Page 86 of Making the King

I chuckle dryly. “If you didn’t want me showing up here, then why send the photo with the address on the back when you had Grayson dumped at our doorstep?”

Her brows shoot up. “What? There was an address on the back of the photo?”

This time it’s my eyes that shoot up. “You didn’t ask them to do that?”

“No,” she hisses. “They were meant to dump the boy with the photo only, to show you that you lost.”

“That’s what you get for hiring thugs,” Baz tells her, strolling past her to the door on the side wall and gesturing his head to it. “Is she in there?”

“Get the fuck away from there!” Martina cries, lunging for Baz, who raises a lazy brow and clocks her in the head with the butt of his gun, sending her crashing to the floor.

“Watch her,” I tell Baz, marching past him as the gunfire above increases, and I know Dante and the others have arrived.

The heavy metal door is latched shut from this side, so I jimmy the lock until it pops free, and then heave the door open.

My breath catches as I come face to face with my wife, but by the dark expression she’s wearing, I don’t make an attempt to move into the room.

“Move.”

Her tone is laced with dark intent, and I know the killer in her is here with me right now. The punisher.

Giving her a curt nod, I step aside, allowing her the space she needs, and her sinister gaze scans the area as she steps out of the room where her dead brother still lies in a pool of blood.

“Cara.” Martina pleads. “You know I only did it because I love you. I just wanted the best for you.”

Slowly stalking toward her mother, Cara scoffs. “What a crock of shit. You wanted me to make money for you. End of discussion. There’s nothing more to it.” As she moves closer, Martina tries to scurry backward, still on the floor. “There was never any love involved.”

Holding her hand out, Cara demands. “Knife.” Even while her eyes remain locked on her mom.

I unsheathe my knife, stepping up behind her and placing it in her open palm, and Martina starts to shriek.

“What are you doing?” She springs to her feet, but she has nowhere to go.

On one side Baz blocks her path, and I block the other. And since her daughter is directly in front of her and there’s a wall at her back, she realizes she’s trapped.

“Please, mija. Don’t do this.”

“I should have done this three years ago.” Cara snarls before lunging forward and slamming her mom hard against the wall, the blade at her throat. “Julietta and Mateo were mercy killings. Because of what you put Julietta through, she wanted an end to her suffering, so I gave her that. I granted her wish. Let her leave this life on her terms.” Cara knicks the skin at her mom’s neck, making Martina hiss in a breath. “Mateo was different. His suffering was never going to end, so I put him out of his misery.”

Cara pushes off her mom and slams the blade into her shoulder. Martina screams like a banshee, the noise echoing off the metal walls, blocking out the sounds of war from above.

“You and dad, however.” Cara reefs the blade free, and Martina nearly collapses to the ground, but somehow manages to stay standing. “There is no mercy for you. You and he were, are, monsters. The absolute scum of the earth. There’s nothing you can ever do to make up for the vile things you’ve done to me, to Mateo, to Julietta, to Rose…” She slams the blade into her mom’s gut this time, and Martina collapses with a cry. Standing over her, Cara presses her bare foot to her mom’s hand when she tries to reach for the handle of the knife protruding from her abdomen. “Or to the countless other girls you have abused over the years.”

“C-Cara… p-please.” Martina gargles in pain, but her daughter doesn’t falter. Not even for a millisecond.

Dropping to her knees, Cara tugs the knife free, holding it up over her mom’s face.

“Look at your blood. You’re dying mom. Your life source is oozing out of you, and you’re going to die here on this filthy floor of this shitty room, knowing you were betrayed by the men you hired for protection. How does that make you feel?”

Martina whimpers, and Cara shrugs. “Not that I care. I hope this is excruciating for you. I hope you suffer as you watch my face, knowing I’m the one who killed you, because you’re nothing but a fucking oxygen thief.”

“C-Ca—”

“Don’t say my fucking name!” Cara roars, slamming the blade back into her mom’s gut. “You are not fucking worthy!”

And then, as Martina watches the monster she created at work, my beautiful killer starts stabbing her mom over and over as she screams.

Blood sprays and splatters as Cara plunges the knife repeatedly into her mother’s torso, before she moves to her face, her mom already gone, and she stabs her face until she’s unrecognizable.

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