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“So what have I confessed so far? I was disillusioned. I was played. My entire life changed.”
She offers a small nod, switching into a crossed-leg position.
“Watching my father day in and day out was the best training to learn how to become someone nobody wants to cross. The discipline it took shaped who I am today. The only thing that remained of my humanity was my sister. I knew I had to protect her. I convinced Silas to send her away to school and cut Aurora out of my life. My twelve-year-old sister, who I had to ship across an ocean all by herself because it was the only way for us both.”
Violet places her hand on my chest, her silent support compelling me to continue,
“Power and manipulation go hand in hand. It’s all about strategy and making others believe it was their idea from the start. The victories against Silas kept me sharp, that and my friendship with Kieran and Cato.
“Once my sister was safe, far away, I could focus on taking him down. It took years. I liked to toy with him, strip him bit by bit of the power he amassed. But it also made my father desperate. That happens when your former buddies lose their reputation and money and get sent to jail.
“Silas brought my sister back from school after seven years. She was just another innocent, another person he could take from me. But this time, I had Kieran, and I took my chance. The guys always hated how I pulled the strings. But when there is a problem, my approach is to always find a solution. Pair that with knowing people’s weaknesses and taking advantage of that, I never lose.”
I can’t lose because, in our world, that means lives are at stake. That’s how I used Kieran to protect Aurora. It’s why I thought Chiara was a good choice for Cato, and it’s why I pushed Hayden back to where he belongs, with Alessandra.
I stare at the ceiling, lost in thought. The way things developed between Violet and me was the biggest surprise of my life. She was a means to an end, a responsibility I had to fulfill. Now, she’s the rain in my drought of life.
I search her gaze. “Our business is one of absolute control. In the underworld, we are the judges and the executioners. In our organization, I have complete control. And that includes deciding what happens, when it happens, and how it happens. Every one of us has a particular set of skills, but we share one: we enjoy killing our enemies.”
She tilts her head, brows drawn together.
“I gathered that. And the women seem fine with that.”
I chuckle. She’s quite fascinating. I would have never allowed her to peek inside my head if I was a better man, but I want to see what she’s made of. I’m determined to keep her. I want a queen, not a mouse.
“Does this change how you see them? Aurora is the one who would never hurt anyone—the author who writes about violence because she understands her husband’s world, and she’s always trying to redeem the villain. Chiara creates jewelry, symbols of beauty to overshadow the life her man lives. Alessandra, the surgeon. She saves lives while her husband takes lives.”
A shiver rattles her body, but she shakes her head.
That will change with my next confession. “I killed my father.”
She gasps and her hand flies to her mouth. I doubt she will ever forget the confession I sullied her soul with. But I plan to do so much more—dirty her up and tarnish her innocence.
“In his desperation, my father sold my sister to a depraved man who was into buying young girls and making them his sex toys. Delaney took her when she and Chiara were at Hayden’s place by kidnapping her. The moment I found out who was behind my sister’s disappearance, I called my father and told him the state in which I found Aurora was what I would do to him. At that moment, the mask I’d been wearing in front of him dropped. I found my father on Delaney’s ship, injured but not dead. He reminded me it was he who kept Aurora alive. What a hero. I pinned him to the cabin door with knives in his shoulders. I smiled in his face while I emptied my gun in his chest.”
“Did you feel better afterward?”
It was quite anticlimactic, yet being able to be the one to kill Silas gave me a sense of victory.
My eyebrows knit together. I was expecting her to bolt away. Of all the confessions, that was the one that demanded the most of me. It would be cruel for her to deny me the release I am desperate for. I’ve never allowed anyone to see this deeply into my life. Still, it’s not fear I detect in her eyes; it’s pure curiosity and desire to understand. That’s what truly fucks with my head.
“Better? Justice has nothing to do with feeling better. It’s all about serving it. People like me, we like to keep our dirty deeds private, and we have our own justice system.”
“So, what? You’re a fucked-up vigilante?”
I burst into laughter. She’s right, I’m both fucked up and a vigilante.
“And now, my innocent little freak, the wolf is pretty hungry.”
“You talk about control as if you crave it, but you seek chaos. That’s what you truly love. So you can tidy it up only to unleash more chaos.”
Her words detonate in my brain with the truth. I have never known a woman more desirable or fascinating. She peers through my walls, searching for the one thing that doesn’t fit. Violet is astounding.
“And you talk as if this changes nothing when, in fact, it changes everything.”
She hops off the bed, going straight for the whiskey bottle, and takes a gulp.
I stand up, and she begins to peel her blouse off.
