Jonathan kissed my shoulder and while I shivered with an orgasmic warmth, I did my best not to move, not to stir. I kept my eyes shut, my breathing as though I were sleeping. I felt him leave the bed, but he wasn’t out of the room. I could feel him standing at the foot of the bed, staring at me.
I knew he was thinking about his rule.
We’d never leave each other again.
We’d be side by side until the mess was over.
I knew Jonathan wanted me to wake up so I could join him in the shower. That’s where he was going because it’s where he went every morning. And the thought of being in the shower first thing in the morning was very tempting. Of course, if Jonathan really wanted that to happen, he would have woken me, commanded me, and I would have hopelessly obeyed him.
Jonathan didn’t wake me and he didn’t command me to the shower.
He instead left the room, leaving the door wide open, which only would work to my advantage. I heard him check the hotel room, testing the locks, and only then did he go to the bathroom. The door shut and a moment later, the water turned on.
This was it.
This was my moment.
I sat up and my heart was ready to climb out of my throat.
Was I really going to do this?
Was I really going to kill Katherine?
Time was wasting. Jonathan wouldn’t be in the shower forever. I had to take advantage of the time I had right then.
I moved from the bed, dressing as fast as I could. I lunged at Jonathan’s closet, digging my way to the back and through his belts. I didn’t care about the mess because there was nothing left to hide. I found the gun and my hands shook as I held it. I practiced for a second on how to open it and check for bullets. Somehow, it felt natural, like I was destined to do this.
I stood from the closet, holding the gun, and as I turned, I saw myself in the mirror.
I looked wild, almost as crazy as Katherine. I ran my fingers through my hair as my other hand held the gun.
“Do it,” I whispered to the reflection in the mirror. “Do it.”
I hurried from the bedroom and grabbed pen and paper. I wrote Jonathan a note... straight to the point, telling him that a surprise waited for him with Katherine’s room number.
I will love you always, Jonathan Black. Please don’t be angry. Please come the moment you feel it’s right. I’ll be waiting. Our problems will be gone...
With all my heart, all my soul, all my love,
Your Isabella Grace
I read the letter twice and then placed it in front of the bathroom door. I touched the door and thought about trying to sneak in. Just to see Jonathan one last time. To see his perfect body. To smell him. But if he saw me, he’d command me into the shower.
I turned and moved, trying to battle my thoughts that wanted me to slow and really think about things. The hotel door shut quietly behind me and when it clicked shut, it actually hit me.
I was going to try to murder someone.
Someone insane... someone who could very well murder me before I had my chance to get to her.
I hid the gun and went to the elevator.
I was like a machine in motion, moving with the flow of time and energy, only stopping when I got to Katherine’s door. I stood for a few seconds and let it all play out again. Not because I needed to be reminded of all the evil things Katherine had done or what she would continue to do if she wasn’t stopped. I needed something to get my emotions to their breaking point.
And when tears came to my eyes, I finally knocked.
When Katherine opened the door, I fell into her arms. She wasn’t expecting me and tried to push me away. I looked at her and saw shock and fear in her eyes. I fought the urge to smile. Katherine wasn’t the only one capable of playing games and messing with people.
“Isabella...”
“Katherine, you were right,” I said.
I backed away from her and wiped my eyes, looking beyond her, making sure my eyes were distant and in pain.
“Right about what?” she asked.
“About Jonathan,” I said. “He’s... terrible.”
Katherine’s mouth flickered, fighting a smile. “Oh, no, what happened?”
I looked at Katherine, shaking my head. “He’s terrible.”
“I know he is,” Katherine said. “I know.”
“He’s selfish. Greedy.”
“Keep going,” Katherine said. “Get it all out.”
“He’s leaving me,” I said.
The lies were so easy, so smooth. Staring at Katherine made it that way. It made my blood boil. It made it so the idea of murder came so easily.
So easily.
“Leaving you?” Katherine asked.
She looked surprised yet hopeful.
“Yes,” I whispered. “He told me he found someone else. He found someone with more innocence. More purity. Someone not touched by his mistakes...”
“Mistakes?” Katherine asked.
I pointed at Katherine and whimpered. “He said you...”
“Me?”
I nodded. “You’re the mistake. And now, I’m with you.”
Katherine’s top lip quivered, wanting to curl. Her demeanor began to change.
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “If I caused this...”
“I hate that man,” Katherine said.
“I do too. But I can do something... I can get the money, Katherine.”
“The money. How?”
“I have ways,” I said. “When I get it, we can split it, Katherine. A billion and a half each.”
“What about the great and powerful Jonathan Black?”
“Well...”
I swallowed and reached for the gun. I produced it and held it up a little sideways, making sure I looked awkward doing so.
“I’m going to kill him,” I said. “I’m going to kill Jonathan Black.”
The words were like poison coming off my tongue. It felt so wrong to say, but looking at the way Katherine’s face lit up, it was certainly the right thing to say.
“Kill him?” Katherine asked. “Don’t you love him?”
“Of course I do. Just like you love him, Katherine. But he has to die. He has to be stopped. He has to be stopped from stealing money, hearts, and lives.”
“Yes,” Katherine whispered. “Yes.”
“I can do this,” I said. “I can go upstairs, take care of a bank transfer... then pull the trigger.”
Katherine stepped towards me. I froze, not taking the gun away from her reach. I felt like a damn fool and when Katherine touched the gun, I gasped for air. I could have just pointed it at her then and shot. Right? But no. I couldn’t do it. I froze. In my mind I wanted something poignant to happen before I killed her.
But now I had just ruined it all...
Katherine’s hand slid down the gun to my wrist. She turned my wrist gently and then pulled, taking the gun out of my hand. I saw my open hand - now empty - and felt my heart sink.
My chance...
“Don’t use this,” Katherine said. “Too quick.”
“Quick? I want it quick.”
I kept my composure. I couldn’t give up now. I had to do this. I had to find a way to kill her. My mind and body wanted something with more suffering, with more pain.
“Make him suffer,” Katherine said.
She backed away and motioned for me to follow her. I didn’t want to follow her but I did. We went into the bedroom, the same bedroom where she had the security guards begging for their lives. In the room she found a knife. A long knife, certainly not something offered in the hotel. This was something she brought with her. The blade was long and glistened. It was deadly. It was meant to cut, to kill.
“Make him feel pain,” Katherine said.
“I want to do this so bad,” I whispered.
I stared at the knife. I wasn’t taking about Jonathan Black right then, but Katherine didn’t know that.
“You can watch him die,” Katherine said. “Watch t
he life pour from him. Oh, Isabella, imagine that feeling...”
I looked at Katherine, into those evil eyes.
I nodded.
Katherine turned the knife around and handed it to me.
I took the knife and held it tight. I pictured myself in the kitchen... stabbing the eggs... it had been the thought, the urge, the need... burning all this time. I thought about Jonathan. His secret meetings. His face looking drained. The madness of our lives... falling in love...
“Kill,” I whispered.
“Kill,” Katherine whispered. “You can do this.”
“Yes,” I said. “I can. Katherine... I can...”
I had one shot, right then.
One shot.
My hand shook and I lined it up.
One shot.
One moment.
I came forward with my hand with all the strength I could muster. Katherine’s mouth fell open and I watched the knife enter her stomach. It was so smooth, much like cutting the egg. The only difference was that I didn’t find resistance like when the knife hit the plate under the egg. This knife went in, in, in, in, until my hand touched her stomach.
Katherine stepped back and fell to her knees.
She gasped for air, touching her stomach. Her fingertips were covered in blood already.
It was happening.
I had done it.
Yes.
“I love Jonathan Black,” I said. “You can’t stop us. Ever.”
“Isabella,” Katherine said.
She looked around and when she saw the gun, she smiled. I saw the gun too except I had no chance to get to it. It was in Katherine’s hand as she fell back. The knife stuck out of her stomach. Her right hand shook as she pointed the gun at me.
I could have ran.
I could have fled the room.
But that wasn’t part of my plan.
I needed to wait for Jonathan Black to come. To show him what I had done.
I hovered over Katherine as the gun was pointed at me.
“Isabella,” she whispered again.
“Do it, bitch,” I said. “Kill me. Shoot me.”
Katherine smiled as her eyes widened. Her finger was around the trigger. I swallowed. I waited. I watched. Her finger tightened and then began to squeeze. A second later, the gun clicked.
No shot.
No loud sound.
No pain for me.
Katherine’s face dropped as did the gun. She was shocked. She was defeated.
She took one last breath; her last thoughts coming to terms that she wasn’t the smartest person in the hotel.
Her body lost all life and I fell to the floor, crying. The emotions finally got to me. I wept that my plan worked. I had done it. I had taken Jonathan’s gun, unloaded it, and used it against Katherine. I knew she would take the gun from me. And I knew how risky it would have been.
But I had done it.
I had killed her.
Katherine... was dead.
-12-
I was on my knees.
I refused to touch her.
I just stared at her.
As sad as it was, I didn’t feel any remorse. Katherine would have killed me or Jonathan Black or both of us. I knew it. This was all part of a bigger game for her and now the game was over.
Jonathan and I could be free.
Finally.
He’d come to the room, he’d see the ultimate gift I’d given, and we’d be gone. Jonathan would know how to clean the mess up and. Jonathan would still have his company, his money, his everything.
It was perfect.
The death of Katherine made it all perfect.
And I’d done it.
When I heard the door to the hotel room open, my heart raced. Tears came to my eyes and I hurried to wipe them away. I didn’t want to look weak in front of Jonathan. Not right then. This was such an important moment for us.
“I’m in here!” I called out. “Come look.”
I stared at Katherine’s lifeless body and listened as the bedroom door opened all the way.
This was it.
My chance to show Jonathan what I had done for him.
“I did this for you,” I whispered. “To show you how much I love you. To stop it all. To free us... so we can be in love without worry...”
Jonathan didn’t say a word.
I understood.
It had to be a shock to see Katherine dead.
I turned my head, wanting to see the look on Jonathan’s face. I wanted to just see Jonathan... to know I was alive and so was he.
When I looked, I gasped and clutched my chest.
“No,” I whispered.
“Isabella, what did you do?”
I stared at him.
How did this happen?
Jonathan was supposed to be there.
Jonathan Black.
Not...
“Kellen,” I whispered and realized that maybe I had just made the mess even bigger.
By His Command comes to an end with the tenth and final book: His Love
Katherine is dead.
Isabella is guity of murder.
Jonathan Black finds the murderous scene.
What happens next will change the lives of Jonathan Black and Isabella Grace forever. It will test their passion, their lust, and most of all, their love.
Isabella Grace has given her life to Jonathan Black and swears she will do so forever... but can their love reach a level higher than any ever known before?
Have you read the newest bestselling series from Ana W. Fawkes?
This is a brand new four book romance series titled
His Heart (By His Command #9) (billionaire romance / romantic suspense) Page 7