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The silence is deafening. Nobody else wants to speak up after hearing he has already accessed the video of the house.
“Come forward, or I will slash her neck. The blood will be on all of your fucking hands,” he threatens.
“Oh God,” Bridget cries as the tears begin to fall. “I truly don’t know.”
Aoife, Bridget, and Fiona look downright afraid. Their collective tears would be appreciated if I wasn’t about to die. My own tears run down my face and onto his hand that has me hostage and knifepoint.
“Stop your blubbering,” Mona chastises the women. “This is all her fault. How many times do we have to suffer and put up with her? Do you forget she was the one who got Mr. Doyle fired?”
I’m stunned at Mona’s lack of empathy at this moment, but even more shocked that Lennon lowers the knife in response to her rant. He still holds me tight against him with his other hand.
“Tell me, Mona. Was it under your instruction not to feed her too or to significantly reduced how much she was checked on?”
Mona opens and closes her mouth like a fish out of water.
Busted!
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Lennon
Her hand has been shown. She showed her cards the moment she encouraged Aurora’s murder. I review the footage at least once a week … more often if necessary. I long suspected that Mona was having improper relations with Mr. Doyle, but it’s clear now that she loved him. She deems Aurora responsible for his departure from the house—they all do. From my perspective, she only exposed the weaknesses that were in my midst. I gave the house staff one pass, but I couldn’t continue to look beyond the incompetence. Mr. Doyle was selected to lead the house. How could he if he continued to make missteps? Mona wants revenge—more so than the others. Death as a consequence is not beneath her.
“Your silence is not an answer, Mona,” I push. “And I caution you not to lie or this knife will be your fate instead.”
She raises her chin in pseudo-confidence. “I reassigned the staff,” she admits. “That ungrateful cunt deserved to be taught a lesson. Look at all the trouble she’s caused.”
I sidestep Aurora and stalk toward Mona until I’m towering over her. “And so you’re the boss now?”
“No, sir,” she mutters. “I’ve been trying to keep things afloat in Mr. Doyle’s absence. I didn’t feel that Aurora deserved our attention.”
“Just because you were fucking him doesn’t give you the right to make decisions for this house or my goddamn staff. I didn’t put you in charge!” I take another step forward as she takes a step back. “Where did she get the phone?”
“I don’t know, sir,” Mona insists.
I don’t play these games. Somebody knows fucking something, so denial is not going to save them. I yell for Oisín. When he arrives, I set my truth finder in motion. “Get Apollo and bring him down to the basement,” I growl.
“Yes, sir. Right away, sir.”
Aurora’s eyes widen. She remembers. Her silent correlation to Apollo and the basement is correct. I plan to drown the truth out of them. They need a reminder lesson in fear. The maids follow Oisín with Aurora closely behind. She keeps turning to give me pleading looks, but I’m unfazed.
“Take a seat in the chair, Mona,” I instruct. She looks up at Apollo and then back at me. For the first time since I’ve called them into my office, her mask slips, revealing her uncertainty. She knows she has no choice. She takes a seat in the chair, and Oisín immediately straps her in. Once she’s bound, I walk up to the chair and lean over to get one last look at the terror on her face. I feel absolutely nothing.
“Begin!” On my command tilts her chair back and place a cloth over face as the other maids look on.
A collective gasp sounds around the room the moment the water begins to pour. Mona flails in her restraints as she chokes on the copious steady stream of water. I let it continue for a bit before I give the hand signal to stop. Mona continues to choke.
“I will ask you again. Where did Aurora get the phone?”
“Pleassssssssseeeeee,” she cries.
I give Apollo the hand signal to continue. Her pleads are drowned out by the water. “Last fucking chance. I know somebody knows something. If I don’t get answers, I won’t stop Apollo from killing her.”
The maids begin to cry hysterically. They know I’m not bluffing. Aurora just stands there in utter shock, eyes rimmed red with tears streaming down her face. She’s finally getting a real glance at the man I am.Ruthless. Calculating. Merciless.
“Stop!” Aoife speaks up. “Please.”
I give Apollo the hand signal to halt. “You better have something useful to say, or I will have Apollo drone you both for wasting my time.”
