Page 100 of Wrathful King
“B-but how?” Reina was starting to sway on her feet, her face turning red. This all had to be overwhelming, no matter how far she’d come in her recovery. I took a step closer as she continued. “I don’t understand.”
“Your mother broke the Romero family apart,” she screeched. “Before her, things were perfect. Then Grace swooped in, snatching Tomaso for herself and taking Hana away from me.”
I let my eyes wander over to my mother, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say she’d rather have been anywhere else than here right now. Shifting back and forth on her legs, she didn’t look to be doing much better than my wife.
“I’m assuming you led her on to get what you wanted?” I gritted, starting to see my mother’s manipulation.
“It’s not her fault,” Maria protested loudly, clearly delusional.
“You came to California with us.” Reina still couldn’t believe the betrayal. “You cared for us, watched movies with us, even brought us food to the boarding school.”
“So I could keep an eye on you,” she sneered. She turned her gaze to my mother, and it transformed to something entirely different. The understanding flowed through me. Maria, Romero’s housekeeper, was in love with my mother. This was getting weirder by the second. “For Hana.”
“I thought of you like a mother,” Reina hissed. “And here you were, a two-timing villain.”
Maria took a step forward and I trained my gun on her. “Don’t even think about it.” She halted. “Good, now the three of you will go sit down on that couch. Together, like the sleazy, sickfamilythat you are, and then we’ll have a talk.”
“I’m not telling you anything,” Hiroshi hissed in Japanese.
I didn’t even hesitate, aiming for his foot and shooting a bullet through it. His scream pierced the air and could probably be heard all the way across the canal and into the heart of Venice.
“You will tell me everything.” My voice was calm, doing nothing to reveal the turmoil and rage I felt at his betrayal. My mother’s betrayal. “And you’ll tell me in English so my wife can understand every fucking word.”
He opened his mouth and I squeezed, applying pressure on the trigger. “Go ahead, it would make my fucking day.”
“Stop it, Hiroshi.” Ah, so it would seem my mother did have a voice, despite not saying the words she should’ve.I’m sorry for almost killing the love of your life.I’m sorry for all the lies I told.I’m sorry for almost destroying something beautiful.
No, it was to stop Hiroshi from blabbing.
The three of them hobbled to the couch together, my mother and Maria helping Hiroshi walk and trailing blood all over Romero’s living room floor.
I wrapped my hand around Reina’s waist while still holding the gun with my other hand. “Should we call your guards?” she muttered under her breath.
“They’re on the way.”
The two of us made our way slowly over to the couch just as the door opened and two of my men and the captain of my yacht, Asher, appeared.
My eyebrows shot to my hairline noting Asher’s clothing choice. He wore a designer shirt and trousers. His hair was styled almost as if he were in the middle of a date and got interrupted.
His features were sharp and he was highly professional, but it was his reputation as a killer as well as his past experience in piracy that made him stand out among other applicants for the position. I knew the ladies liked him, although he never brought them around. But regardless of where we docked, he always seemed to find himself either in a woman’s bed or in a gunfight.
“Asher, good to see you,” I greeted him.
He rolled his eyes. “Wish I could say the same. You interrupted my date.”
Ten points to me for guessing correctly.
“Sorry.” Granted, I didn’t sound sorry. “Did you happen to bring rope?”
Asher shot me a dry look. “Yeah, I go on my dates carrying rope. That always reassures women of my good intentions.”
It was almost comical to see everyone following our exchange. Except, maybe not, considering my mother was just found hiding in Romero’s home.
I let out an exaggerated breath. “Well, do you have anything?”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. Leather-padded handcuffs that no police force wouldeveruse. Interesting that he drew a line at rope, and yet… “This is all I have. I guess you’re going to have to shoot them.”
“Can you have the guys handle thecarabinieri? We don’t need them busting up this shit show and interrupting my honeymoon.”
