Page 51 of The King of Hearts

Emo and his brothers continued their murderous endeavors, even after they slaughtered the last of their escaped tormentors. Now they take out those who harm the innocent. And the people of Malus, a town full of past victims, know about it.

I click the download folder and select the most recent file. A window pops up. The screen is black for the first few seconds before a crystal-clear picture takes its place. It’s a shot of the front doors to a bank. A lady in a black pantsuit exits through the door. It’s barely shut when it opens again, and for the first time in twenty years, I see my father’s face. The video is short, only a few seconds long. He stops just outside the doors and lifts his wrist like he’s checking the time on his watch. Then he walks out of view.

I rewind the video until it gets to a good view of his face and then pause it. I maximize the window so it extends to the full width and height of my screen, and then zoom in.

Despite the years since my father disappeared and me being so young the last time I saw him, he looks much the same. A few age lines wrinkle his face, and his once black hair that was the same as mine has white streaks spread throughout. There’s more gray than there is black.

His build is the same, though. Antonio Romano was always tall and well built. An imposing figure that intimidated most people. The estate I grew up in has a home gym that my father used on a regular basis. I would sometimes go down there with him, and my father would set up some of the equipment to the lowest setting so I could be part of his exercise routine. He even had a small custom treadmill made that was fit for a child.

I sit forward in my seat, my eyes narrowing on the screen. Clicking a few buttons, I zoom in more and focus on my father’s left hand as he lifts it. I click a few more buttons until what I want to see appears.

Anger boils my blood when I see the silver band on his ring finger. It’s a wedding band. And it’s not the one that matches my mother’s set. His ring was found in the bloody mess left on the floor after he disappeared and is now in my mother’s jewelry case.

So, he not only left his wife and son, he went and got remarried. It’s not legal, of course, because he’s still fucking married to my mother.

I watch the video a few more times, looking for any clues that may give away his whereabouts, but I don’t really expect to find anything on this random clip. My anger mounts with each time his face appears on the screen. There’s not enough hate in the world to describe what I feel for this man. He ruined my life, but what’s worse, he ruined my mother’s. And for that alone, he’ll die a painful and bloody death.

I close the video screen and the tab to my email, which reveals the feed to Savina’s bedroom. She’s shifted a little, so she’s mostly on her stomach now. The sheet has moved down, giving a glimpse of the top of her ass. One of her legs is thrown out from under the soft cotton and is bent upward. She’s in a position that, if I were there and removed the sheet, her pussy would be exposed, her lips wide open, showing off that delicioushole I want to devour. I’d bury my face there and lick her until she was raw.

An image of last night pops into my head. One of her spread out on the ground, her legs wide, her pussy glistening in the moonlight. She begged me with her words to take her, but it was the hungry look in her eyes that nearly had me giving in. I’ve tormented this woman while she’s slept for over a year. I’ve tortured myself for longer than that and that one craving burn in her eyes damn near derailed everything.

Sheer force of will and my determination to finally have what’s mine is the only thing that kept me from mounting her and fucking her into the grass and dirt. The woman is dangerous to my self-control.

But I won’t have to leash that control soon. In a matter of days, Savina will irrevocably be mine, and no one, not her father, not her brothers, or anyone else, will be able to stop it.

I could spend the rest of the night watching my Vicious, but there are things I need to take care of, so I exit the video feed and close my laptop. I flip the light off in my office and go through the house until I come to the door that leads to the basement. The stairs creak and groan as I take them down, and the lights automatically switch on when I reach the bottom. The large gym fills up a good portion of the space down here, but there’s a hidden room at the back, and that’s where I head.

The lights for this room aren’t automatic, so I flip the switch beside the door. The walls and floor are a concrete gray, the ceiling a bright white. The only thing inside is the bed situated against one of the walls and the IV stand beside it. I go over and peer down at my guest. His eyes are closed, which isn’t a surprise since his latest IV bag has a sedative in it. He’ll stay in this state for a few more days. The clothes he’s wearing are the same ones he wore when I abducted him a year ago, and they look a little worse for wear. His face is covered in a beard, and his hair hasgrown out, brushing his shoulders. He’s gaunt and has lost quite a few pounds over the last year. When I decided to take him, I clocked him in the face to knock him out. His nose was broken, and I never reset it, so it’s permanently crooked.

Other than that initial punch, I haven’t hurt the man, even though every time I look at him, I want to drive a knife straight into his heart. His death has a purpose, and it’s coming due soon.

After checking the contents of the IV bag and determining it doesn’t need to be changed yet, I leave the room, flipping the light off as I go. I go up to my mother’s room next. Beatrice has already settled her in bed, having retired for the night herself. Knowing my routine of checking on my mother, she left on the light on the bedside table. I pull up a chair beside the bed and take a seat. My mother is on her side, facing me, her eyes closed. She looks so normal when she sleeps, as if at any moment, her eyes will pop open and she’ll smile when she sees me sitting there.

“I saw Father today,” I tell her sleeping form. “He looks the same, only his hair is more gray and he has a few more wrinkles. How can he look the same after twenty years?”

The only sound that comes is the scraping of a branch against the window outside.

“He hurt you, and I want to kill him for it.”

I’d never say this while my mother was awake. If the doctors are correct and there’s a possibility that my mother hears and understands when I speak to her, I’d never want her to know my true feelings toward her husband. Despite whatever happened the night of her attack, I know she still loves him.

“I blame him for what Aunt Rosa did. If he were here, she never would have been here. If he were here, you wouldn’t be the way you are. I lost both of my parents that night, and my fucking innocence was stolen soon after. He’ll pay for all of it.”

I settle back in my seat, kicking my feet out in front of me and crossing my ankles. I look at my mother with one hand tucked beneath her cheek, the other laying on the pillow beside her head. Peaceful and serene, that’s what she portrays, but in reality, she’s a lost soul trapped in her own mind.

“Things are changing,” I say. “Savina, the woman I told you about, will be coming to live with us soon. I think you’ll like her. She’s beautiful and sweet, but has so much fire inside her.” I rub my thumb over my bottom lip. “Living here, being a part of our dysfunctional family, isn’t a choice she gets to make. It’s one I’m forcing on her.”

My mother shifts in her sleep, and I wait for her to settle before continuing.

“You always taught me to be a gentleman, to treat girls with respect and kindness, but those qualities were cut out of me when you went away. All that’s left is darkness, dominance and pain. I’ve done things I should be ashamed of, but those emotions no longer exist.”

I’m quiet after that, having said my piece. Every night, I visit my mother while she sleeps and catch her up on the day’s events and tell her all of the things I can’t say to her when she’s awake. When I was a boy, I’d sneak in here after everyone else was asleep and crawl into bed with her. All I wanted was my mother to wrap me in her arms and tell me that things would be okay. I sought out her comfort and affections, but never got them.

I stopped doing it the night Aunt Rosa caught me curled up against my mother’s side.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

HIM

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