Severance (Entangled Series Book 2)

by C. M. Radcliff

  He’s back.

  His chocolate-colored irises aren’t warm, but they are softer as they urgently search mine.

  “I’m sorry, bambolina,” he whispers, his voice cracking around his words. His façade is slowly crumbling, showing the young boy with a heart of gold that he harbors inside. The one who’s light they shut out long ago.

  The one who’s newfound light shines brighter and only for me.

  “Stop,” I tell him, reaching up to cup the side of his face with my free hand. He owes me no apology or explanation for slipping into his mask of desolation. It’s a necessary evil when it comes to dealing with our past… our past that still lingers in our present.

  “He’s been staying at his house in the Hamptons.”

  He says it with such simplicity as if he expected Dexter to be there.

  “You know where that is?”

  Kai abruptly pulls away from me, letting my hand fall into my empty lap. He runs his fingers through his unruly hair and runs his hands down his face.

  “Fuck,” he mutters into his palms as he hangs his head and drops his hands in front of him. “I took over my father’s company.”

  What the fuck?

  Leaning back, I scoot away from him, putting enough distance between us and let the lies fill the empty space.

  He looks up at me and catches my guard slowly going back up.

  “Not that business, Dahlia,” he scoffs and sighs. “His firm. I’m the CEO of it now, he’s just the owner that reaps the benefits and the embezzled money.”

  “So, it’s still illegal.” I roll my eyes.

  Kai stares at me, dumbfounded. “Illegal?” He pauses and a ghost of a smile plays on his lips. “Tell me about how legal everything is in your life, since you seem to be such a law-abiding citizen,” he retorts.

  Touche.

  “Tell me how you know where Dexter’s house is.”

  “When we were taken from the farm, you went back to your family. My father is my only family and his hands were wiped clean from the shit they were rolling in at the farm. I went back to him because I had no choice.” Kai stops for a moment, his Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows hard. “Anthony made sure that my father was kept out of the mess and I made sure that you would be protected from them, because I knew that they would come for you eventually, I just never planned on being the one to lead them to you.”

  “Kai,” I start, but he quickly cuts me off and moves closer to me.

  “Let me finish, bambolina,” he says quietly. He waits for a moment, but I keep my lips sealed as he clears his throat and continues. “Dexter and Stan were still friends with my father. I let them live because I knew how badly you deserved to be the one to finally extinguish them. They took everything from you and now it’s your turn to take everything from them.”

  Reaching over, I put my hand on his and squeeze. “So, you’ve had to be around them even after everything that happened?”

  His brown eyes are soft and a wave of pain washes over them as he chews on the inside of his cheek.

  “Not by choice,” he mumbles. “I dreamt of killing them every fucking minute of my life.”

  “This isn’t just about me, Kai,” I remind him softly. “This is us. They destroyed both of us. My revenge is also your revenge.”

  “I’ve been to Dexter’s house before. My father forced me to go to a few bullshit parties there. He has a house outside of Manhattan, but that’s the house he shares with his wife. He keeps his side chick at his house in the Hamptons.”

  Money and marriage are like water and oil. Money and marriage means that you’re married to the luxury of having pussy on speed dial when your wife is at home playing house with the kids.

  “So, is he just there for the night or how do we go about this?”

  Kai shakes his head. “His house in the burbs is more like his vacation home. He spends more time in the Hamptons, so I’d be willing to bet he’s there for more than just tonight.”

  He stands up, pulling me to my feet and yanks the covers back on the bed. Kai climbs in and I follow suit, laying down beside him as he drags the covers back over us.

  Tilting my head up, I look up at him as he stares at the ceiling. “What now?”

  “Now, we sleep,” he says, dropping his gaze down to mine. “Dexter isn’t going anywhere. We can’t act without watching him first, if we want to play this safe with the trail of bodies we’re leaving behind us.”

  My brow furrows as I look back at him in confusion. “Bodies?”

  It shouldn’t be plural; we only left one body.

  Kai sighs deeply.

  “My father is going to kill Aliana and he’ll try and pin it on me.”

  Kai

  Pressed up against my side, Dahlia breathes deeply as she sleeps with her head on my chest. She fell asleep not long after we laid down and I’ve been lying here on high alert.

  No one knows where we are, but that doesn’t ensure our safety. And Dahlia’s safety is my priority, far above everything else that we have set in motion. The moment that I think she’s in grave danger, I’m pulling the plug on this shit.

  When she asked about the bodies and I told her about Aliana, she wasn’t mad or upset. She showed no typical human reaction to my confession. Instead, she was curious. She wanted to know why I didn’t do it. Dahlia knows that I’d kill for her, just like I have in the past, but she understood why I wouldn’t want her blood on my hands.

  When I told her about Aliana and Luca fucking, then her emotions showed, but she was emotional for me. She felt bad that my fiancée was fucking around on me with my father for the entirety of our relationship.

  She doesn’t get it.

  Aliana was something that had to happen. I didn’t want her.

  Dahlia was what was always meant to happen.

  It didn’t take long for her to drift into a peaceful sleep in my arms. She clings onto me as she sleeps as if she’s afraid I’ll disappear.

  Looking down, I lightly kiss her forehead.

  Anywhere I go, you go, bambolina.

  Wrapping my arms around her even tighter, I pull her as close to me as I can and bury my face in her hair. Inhaling deeply, I breathe her in and let the sleep that my body craves consume me.

  ◆◆◆

  “So, how much longer until we are there?” Dahlia asks as she glances out the window at the trees lining the side of the road. She pulls at the hairband that she wrapped around part of the shirt she’s wearing. Seeing her in my clothes has me periodically adjusting my growing cock inside my pants.

  “About a half an hour or so and we should be there.”

  Dahlia didn’t want to waste any time after we woke up and wanted to get on the road as quickly as possible. It was a smart move, for us to come during the day. We’ll stay hidden in plain sight, but we can stake him out and figure out our best plan of attack.

  And if the timing is right, we might not have to make another trip out here.

  Dahlia absentmindedly hums along to a John Legend song that plays softly in the car. She’s relaxed and appears carefree, but there’s an edge to her.

  She knows that we’re not just out for a Sunday drive.

  We’re out to kill a man.

  ◆◆◆

  Lost in our own thoughts, we ride in silence for the remainder of our drive until we reach the Hamptons. The roads are lined with massive estates, each one different in its own charming way. Glancing out of the corner of my eye, I catch Dahlia gazing out the window as we pass the gated properties. She comes from a family with money, has money of her own, but the way she stares at these properties, you would think she’s never seen something with a price tag as hefty as these houses.

  We turn down onto the main road that hugs the coast and follow it for a mile or so. Pulling off to the side, I put the car in park and kill the engine.

  “Over there,” I tell her, pointing two houses down. “That’s where Dex lives.”

  Dahlia cranes her neck and her eyes follow
my finger. She stares at the white mansion for a moment before turning back to me. “So, what now?”

  “Now we wait.”

  Dahlia raises an eyebrow and her bright green eyes size me up. “What are we waiting for?”

  Impulsive.

  “We can’t just go barging in there,” I scoff, shaking my head in frustration. “Unless your end game is prison, then by all means…”

  I gesture my hand for her to go and she cuts her eyes at me. Dahlia stares me down with a vicious gaze and the flames dancing in her emerald irises threaten to lick my skin.

  “We’re wasting time,” she bites, as the frustration grows between the two of us, hanging heavily in the air.

  Impatient.

  “Dahlia,” I grind out, clenching my jaw. Needing to grab something other than her throat, I wrap my hands around the steering wheel and tighten my grip until my knuckles are stark white. “We wait, we watch, and then we make our move when the time is right.”

  Dahlia lets out a harsh chuckle as she shakes her head. “And you’re just gonna know when the time is right, right?”

  “Dahlia,” I growl, gripping the leather steering wheel even tighter. “You’ll get what you came here for, trust me. If we have to wait three fucking weeks watching this motherfucker before making a move, that’s what we’re going to do. Prison doesn’t suit either of us.”

  She continues to assault me with her eyes before she sighs in defeat. “Fucking control freak,” she mumbles under her breath, but I’m sure she intended on me hearing.

  Rolling her eyes, she turns away from me and directs her gaze back out the window. She’s impulsive and impatient and with a kill premeditated like this, every precaution must be taken. I refuse to be sloppy because she can’t slow her fucking roll.

  Silence once again settles in the car as we spend the day just watching Dexter’s house. We wait and he doesn’t move. His cars stay parked in the driveway and there’s no incoming traffic onto his property.

  The sun begins to set as I scan the rest of the street and there’s nothing out of the ordinary going on. It’s vacation season, so traffic is heavier, bringing people out to their second homes. My eyes travel out to the water and I watch as the small waves lap the shore.

  Dahlia lets out an audible gasp, bringing my attention back to her and our purpose.

  “That’s him,” she whispers, pointing at the house. Dexter stands on his front porch, surveying the property and slips back inside, leaving the lights on.

  He’s been here all day, he’s not going anywhere, anytime soon… at least, not on his own accord.

  It’s time.

  “You ready, bambolina?”

  Dahlia’s eyes flash to mine and they’re filled with anticipation. She’s not afraid of him or what’s to come because she’s ready; she’s been ready for years.

  “Yes,” she breathes, licking her lips, craving that sweet taste of revenge. “Is it time?”

  My lips slowly curl upward into a grin as I watch her facial expression transform into something breathtaking and frightening.

  Blood never looked so good on someone else’s hands.

  She makes death look fucking beautiful.

  It suits her. It’s a part of her now.

  “It is,” I declare with a nod. Grabbing my pistol, I climb out of the car and walk to her side. Pulling her out into the night, we walk hand in hand in the shadows, holding our guns at our sides as we move in for the kill.

  We stay hidden behind the hedges as we step onto his property. Dahlia’s breathing picks up and my heart hammers in my chest as we edge closer to the house. Rounding the side, we quickly walk up to a door that isn’t a main one.

  Letting go of Dahlia’s hand, I reach for the doorknob when we hear a shriek from inside the house. My body stills and Dahlia grabs my arm, digging her fingertips into my skin.

  “What the fuck was that?” she whispers breathlessly.

  I shake my head as I listen to the sounds coming from inside.

  Dahlia digs her nails in deeper as a woman screams again and there’s a loud bang. Muffled sounds of a deep voice come from inside and glass shatters somewhere in the house.

  Glancing down at Dahlia, her troubled eyes search mine and I nod silently. I grab the doorknob and it’s unlocked, giving us access into the house. We both slip inside quietly as we hear a woman sobbing and a man shouting.

  Dexter.

  “I should have killed you a long time ago, you fucking whore!” Dexter’s voice bellows throughout the massive house, bouncing off the walls.

  Slap.

  “Ple-ease, Dex,” the woman sobs. “I swear, I didn’t do anything!”

  “I fucking saw you with the pool boy!” Slap. Sob. “Do you think I am that fucking stupid?”

  Lifting my finger to my lips, I signal to Dahlia to be quiet and I move slowly down the hall, closer to the noises. Peering around the corner, I see Dexter’s mistress in a heap on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. Her body wracks with her cries as she hangs her bloodied face in front of her.

  With her hands on my back, Dahlia peeks around me and her fingers clench my shirt as she takes in the mess on the dining room floor.

  Dexter reaches down, grabbing a fistful of the woman’s hair and jerks her head upward. She cries out loud as he lifts her onto unsteady feet and he backhands her again.

  “You need to shut the fuck up,” he barks, tightening his grip on her hair.

  The woman nods stiffly as her sobbing subsides. “And then you’ll let me go?” She hiccups and sniffles. “I won’t say a word to anyone.”

  Slowly releasing her hair, Dexter runs his hand down the side of her face, lightly brushing the marks he’s left. “Is that what you want, baby? To leave me after everything?”

  His hand travels down her throat and he rests it heavily on her collarbone. “I have done everything for you and this is how you want to repay me?”

  “Please, don’t hurt me, Dexter,” she whimpers.

  With a wicked grin, Dexter lets out a harsh laugh and his hand is wrapped around her throat within the blink of an eye. “You think I’m going to hurt you, baby?” he chuckles, squeezing her throat tighter as he places both hands on her neck now.

  The woman struggles against him, fighting for oxygen as she claws at his hands. Dexter’s face dips down to hers as her face begins to change colors.

  Dahlia smacks my back as I watch the monster inside of Dexter rear its ugly head in fascination.

  “I’m not going to hurt you,” Dexter breathes in the woman’s face. “I’m going to kill you.”

  With his last words, he quickly lifts her off her feet and holds her in the air by her throat. Her body jerks as she flails her legs around, failing to make any contact with her feet to his body.

  “Kai,” Dahlia whispers harshly behind me. “We have to do something.”

  She’s right.

  Her words draw me out of the trance that I was caught up in. Looking back at her, my eyes meet hers and I know what I must do.

  With a swift nod, I step out of the hallway and quietly walk into the dining room. The woman continues to struggle and choke as Dexter laughs loudly while holding her in the air. Neither of them hear me or see me coming.

  Dexter has no idea what hits him as I drive the butt of my gun into the back of his skull. His body goes rigid and his hands open, releasing the woman as they both collapse onto the floor.

  The woman clutches at her throat and her chest, coughing and choking as she struggles to catch her breath. Dexter is out cold, passed out on the floor.

  Leaving Dexter on the ground, I move over to his mistress as Dahlia walks up. The woman jumps and gasps loudly as I reach out, grabbing her arm. She glances up at me with a terrified look in her eyes.

  “Dahlia,” I say quietly as I keep my eyes on the battered woman. “Find something in this house that we can use to tie this man up with.” I hear Dahlia’s footsteps behind me as she leaves without a single word.

  “Please d
on’t hurt me,” the woman pleads with me as her eyes fill with tears. “Please. I’ll do whatever you need.”

  “I need you to leave and don’t look back,” I tell her sternly, staring her down as the tears spill from her eyes.

  “You’re going to just let me go?”

  Taking a deep breath, I sigh and run my hands through my hair. “You need to leave.”

  Her eyes rapidly search mine as she rises to her feet, waiting for me to pull some shit like Dexter. “Okay.” She nods, slowly walking backward toward the front door.

  “I suggest you forget any of this happened or you will pay gravely for that.”

  “I won’t say anything,” she whispers as she reaches for the doorknob. “You have my word.”

  Narrowing my eyes at her, I slowly nod. “I hope for your sake, you’re right.”

  The woman swallows hard as she pulls the door open and steps out onto the front porch. She pauses and glances over her shoulder at me. “There’re handcuffs in the top drawer of the dresser in the master suite.”

  I smile to myself as the woman softly closes the front door and disappears into the night. This is all panning out exactly how we needed it to.

  You’re welcome, Dahlia, for the fucking guidance.

  Shit… Dahlia.

  Movement catches my attention from the corner of my eye.

  “What the fuck?” Dexter chokes out as he stirs on the floor, lifting his head in confusion. “Kai?” he questions, narrowing his eyes as I crouch down by his head.

  “Hey Dex.” I smile. “Guess whose turn it is now?”

  His brow furrows in confusion as he glares at me. “What have you done?”

  “What I should have done a long time ago,” I admit and drive the butt of my gun into his temple. Dexter’s head falls back onto the floor with a thud as he’s knocked out again.

  Sprinting across the room, I take the steps two at a time as I bound upstairs. “Dahlia!” I call out as I land in the hallway. “There are handcuffs in the—”