of a saint, but everyone knew politicians were corrupt. And this one took it a step further with the crimes of her past. If her daughters knew what kind of woman their mother was, I wondered what they’d think.
Probably go running—pun intended—for the hills.
“Oh, and feel free to keep that.” I tapped the folder. “I have another copy. Should you even try to plan my demise by your B-grade henchman, this information will leak to the press. So don’t even think about it,mother-in-law.”
