Tears fall from her eyes.
“They died because he was jealous.” She whispers, the truth in her words finally working out the real reason why they died. Even if my father was the one to pull the trigger, it was her uncle who loaded that gun. “Do you?”
“Do I what?” She looks up and wipes the tears.
“Do you have someone to tell you when you’re doing wrong?”
“I do. Carter and Ace are my men. They keep me on the straight and narrow. Gabe was, too—”
She hiccups loudly at the mention of his name, interrupting me. “I was angry. I wanted you all dead. It was what I was told and I’m sorry.”
“Death is what I’m used to, Isadora. The only issue I’ve had with death is you.” Her hands fall into her lap as I continue, “Your parents business was to be split once your uncle got it between him and my mother.”
“What did your mother say to make them do it?”
“You didn’t have to tell my father much by then, he would have killed the doorman and laughed as he did it. He had no care factor at all.”
“So, she took advantage of that fact.”
“It’s what she did.”
“And then?”
“I remember walking in, your father saying you were closing, and then my father pulling out a gun. You gasped, I grabbed hold and pulled you back and told you to run.”
“What would have happened if I’d stayed?”
“You were also marked to be killed, Isadora. Your uncle wanted you dead, too.”
“He didn’t.” She sighs as the realization hits her regarding the truth of it all.
“Everything was left to you. You know this.”
I do. I ended up with the money when I turned legal age. “He could have killed me. He knew how. It doesn’t make sense.”
“It wasn’t long after that I took my mother’s life,” I tell her the truth.
“So, he used me as retaliation,” she finally says. “I was his weapon for you taking his love away.”
“She didn’t love him though, she stopped seeing him, and then I took her.”
“You killed her though, right? You told me that,” she questions me.
But my eyes become heavy, and I pass out.
25
Isadora
“So, you’re like a slut?” Ace says as I walk into the mansion after Jasper had fallen asleep a few hours ago.
I turn to face him. “What?”
“You like to fuck, right?”
“What’s that got to do with anything?” I ask, confused and maybe a little taken aback.
“Doesn’t that make you a slut?”
Oh, for fuck’s sake, I wave him off and flip him the finger. Opening the fridge, Carter walks up and takes a seat next to Ace. Looking down, I see their hands and the small tattoo that I’ve come to loathe over the years, the one I was trained to kill for.
“How was it… killing them?” Ace questions then shovels food into his face. “I mean, I would like to know. I know Mack was an asshole.” He turns, looks to Carter. “Sorry, bro.” Then, he faces me again.
“Where’s the eggs?” I ask, not answering.
“Maybe you and he will have fucked-up babies together,” Ace continues. “Your uncle is fucked, you know. Wanting to kill his own family so he can take their business, and have money to hold on to the girl. The girl who didn’t even fucking want him.” He chuckles to himself. “Men go crazy for special pussy.”
“Will you… Shut. The. Fuck. Up,” I say, turning around.
“I bet you were a real momma and daddy’s girl, too.”
“Remember that knife in your hand? Want another one?” I ask him looking down at his bandaged hand. “Because right now, I would have no hesitation in jamming that knife right into the same hole.”
“Please, you caught me off guard. I wouldn’t allow you to do that again.”
“Who do you care for most in this world, Ace? Is it yourself?”
“Why? Do you want to kill them, too?”
I shrug. “Maybe.”
“Well, that would be Jasper. So go at it. Kill him, and see how far you get.”
“Why?” I ask him.
“Why, what?”
“Why is he the one?”
Ace places his cup on the table and turns to Carter before he looks back to me.
“Jasper’s earned our respect. Not just because he’s our leader, but because of who he is and what he has been through. You will not find another man as ruthless and as cunning as Jasper in your life. It’s him you want at your side in life. It’s him you want at your side when you’re on your death bed. We were raised to treat our boss with respect, and his word is law. As some have a god, we have Jasper. He is our religion and we will abide by his scripture,” Ace says proudly.
“What if you fall in love?”
“Love is second in our world, our world is first. It was the same for our parents, and their parents before them.”