Page 37 of Merciless Queen
I arched my brow, pushing away from her. “What do you mean?”
“What’s a list of things you wanted to do when you were younger, but never got the chance because of Vincenzo?”
My mind raced with all the various things my mother and I planned before everything went to hell. “My mom was going to take me to The Met in New York. We’ve been to all the museums in Chicago, so I wanted to expand my horizon, and the Met has been a dream. She was going to take me for my fourteenth birthday, but we never got that chance. And this one’s stupid.”
“Tell me.”
“A date. Like a real one, or as real as a date can be when we are pretending. I told the girl I liked that I liked her, and we were supposed to go to the movies and to dinner a few days after I was taken. I never knew what happened to her, but I never got that. It’s stupid, but I grew up reading fairy tales. I wanted a prince or, well, a princess charming to sweep me off my feet and make me happy.”
“Anything you want, you’ll get it.”
“Mistress Moretti,” a meek voice said as she walked closer to us. She was one of the maids, but Moira didn’t let anyone speak to us. I needed to talk to Caterina about that because her staff seemed nice. “I’m sorry to disturb you, ma’am, but there was a package delivered for you and Miss Harlow.”
Caterina nodded, taking my hand as we followed the girl to the foyer. There were a lot of people who worked in Caterina’s house, and it made me feel like a bitch for not knowing everyone’s names, but it was tedious work when I could barely focus on myself. Did they know about our marriage being fake or did they truly think the girl she kidnapped stole her heart? If people here knew or if they could read my face, would Vincenzo know this was a façade, too?
On the marble table in the center of the foyer was a black box with a delicate, red ribbon and a note that hadTo the Happy Couplescribbled across in a delicate script. I looked at her, and she gave me a gentle nod to open the box. My fingers danced over the black box, velvet brushing against my fingertips as I pulled the ribbon loose. I removed the top, gently pulling red and black tissue paper out of the box.
My heart pounded against my ribs like it was trying to escape from my chest as the crimson coated my hands. My breathing quickened, but I couldn’t complete a breath as I pulled the final piece of blood-soaked paper out of the box. Every muscle in my body tensed as dread consumed me, seeing dead, lifeless eyes looking back at me, and a moment later, I screamed.
CHAPTER 29
Caterina
Harlow screamed,but the sound was muffled and distant. The moment I knew something was wrong, I was by her side. That ear-splitting shriek should’ve been tearing through my senses, but all I could hear was the thunderous beating of my own heart. My fists clenched so tightly, my knuckles turned white, and my body tensed with fury.
The sound of my men storming into the foyer pulled me out of the mental haze. Harlow caught my eye, her face ghostly pale, eyes glassed over as she looked trepidatiously at the remnants of Angel. I needed to help her, but I was barely registering the cacophony of my own turmoil. I’d be strong for her now, and then I could fall apart when I was alone.
“Get these fucking people out of my house, now!” I hissed through clenched teeth as my men and a few maids scurried back into the ballroom to direct everyone out. Malachi stepped next to me, his focus on Harlow, waiting for me to do something, but I was still in disbelief. I couldn’t protect her from her inner demons right now. “Get Elizabeth here, now!”
I grabbed the card on the outside of the box, now covered with blood from the tissue paper. Every muscle in my body was coiled tight, trembling with rage and on the brink of explosion.
I WANT WHAT BELONGS TO ME.
V.
Harlow’s painful sobs cracked my foundation as she finally fell apart, her eyes wide and teary as she looked at my trembling hand. Fuck. I crumbled the card, roughly throwing it as Elizabeth stormed into the foyer, running to Harlow. My mind was a chaotic whirlwind of rage and other emotions crashing together in a cyclonic storm.
I covered the box, unable to look at the eyes that were once filled with happiness and life. Angel was a bright soul in a dark world, and now she was gone because that waste of human life decided to retaliate.
I was going to fucking kill him.
“Cat!” Elizabeth yelled, snapping me from my frenzied thoughts. “What’s going on?”
“Get her upstairs. I’ll explain later.”
Harlow was paralyzed, frozen like a Greek statue even as Elizabeth soothed her with calming words. Eventually, Luca picked her up and even then, she didn't panic or scream. Wherever she was, she was gone, trapped in her mind with whatever horror she was reliving, but Elizabeth was going to have to help her at this moment.
“Malachi. My office with Alexi. Now.”
I grabbed my phone out of my thigh harness with Spencer on my tail as I scurried upstairs, my feet slamming against the wooden staircase, rage in every step. Luca programmed Vincenzo’s number into my phone if I ever needed it for trackingreasons, and right fucking now I was glad to have it. His blood would paint my fucking roses when I slit his goddamn throat.
The line rang once, and Vincenzo laughed as he answered. “I see you got my message.”
I bit back my anger. “You’re playing a dangerous game, Vincenzo.”
“An eye for an eye. It’s quite biblical, if you ask me.” It was silent for a moment. “I want Harlow. She is mine, after all. I own every part of her.”
My nails dug into my palm, leaving crescent shaped indentations. “She’s mine now.” I'd ask for forgiveness later for exploiting her. “Harlow is beautiful inmybed, screamingmyname. There’s a difference between cries of pleasure and cries of agony, but you’ll never know that, will you?”
