AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The first metallic taste finds its way in my mouth, and I know that I’m about to embarrass myself.
Connor stretches his leg out, sliding the trash can toward me with one foot, and watches impassively as I vomit up the bile in my stomach, all while my eyes are locked on the open, unseeing ones of Bertrand Soltorre.
What in the hell have I done?
3
CONNOR
“Take her to the room—and not a word to anyone,” I say to Geo as soon as I’ve opened the door.
He was waiting outside for me since we had planned to return to Blue Light tonight. He doesn’t react to the scene as he steps inside; he merely pulls the dark-haired girl to her feet, where she stumbles slightly.
“Get those damn things off her feet.”
I’m tired of watching her struggle like Bambi. She’s no innocent, doe-eyed creature. She murdered a man. He might have deserved it, but she’s one of us nonetheless. Geo bends down to swipe one arm under her knees, pulling her up into his arms, and I keep my face stoic as they pass. I won’t be deterred by wanting her to stay right here, so I can watch her. I won’t be put off by the way my body reacts when I’m close to her.
Hell, I don’t even know her damn name.
I don’t know how long I stand in my father’s office, staring at his body. It doesn’t seem real—the fact that he’s gone. Part of me is shouting in excitement that he’s been taken care of. One thing off my plate. And if you’re thinking that I want this empire he built, you’re wrong. I want nothing to do with his seedy crimes. The other part of me is mourning the loss of a father. Someone who could have been my hero but instead was my greatest curse.
Geo slowly opens the door, waiting, and I finally glance over my shoulder.
“Is she secure?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What did I tell you about that?”
“What the hell are we going to do?” he asks, ignoring my question as he stares down at Bertrand’s corpse.
“You’re going to scan the perimeter and figure out how she got in here and who she works for. Take Fernando; tell him it’s a perimeter check. You know Father was always so lax about our security, so sure our enemies would never dare to breach our home.” I pause for a moment, surveying the scene in front of me. “We are then going to stage this mess for some poor maid to find in the morning and pretend we are as in the dark as everyone else. Then, we are going to interrogate the devil in the red dress we have locked in the basement.”
“You’re the boss,” Geo says with a nod, and I glare at him.
But he’s right. I’m the fucking boss now, and it sends a chill to my bones. The Soltorre empire is mine, and the game that we’ve been playing has gotten a whole lot more interesting in the span of one night. But I’m not sure that I’m ready to deal with the fallout that will come tomorrow.
Because the things that happen in the dark are always brought to light in the day.
“Go,” I tell him.
He disappears silently out the office door while I sink into a plush leather wingback chair in front of the empty fireplace. I glance at my father’s desk and across the room to the right, where he keeps his files locked. I’m not ready to find out the real extent of his black-market dealings that he kept from me. I think he always knew my feelings toward him, so he was never honest with me about things.
I need a fucking drink.
I open the door,stepping into the room. She doesn’t move, doesn’t look up. My eyes roam her body, looking for any wounds, and they narrow in on the red marks peeking around one side of her neck. On the other side, her dark hair hangs in her face, almost like the villain in some scary movie. But I know in this story, I’m the villain. My family is.
“Wryn Coleman,” I say, my voice echoing off the cement walls of the basement room.
Her head snaps up, blue eyes wide and focused. I step closer, looking down my nose at her. She watches me, a caged animal, ready to fight back.
“We found your car, pulled off into the woods at the edge of our property. Your name was everywhere in it. Really irresponsible for a killer.” I tsk.
She narrows her eyes at me.
“Would you prefer the termmurderer? That’s what you are, right?”
She doesn’t speak. I have to give her credit. I’ve seen grown men piss themselves in that same chair she’s sitting in, crying and begging us not to kill them.
