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The Devil She Knows 84
Camille.The house is beautifully decorated with a look of an old world meeting the modern, but nothing is coming to me. We head upstairs and look around the rooms before then we go back downstairs doing the same thing.Other than feeling like I should kick my shoes off, light up the fireplace, and relax in front of it with a steaming mug of something hot, I feel nothing more than that sensation of familiarity.Alessio opens the back door, and we go outside, heading toward the lake.When I look toward the wood, something catches my attention and I stop. It's two twisted-looking oak trees standing opposite each other. Thick vines wrap around the branches, which grow high and wide like they're reaching for the sky.I turn, and so does Alessio."What is it?" he asks."There." I point. "There's something about those trees."I'm walking toward them before he answers. He follows, falling in step with me.The closer I get, the stranger I feel. No longer feeling that sense of familiarity, but
The Devil She Knows 85
AlessioI make my way upstairs to my bedroom with a heavy heart.Camille's sobs filled me the moment I turned the corner to get up the stairs.We've been back for the last two days, and her tears haven't ceased. I don't expect them to. What Camille has been through is beyond anything I could have imagined. Or expected.I've been with her all day, but I had a quick errand to run that took about an hour. It was already nightfall when I left, and she was asleep. I'd hoped she would continue to sleep because she hasn't in days.I keep asking myself what I actually expected from that trip but come up with a blank every time.Truthfully, in my heart, if I'd known that trip to L.A. was going to destroy my wife the way it has, I would never have gone.I would have sailed her across the globe and hidden her away from the certain pain, devastation, and despair.Regardless to the answers we received, and the mystery solved regarding the Butyrskayas, I never would have traded that for her demise
The Devil She Knows 86
AlessioIt seems like I only closed my eyes for a moment before my phone rings and I wake up to bright sunlight beaming through the window.Camille is still out cold on my chest. When I slide her off me and onto the pillow, she doesn't stir.I grab my phone, answering straightaway when I see it's Leif calling.I pray he tells me they found Uther."Hey," I greet him."Morning, are you up?""I am now. What's going on?"He pauses for a moment and then sighs. "It's your father. He's just woken up and is asking for you."-------------------When I walk through the hospital doors, I don't know if I should walk fast or slow. Or just turn back and go home.I don't even know how the fuck my father knows I'm here.Or alive.To him, I should be dead and no longer a concern of his. How did he suddenly wake up from a five-month coma we were told he wouldn't make it back from?And ask for me? Me, of all the people.What about fucking Richard? His fucking beloved. Or my other brothers. Surely, he wa
The Devil She Knows 87
CamilleI gaze at Alessio sitting on the beach in the distance, smoking.He doesn't smoke often, and not like this.This broken version of him where he looks like the lost boy again.The last few days have been terrible for the both of us. First for me. Then for him.He returned from the hospital a few hours ago and told me what happened with his father.I didn't know what broke him more—finding out the truth and not being able to do anything about it, or watching his father die and knowing it's the end.Both were too much. Like everything else.To say I'm still a mess is putting it lightly, but I know I need to be there for him now. The way he has been for me.The last few days have been like none other. I previously thought the day my mother killed herself was the worst day of my life. Seeing the bones of the family I forgot in that grave was beyond that. I don't think I'd ever be able to explain to anyone how I felt then. And how I feel now.The memory I relived is still slicing th
The Devil She Knows 88
CamilleI'm pregnant. Me.No wonder I've been throwing up and I can barely keep water down. That was the only clue, and it suddenly emerged over the last few days.I'm pregnant. There's a baby inside me.I feel bad for being in shock, and I feel bad for not feeling happier. Then I start to freak. Alessio said he didn't want kids. But that was before. When... when he hated me. He doesn't hate me now, but how do I tell him?Will he be happy or mad at me for being careless?"Camille," Jayce calls from the car parked paces away from me on the driveway. I don't even remember he was waiting for me, or seeing him. "Are you okay?""Yes. Sorry." I make my way toward him, and he opens the door for me to get inside the car."You look pale. Are you sure you should be going anywhere?""Yes. I'm fine." I'm not fine. I feel like I'm going to throw up again, and I'm sure that will be because of nerves."Okay. Just checking. The boss will have my head if I take his wife out when she's sick.""Don't wo
The Devil She Knows 89
Alessio"I'll be with you in a few hours." I balance my phone between my ear and shoulder while I pick up the last contract document from the pile on my desk."Try not to stay at work too long," Leif says, his voice sounding raspy over the phone. It still holds that melancholic tone I feel. "Losing yourself in work isn't always best.""I know. I still feel off." I swivel my chair around and gaze out the window toward the skyline. Rain is falling, so outside is a little darker than it should be for this time of day. It suits the sullen mood I can't seem to shake."I feel the same, my boy. I've been questioning my actions and decision to keep you a secret since we found out the truth. I can't express how guilty I feel about that.""Uncle, you rescued me from certain death. Of course, you were in the right for keeping me a secret." I know if I were him, I would have done the same thing. And I pray I'll never be in that position. "I owe you my life, and I still think of you as my father.
The Devil She Knows 90
Alessio"Leif..."A creak sounds outside the door. Another follows, and another.It's footsteps on the floorboards. Since it's not coming from the front entrance, I know it's not Zakh or Malik, so it must be someone else who's already here.Readying my gun, I get up and charge through the door. Whoever the fuck is here, and isn't supposed to be, is going to die a very painful death.I move out into the hallway, looking around frantically to see who it is but find nothing.When I turn around, something sharp enters my neck; then there's a tinging pain that feels like I'm being stung by a bee.I touch the spot and feel... a fucking dart?I pull it out and look at the sharp needle at the end, quickly realizing when spots speckle my vision that it's a tranquilizer. Like the kind our enforcers use when they want to bring people in for interrogation. Before my mind can truly register what's happening, my arms go numb then limp at my side.This can't be an ordinary tranq. I'd be out like a l
The Devil She Knows 91
CamilleI roll my head to the side and groan. Someone strokes my cheek, and I open my eyes.At first, my vision is hazy, but when everything comes into focus, I find myself staring at a gray concrete wall. The light around me reminds me of the kind you'd use for a storage room.My cheek is stroked again, and I turn my head to find Dad hovering over me. He has a long beard, blood-shot eyes, and his face looks like someone did a number on him.We're on the floor, and my head is nestled in his lap. It takes me a moment for my brain to connect and remember. Remember all he did and what he took from me. My family and my life.The instant I remember, I scream and jump out of his hold."Get away from me!" The panic in my voice is mixed with rage and fear."Camille, please."I back away into a wall, crashing hard against the surface. Then I notice the real problem we've found ourselves in.We're in some sort of cell, and while I am free, there are chains attached to Dad's ankles, keeping him
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