Page 201 of Hexed
“Is it hard to breathe?” I ask, leaning over her. “You’ll get used to that…I think. It’s from all the swelling, you see.”
She opens her mouth and tries to speak, but nothing comes out.
“Don’t waste your energy,” I coo. “That injection? It was a special mix I made just for you. A blend of arsenic and lead. You know what that causes? Vocal paralysis.”
Enzo steps up next to me, looking down at her. “She won’t be able to talk?”
I shrug. “Not well anyway.”
“Now, about our deal.” I focus back on her. “Considering it was made under duress—my duress—I’m afraid we’ll have to renegotiate the terms.”
Enzo wraps his arms around me, pulling me into his chest and pressing kisses up the length of my neck.
Aria’s eyes flare, and I grin down at her.
“Don’t look at me like that.” I tilt my head, allowing Enzo to have more access. “You’re smart enough to know I’d never let you have him.”
Aria’s eyes are wild, but they’re dry—not a tear to be found—probably because she’s a selfish bitch who doesn’t care about anyone except herself.
Not even her dead father on the ground.
She tries to speak again, but only a hoarse rasp escapes. Her eyes grow round, and she tries one more time before sucking in what little air she can get.
“I’m going to let you live, Aria. That’s my gift to you.” I blink at her. “You’re welcome.”
Enzo chuckles into my neck, and I separate from him, even though Aria having to watch us together sends satisfaction racing through my bones.
What can I say? Spite fuels me.
I press my fingernails to her trachea. “And honestly, consider this a mercy. You may not have your voice, and I’m definitely not giving you any of the family fortune. But you still have your…looks.” I lean in close. “That pretty face of yours should get you far.”
Now a tear does drip down her cheek.
My fingers press on her esophagus, hard enough to leave a bruise, and I lean over her, pressing my lips to her ear. “Fisher’s death is on your hands. And I want you to live out there, penniless, worthless, remembering the pain you’ve caused others every day.” I stand and back away, looking at the single syringe left. “Or you can use that venom there and kill yourself. Doesn’t really matter either way to me.”
Bastien’s still moving Jack and Flora into their smaller tank, so I know he’ll make sure Aria doesn’t escape until we’re far enough away that she can’t follow us.
Grabbing Enzo’s hand, I turn around and walk out of the room, then pause to look back at her when I reach the threshold. “Consider this a mercy, sweet Cousin.”
And I mean what I say. She’ll have to learn how to make it on her own.
The way she’s always wanted.
FIFTY-FOUR
VENESA
It’s beena month since everything was upended in my life, and things are finally feeling like they’re settling down.
Despite Enzo’s protests, I gave Fisher a memorial service. Barely anyone showed up, and I honestly felt conflicted being there, but it was important to me because he was my best friend for years, and I refuse to let how things ended change everything he meant to me.
I didn’t ask Enzo to go. Didn’t feel right, all things considered.
There was one point where I could have sworn I saw Aria hiding in a back corner, but I brushed it off because I can’t imagine she’d show her face in town ever again.
Not after what I did to her.
Besides, herdaddywas disgraced once they found him shot on his yacht. Bastien took care of the nitty-gritty, because after Uncle T died, I didn’t feel the need to keep hitting a dead fish. As long as things are taken care of, the vengeance in my soul is soothed, so I didn’t ask many questions once I knew Bastien tied his murder to Johnston Miller. Something about them fallingout after years in business together and the MC retaliating in the best way they know how: with violence.
