There is no such thing as a permanent friend. With the right incentive, anyone could turn into a backstabber. I had learned this the hard way, so it wasn’t hard to consider the possibility that Siren could be double-crossing me. To be fair, everyone whose alibi I hadn’t cleared was a suspect, including Heston. He relied on Inferno more than I did but he was right. What if his sister’s life was the price he had to pay for his loyalty to me? Would he still be loyal? I already knew the answer to that. He wouldn’t. Heston’s sister was the only person he cared about—and Siren, I was starting to notice. However, whatever was going on between them was not enough for him to cover for her if he thought she was Miles’s mole. It was the only reason why I didn’t drag Siren into a dungeon to interrogate her as soon as she returned. “What now?” She shifted her gaze between us. “Do you want me to leave so you discuss what to do about Inferno?” “No need. You can stay. You are one of us, after all
Angelica If there was a bullshitting contest, I would certainly win gold. What the hell was that about giving up on my dream to become a lawyer because it would be meaningless? To be fair, I wouldn’t buy it if someone else spun such a tale on me. I was either too convincing for anyone to suspect a thing or Curtis was more gullible than I thought—I would bet on the former. It was one of the perks of having a face that everyone thought looked innocent. “So, do you have anything in mind?” He asked.“Not at the moment.” I spun yet another tale. “I might just find another part time job.” As an assassin, that is. Before I met Curtis, I always assumed my life would end a month from now, in the grand scheme I had concocted to get all the Arcieros in one place for my revenge plan. I hadn’t realized it yet but I didn’t care whether I lived or died back then. I had never felt alive ever since Uncle Robert died, anyway. But now, I wasn’t sure I wanted to die. At least not so soon, using my o
“If you wanted to kill me, you should have simply said so.” I panted, wobbling off the treadmill with trembling legs. I was sweating buckets while Curtis didn’t look like he’d run the same ten miles I had run. He pulled two cotton towels off the rack and threw one at me. “Your stamina is shit.” He grunted. Wait until I chop your vocal cords off, then we can talk about how epic my stamina needs to be. I thought, but what I said was the exact opposite. “Maybe you can help with that?” I felt a jolt in my leg and instantly added, “if you don’t make me run my legs off, that would be nice.” He dumped his towel in the basket at the side, his sigh telling everything his mouth couldn’t. “I’ll find you a personal trainer.” That wasn’t what I was going for. I dabbed at my face and threw my towel in the basket along with his, using the chance to inch closer. “Don’t you want to train me?” “I’ll be too easy on you. Can’t go all out when you’re halfway toward your grave, can I?” He loomed over m
Curtis “Why would you think…” I stopped myself from asking why she thought I was going to kiss her. Since when was I put on the spot like this? “I didn’t want to cross a line.” She blinked, waiting for me to add something. When I didn’t, she scoffed. “You aren’t even trying to make up a good lie. What line would you possibly cross that hasn’t been crossed before? You’ve been in my mouth.” And it would be best if she didn’t talk about that. I could still feel her tongue on me, warm, smooth, and wet, gliding up my length as she twirled it around me. I was already hard before she brought it up. I had to adjust my posture and hope she didn’t lower her gaze and see exactly why I wanted to keep my distance. Alas, she wasn’t buying my excuse, so I had to tell her the truth. “Is it because you think I’ll fall in love with you?” She asked. “Heavens, no.” I was starting to think I wouldn’t really mind that happening. I must be sick in the head to even let my mind go in that direction. “I
Angelica Curtis returned faster than I thought, his mouth practically watering. “Can I have my breakfast now?” He asked, but instead of taking his seat, he slid up behind me and grabbed my waist. For a second, I wasn’t sure whether he was talking about the pancakes or something else. Pretending not to understand his double meaning, I scooted away and plated his pancakes. “Here. Do you want anything with it?” “Jasmine syrup.” He answered without flinching. I eyed the jasmine tea he had asked a maid to bring earlier and raised a brow. Was he addicted to jasmines? What an odd preference. Keeping that in mind, I took my seat just as Maverick walked into the dining room. “Maverick?” Curtis was as puzzled as I was. “Hey Ricky.” I waved at him. The elderly man tried his best to ignore me but his face still cracked a smile. I took that as a chance to win him over. “Do you want to join us for breakfast? I accidentally made too much.” That was a lie. I knew Maverick was on his way over t
I should have covered my hair up before coming down here. Spider would roast me for ages if I told him that but this room was so white and sterile that I was certain a strand of my hair would stand out if it dropped anywhere. I was relieved when I found a light switch and turned it on. After taking more pictures, I set a timer for ten minutes and got to work. Within two minutes, I couldn’t decide whether Curtis was less cautious than he appeared or arrogant as fuck. I had found a vault and its passcode wasn’t even activated. For a moment, I thought that was because there was nothing inside but that was until I saw the photo album lying inside. After cautiously checking for booby traps, I took it and set it on the nearest counter to open it. There was nothing out of the ordinary about the photos. Some of them were poor quality from many years ago and I needed to take a closer look but they were mostly pictures of the Arciero family. There was a myriad with Curtis and Crystal—Jeez, s
The drive to Silverwood Psychiatric Hospital was nerve-wracking. It should have been the time I got to bug Spider for more information about the vault because he was just that kind of human being. He wouldn’t tell me anything without hours of back-and-forth and eventually coercion. However, I couldn’t do any of that in Curtis’s car when I couldn’t be sure whether or not there was a hidden camera. Biting my tongue, I pulled into the hospital and checked in, then let Gia show me to the garden where Crystal supposedly was. She was visibly uncomfortable around me so I didn’t try to strike up a conversation, only following her lead. Crystal was sitting on a bench next to a patch of roses, head cast down as she mumbled something to herself. She looked nothing like she was the previous two times. I had been scared she would be disappointed when I got out of Curtis’s car instead of him but this was worse. Seeing her like this was gnawing at me. “Feel free to call me if you need me.” Gia of
Curtis I couldn’t care less what happened to Arciero Industries. However, I had vowed to protect grandfather’s hard work and that included the company I wanted nothing to do with. So before meeting up with Giancarlo, I had held a four-hour-long meeting with the board and listened to them rant about what had become of the great Arciero family. “And now they want you to be their new CEO?” He asked. He was more amused than he should be, laughing about me being stuck in a lengthy meeting that I would rather not be in. “They want an Arciero to be their new CEO. It’s a family company but somehow no Arciero is involved with the company business.” I explained, pointedly letting him know what I was getting at. He feigned ignorance. “If you didn’t kick our uncles out of the company, there would be Arcieros actively involved in the business.” I frowned at his logic. Was I supposed to let them keep running the company to the ground? After grandfather’s death, father had taken it upon himself
Angelica"What is it like being a mother?"Klara paused with a spoon of chocolate ice cream halfway towards her mouth. I only realized how odd my question was when I saw how she was looking at me. I dug into my ice cream and shoveled a spoon into my mouth to calm myself down."Why would you ask?" she asked. "Are you planning to have kids?"I was glad I wasn't looking at her so she wouldn't read my mind—not that I still believed shrinks could read minds but it was awkward nonetheless."Maybe," I gave a vague answer. Considering Curtis's stance on kids, her surprise was understandable. However, I didn't want to tell her I was pregnant yet. It didn't feel right to tell anyone else before Curtis."Well," she shrugged. "That's a broad subject. But I had all these plans for my kids. Rowan and I always wanted two, close in age, and we planned everything including what parenting methods we would use, which schools they would go to, what kind of friends we would allow around them, how I would
Angelica I groaned as I forced my eyes open, adjusting to the blinding light that had just been flickered on. I didn't know how long I had slept. Hell, I wasn't sure if it was day or night. There was no window in this dingy cell and the door was a solid hank of metal that didn't allow any light through it. The only source of light was the offensively bright bulb above me, which had been kept off until now. I had alternated between sleeping and pacing in the dark the whole time and it was driving me crazy. The only thing I could feel was the chains around my wrists and ankles, reminding me that I wasn't dead yet. I didn't know how long had passed since Curtis interrogated me about The Viper. It could be a day, a week, or a year. Hell, it could be ten years for all I knew. I looked down at my stomach and my lips twitched. At least there was a way to know if months had passed. My belly would bulge out. This was Curtis's idea of torture.To be fair, solitary confinement was one of the
Curtis“Angelika Giannelli, Angel of Death…is there any other identity I should know of?” I mocked.“Tell me everything about The Viper,” I demanded.She averted her gaze, dragging the long chains with her so she would walk up to me. I smirked when she stopped, her radius finally running out.“Is this necessary?” She bit back.Yes, it was. This woman killed Miles right under our noses and we didn’t think she was at fault. She played us all like a violin with that innocent smile on her face, all while taking out one Arciero after another and pitting us against each other. However, that was not why I was here.I pointed at her chains. “That will be the least of your problems. Answer me.”She shook her head. “I can’t tell you anything. You’re going to kill me anyway. Just do it.”“I knew you would say that.” I grinned. Someone with her skill could endure a lot of pain.Besides, I couldn’t bring myself to torture her. At least not physically anyway, which was odd, considering how willing
Angelica I needed my head examined. Was I seriously considering having this child? I had bought a dozen pregnancy test kits in the hospital’s pharmacy and couldn’t wait until I got to my hotel room, so I took the tests right there in the hospital washroom. Unsurprisingly, all of them came positive. It was unbelievable. I didn’t know what I thought pregnancy felt like but this was not it. I had expected a little more drama. Aside from my boobs feeling like they were about to fall off, the doctor mentioned I was lucky enough to have a morning sickness-free pregnancy. Maybe that was why I still couldn’t believe I had an actual baby inside me. It sounded like a joke—until I remembered I had to tell Curtis. Between upgrading and downgrading my way through as many cars as possible in the last two months, and spending each of those nights at a different hotel, I had about a thousand dollars to my name. It was a drop in the bucket in relation to how much I needed to bring up a child. I
AngelicaI felt like crap. Where the hell am I? I wondered. I forced one eye open and squinted, wincing from how horribly my head hurt. I patted around for my phone and remembered dropping it the night before. I hadn’t stopped to pick it up. I was too busy running for my life with Curtis hot on my tail. I didn’t know how he found me but I wasn’t going to be able to hide from him forever, I guess. My plan was perfect if I do say so myself. I ran around the city, leaving Curtis a trail that would make him think I was headed for Arcron, then I circled back and returned to Silverwood, where I rented two apartments; one in my name and the other under Klara Arciero. I stayed at neither. I spent every night at a different motel far from both apartments. The apartments were only a way to keep Curtis busy if he found out I was still in the city. Which is why I couldn’t understand why the fuck I thought it was a good idea to check out my fake apartment. I was yet to enter the building when
CurtisTwo months later. Why was I still on this wild goose chase? I hadn’t caught a whiff of my wife even though I felt I had searched the whole of West Auburg. She couldn’t have left the country. There was only one person capable of helping her get a fake passport and he was currently on our side. Sometimes I could swear she was leaving me a trail. Though when I got to it, she was gone like a puff of smoke. I was more frustrated by the realization that the longer it took to find her, the farther away she could go. If she found a way to get a fake passport from somewhere else, she could be halfway across the country and there was nothing I could do about it. But I wasn’t giving up. I meant it when I said I would tear down the whole world to find her. I was not giving up now. I was still staring at the road with my hands gripping the steering wheel. What if I was approaching this from the wrong angle?I took a U-turn at the next exit and returned home. Klara was visiting, which was
The Viper “Angelica left.” I glared at Spider. “What do you mean she left?” He shrugged, letting me know there was nothing else to explain about it. She ran away. “And you let her?” He scrunched his nose. “You know there’s no such thing as ‘letting’ with Angelica. You could lock her up in a cage with an active electric field all around it and she would still find a way to leave.” His words conjured up a memory of that feisty little kitten she once was. She’d been looking for me for a year and I knew every bullet she put between a target’s brows, every throat she sliced was to get my attention. She did get it, but it was way too much than she bargained for. She ended up in my dungeon after putting down one of my most loyal men. I made sure the shackles were way too small for her to wiggle her hands free, and the chain was too short to be of any use. I was going to decide whether she was worth keeping that night but I walked into the dungeon only for her to head-butt me and make
CurtisLyra Giannelli, now known as Eloise Dalton, was as hard to find as her sister. I already knew she was Samantha’s cousin from overhearing their argument but I still couldn’t find her, not even with Giancarlo’s help. Eventually, I had to ask Samantha and I had to promise not to harm a hair on her head before I got any useful information.Good, because I didn’t plan to hurt her. She was more useful to me alive, anyway.I watched as the debate played out on her face, if she would be able to run past me if she tried. She decided against it. Smart girl. I didn’t track her down just to let her escape.She sat down opposite me. “Make it quick. I have to get home.”“Of course.” I let her settle down before I asked what I knew she was already expecting. “Where is she?”“Who?”“Don’t play dumb with me.”She crossed her arms at her chest. “What do you expect me to tell you? That I know where to find your wife? Why would I know that if you don’t?”I knew what she was worried about. “Look, I
Lyra “Come with me.” Angelica urged me. When we made it to her car, she had floored it out of the Arciero mansion’s garage and only stopped about half an hour later. We were far from the Arciero mansion and certainly not being followed. How nice of her to ask if I wanted to leave with her after grabbing me without much choice earlier. I was yet to figure out why we were running away. Wasn’t Curtis her husband? So what if her maiden name was a little different from what everyone thought? “Why?” I asked. “You said your life is in danger. I don’t want anything to happen to you.” She said frantically, and I knew she was hiding something. “Curtis might just take his anger out on you.” “I’ll be fine.” I assured her. Samantha was my cousin. Not biologically, but if the Carlo she always talked about was Giancarlo Arciero as I was starting to think, Curtis wouldn’t hurt me. And Andre…well, I wasn’t about to put Angelica in more danger than she already was in. “No one wants to mess with