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Chapter 50 – Constantine
Ihad never frozenfor a kill before. Never. But there was a battle raging in my mind. I should kill her—she was one of them, yet I’d stopped the action because I knew that wasn’t the whole truth.
There had been no evidence that Talia had helped in my sister’s kidnapping, and it had taken me a while to realize it had been a gut reaction to turn against the whole Beaumont family. But after that conversation with Beaumont, it was clear the father didn’t know what the son had done, and my conscience told me Talia didn’t either. I wanted to hate her, wanted to exact my vengeance.And she would have let me.
I burst out of the front door, heart hammering in my chest. This must be what a heart attack felt like, an explosion of pain followed by the next and the next in ongoing succession. I’d rather be shot again. I didn’t understand this inner war between bloodlust and an aversion to the kill. I blinked, stumbling forward into the desert and realized how dark it was now. Night fell fast out here. I had only been inside for less than half an hour. But the time between when my car had come to a stop and I slammed the door to her room felt like an eternity.
Daniel tossed a cigarette to the ground, extinguishing it with the toe of his Ariat boot. I looked at the crushed tobacco stick and remembered how Talia had gone to great lengths to give that vice up right before marrying me.“It was too hard to give them up,”she’d said in Greece when I offered her one.
Well, Talia had become my cigarette. I should give her up. But her willpower must be stronger than mine because it had been a fucking internal fight to reach for the gun and point it at her sweat-soaked head. And even if I’d been able to pull the gun out, I don’t think I could have pulled the trigger.
Fuck.I needed to get a grip on things. Fast.
Adrian began to approach me, one hand held up in warning.
“Stay out here. Make sure she doesn’t leave,” I ordered brusquely, walking past my protesting cousin. I ventured off the dirt drive that was hardly indistinguishable from the rest of the desert.
I didn’t know where I was walking to or for how long. A multitude of stars blinked into the heavens above. They appeared in every direction except the west where the last of the sun’s rays were still holding on. Tailored pants and leather dress shoes weren’t hiking gear, but I hastened forward regardless. I just needed space and time to think and fresh air to clear my head...until my foot caught a jagged stone and I fell on my hands and knees. Bolts of pain sliced through my side, a reminder of my bullet wounds; a clear warning that my body wasn’t fully recovered. I sat back on my haunches, scrubbing my hands over my face. So much blood coated my hands—I’d killed so many people without feeling any guilt over it, but Talia was different.
Eyes trained on the heavens, I listened to all the contradicting emotions moving inside me. If vengeance was a dish best served cold, it was going to take a lot more strength than I currently had to ice myself against my wife.
Because she’s innocent.The taunt reverberated through my mind. It was hard to face, even harder to deny. But by punishing her, I was punishing myself. And dammit, there was so much at stake to atone for!
The crunch of dirt told me that someone was approaching. It had to be Adrian. The steps were cautious, and I ground my teeth, reminded again of what he’d said to me. The difference between us was that I could kill without blinking—most of the time. But in battles of the mind, Adrian was far more cutthroat than I was. If I could latch onto that strength of his, it would be easy enough to end my bride.
He offered to do it for me.A harsh laugh bubbled up my throat. Maybe I should let him end her. All my troubles escalated when I allowed her to walk into my life.
“Constantine.” That one word held a weighted punch.
My cousin knelt beside me but was wise enough not to make physical contact.
“What is it?” I rasped, my heartbeat escalating, because Iknew—I knew what he was about to say.
“Jakob called. Iryna’s gone.”
There was an empty moment, as if I hung suspended in time while those words resounded over and over in my mind. Desolation followed, cocooning me in a wall of nothingness as I felt my world shatter. The words sank in, festering in my heart. An internal eruption of pain ripped me back into reality.No! No, no, no!It wasn’t meant to be this way! How was I going to carry on? I didn’t know how to live without my sister. She was the one constant in this chaotic world...and now she was gone. Pain and hatred saturated every fiber of my being.
“I’m going to eviscerate the Beaumont family.” My voice was calm compared to the hurricane of emotions that stormed inside me. My path was simple now—there was nothing left save vengeance. The mission was clear. I was now the angel of death, and I had souls whose hour glasses were running dry.
Except, a memory chirped in my mind.“Drakos. It’s Drakos now.”I ground my molars as Talia’s voice played like a tape. I hated that the ghost of pleasure that had warmed me then now tried to heat my stone-cold heart. Who was she? Mine...or theirs? The idea that she was innocent had stopped my finger from pulling the trigger. But what if she wasn’t?
I had to find the truth and bury this darkness once and for all. If she was to blame, it was her death sentence.
That resolve directed the whirlwind of emotions in my soul. Decision made, I pushed to my feet, dusting the dirt from my knees.
~*~
The walk back to theproperty was shorter than I’d anticipated. I decided I would start with the son and father, leaving my wife’s demise for last.Othello killed Desdemona. I can slay Talia.
Daniel wiped the backs of his hands across his eyes before giving me a small, tight smile, but I didn’t want sympathy from the guard. I instructed, “Don’t let her leave. She’s to have a bottle of water every hour. Other than that, leave her alone.”
“Understood, sir.” The guard turned and went back into the house, shutting the door behind him.
I could see Adrian struggling not to explode at my declaration. This sudden streak of wrath was surprising. He’d been the one to caution me about killing Talia before. As I ripped open the car door, I faced him over the roof. “If you think you’re such a big, tough guy, you go in there, beat her to a pulp, and kill her yourself.”
