Page 15 of Legacy

Taking in the details of her parlor room, I homed in on the artwork hung on the walls. It was in the same bold and modern style as what Ozias had in his home. A few pieces bore the signatures of the same artist. And then there were the liquor snifters with the same symbols etched on them as those my enemy had.

Even the scents that lingered in the air stank of his cologne.

The crest on her necklace cemented that my aunt continued to lie as she protested my accusation and rambled about how she’d never turn her back on her sister.

As she spoke louder, more passionately, to con me intoconsidering her lies of innocence, the pendant slipped from its spot beneath the neckline of her shirt. Gaudy gold slid free, reflecting in the light. It was the same design Ozias had on that fat ring. He wore it on the pinky of his right hand. I’d just seen it at dinner. And spotting the same fucking thing on my aunt was all the proof I ever could have needed to see with my eyes.

Rage filled me. A sweeping wave of fury crested through me, and I strained to keep calm and not reveal how close to lashing out I was.

“And I— I…” Theia Cloe faltered, realizing that I stared at the necklace. She lifted her fingers to her neckline, touched the shiny metal, and tucked it beneath her shirt again. “You’re not thinking clearly,” she warned, likely picking up on how I’d pieced things together.

Crystal clear.“Do your children know that you cheated on their father with another man?”

“I didn’t!”

I was on a roll. “Did you have their father killed like you did mine?”

She slashed her hand through the air. “No! I’m telling you, no?—”

“Because I doubt very much that Theios Stenos died of a heart attack.”

She pressed her lips together so tightly that her chin trembled. Then she wagged a finger at me like I was a naughty child displeasing her, just like her lover had done earlier. The mimicry gave me the urge to snarl.

“I won’t have you telling anyone these lies.”

I laughed. “The truth, you mean. Everyone knows you weren’t faithful. It was an open secret.”

Theia Cloe shook her head as she crossed the room. I didn’t follow her. I could let her have this last-minute need for distance. It wouldn’t save her. I became more alert as she moved toward the bar, as though she wanted to refill her glass and pour a drink.

She kept her gun near the decanters. She always had. My cousins had mentioned this long ago. I’d been gone for fifteen years, but I remembered regardless. It seemed Theia Cloe hadn’t changed her habits.

As she hurried toward the bar, I watched her with different eyes. She was no longer the bitter aunt I could never quite feel close to. She was no longer the relative who was always ready to criticize her sister or scoff at my father.

She wasn’t family.

Not to me.

All I saw was her deception. Her cruelty. Her pathetic hopelessness as she arranged to eradicate my mother and father.

Reaching around my waist, I grabbed the weapon I’d tucked into the back of my waistband as Vik drove. The hooded jacket hid it from any eyes on the street.

My blade wasn’t necessary for the task ahead.

As I waited for my aunt to turn around and face me, it was up and out in the open, ready for use.

The second Theia Cloe spun and pointed her gun, I shot her between the eyes, one single shot. All the training and practice under Vik’s tutelage had somebenefits.

Theia Cloe’s wasn’t the first life I’d taken, but the initial one in my journey for revenge.

I stood there, enjoying her pain and anguish as she stumbled and then slumped to the floor. A wave of relief and peace settled over me right before I gave her the last words I’d rehearsed in my mind for years.

“This is for your betrayal. You’ve paid your debt to the Vitalis family. May God show you the mercy you refused to give your sister.”

Five

Elias

Two days after I saw Avra at dinner, I strode out of the house, ready to handle a situation with one of our men. It was the last thing I wanted to deal with, considering the shitty night’s rest I had gotten.

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