by Ella Miles
I can’t hold it together any longer as tears streak down my face while I look at what is left of my beautiful princess.
“How did she…”
“Gunshot wound. She must have died instantly. They burned her body after she was already dead.”
I know his words are supposed to comfort me. That she died instantly. That she wasn’t in any pain. It doesn’t comfort me. Nothing ever will again.
Nothing.
Tears fall faster now, and I wish Hayes weren’t here. I hate feeling weak in front of someone else, especially him, but as I glance up through my tears, I see that he is almost just as torn apart by her death as I am. So, we both just cry across from each other. Not really connecting or trying to comfort the other. But still sharing her death all the same.
Hayes stops crying long before me. My tears stop long before I have come to terms with my grief. Still, when my tears dry up, Hayes takes the time to talk. Like that is something I am capable of right now.
“I’m going to get you out of here.”
Hayes waits for me to respond, but I can’t. I don’t care if I live the rest of my life in here or out there. It will feel like a prison to me either way.
“You can’t work for the FBI again. They don’t trust that you will follow their commands, which is all they care about. They think you’ll go rogue again. In fact, they want to give you a security detail until we close the case and make sure you are safe. You can’t go after them though. You would just get yourself killed, too. You have to let us handle it.”
Hayes pauses to allow me time to promise him to let the FBI handle it. I won’t promise him though.
“You should go home. Your family is worried about you. Even your father is worried.”
I look at him now, not understanding. “My father?” I croak through my dry mouth.
He nods. “They are at the FBI office, waiting for you. Both of your parents are a mess. They just want you to come home. Your father said he couldn’t lose another son.”
I nod although I can’t believe my father still cares about me. I thought going to jail would effectively end our relationship, not be the thing that brought us back together.
“Killian, are you listening?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“I should go. I have a lot of paperwork to do to make sure you get out of here this afternoon.”
I nod.
Hayes walks over, picks up his phone from the table, and pats me on the back. He doesn’t say anything as he walks away. He doesn’t have to. I can feel how sorry he is. And this isn’t his fault.
This is my fault. I was the one who promised to protect her. I was the one who failed. I am the one who failed. She’s dead, and it’s my fault. Just like it’s my fault that my brother is dead. I bring death to everyone I meet. That is why the world would be better off if I were dead. Then, I couldn’t cause anyone else to die. Then, those I loved would be safe.
The guard comes back into the room. He reaches down and grabs my shoulder, and I stand as he pulls me up. He puts the handcuffs back on and then guides me back to my cell where my handcuffs are removed. Then, I’m left alone. Santino is gone.
Now is the time to kill myself. To get rid of the pain I know I’ll never be able to escape from now that she is really gone.
But that’s no longer what I want. Those thoughts are completely gone from my mind, despite the pain being worse than when my brother died. When he died, I wanted to kill myself, but I realized quickly that dying wouldn’t help my brother. My penance was working for the FBI and taking over his role. But the real reason I took the FBI job was to go after his killers. I thought working for the FBI would let me get my revenge. It didn’t.
But, now, that’s all I see. Revenge.
I have to go after her killers. I have to end their lives. It’s the only way I will find peace. I can’t protect her any longer, but I can protect the future Kinsleys of the world from a few less monsters.
My anger overtakes my body. I grab the bedding off my bunk and rip and tear it apart until it’s a pile of shreds on the floor. I grab the pillow and rip it open, pulling the stuffing out and ripping the stuffing apart. I try to calm my anger so that I won’t start a fight with someone while I’m still in jail. If I do that, I might never get out. Or I might end up killing an innocent man.
My blood is pumping fast and warm through my veins as I grab Santino’s bedding as well. He might kill me for this, but I don’t care. I don’t think. I tear his bedding to pieces, just like mine. The fabric so easily bends to my will. Just like the men who hurt Kinsley will do as soon as I find them. They will be wishing they were dead pieces on the floor by the time I am done with them. Because death is not something I will give them, not until they have experienced every pain known to man. Because that is the pain Kinsley experienced. That is the pain I am going to face every day until I die.
“She was yours,” Santino says as he leans against the door to our cell.
I narrow my eyes as I toss the last piece of stuffing onto the floor. “Who?”
“The girl who is all over TV. The daughter of the billionaire casino owner. She was your girl.”
“Yes.”
I glance past him, and that’s when I see the TV showing nonstop coverage of Kinsley, her grandfather, and her mother. It will be all over the news for weeks. A beautiful girl like Kinsley will be hard for the news crews to just drop the story without answers and outrage from their viewers.
I watch Scarlett in tears on the TV. And I see that the news outlet even have Kinsley’s ex-boyfriends, Eli and Tristan, coming on next. They’ll have any person who ever spoke to her on. Every grocer, mailman, and neighbor who ever spoke to her will come on and speak. It brings me some comfort to know that she won’t easily be forgotten. That, even though she’s dead, she won’t fall from everyone’s memory. She will live on. That’s why I have to live—to keep her memory alive when the media has moved on to the next scandal.
“Still want a way outta here?” Santino asks.
I incredulously stare at him. I have a way out now. A way out where I can see my family. Where I can find out what the FBI knows about what happened to Kinsley even if they won’t let me stay on. A way where I will be watched like a hawk and have no chance at ever getting my revenge.
But, if I go with Santino, I will be a fugitive. The second the FBI finds me, they will send me back to jail. But, if I get my way and kill the men who killed Kinsley, I will be a fugitive anyway. Either way, I will end up back in this jail—no, in prison for the rest of my life.
I don’t care though. I’ll be spending my life in prison either way even if I don’t break the law. At least, if I kill them, my heart will be able to rest.
I look at Santino. I have no idea why he is offering to help me or what payment I will have to pay for my freedom. I don’t even know if he can get me out of here. But I know I have to take the chance.
“Yes, get me out of here.”
A slow grin curls up his face. “Wait here,” he says before he vanishes.
I look at the mess I’ve made and begin tossing the torn sheets back onto the bunk beds. If any of the guards see this, they will think something is up and reprimand us. I can’t take the chance, not when I’m so close to freedom and revenge.
I toss the last piece of stuffing back onto the bed when Santino returns.
“Let’s go.”
I follow him out of our cell, but I wish I knew what the plan was instead of just blindly following him. Now, I am completely at his mercy, and I have no idea who else might be involved in the plan.
As we near the edge of the main room where we all hang out, a fight breaks out across the hall.
“Shit,” I say under my breath. Now, we will never get out of here. The place will go into lockdown for the rest of the day, and we won’t get a chance again because Hayes will be getting me out.
But, when I look at Santino, he isn’t fazed at all. It’s part of the plan, I
realize. But who would be willing to pose a fake fight and possibly be in here for longer just to help two other men escape? It makes no sense.
Santino ducks inside the kitchen, and I do the same. The kitchen is crazy with people pushing carts of food in and out of the building. It’s shipment day. The one day a week when the food for the whole jail is brought into the building, and everyone is busy pushing carts in and out as fast as they can. Prisoners and guards and chefs are all busy with moving things around. No one is paying us any attention.
Santino walks to the far side where a large empty crate sits, ready to be moved out of the building.
He opens the door to the large crate. “Get in.”
I climb in without a word, and Santino climbs in right after me. We don’t say a word as he closes the lid, and darkness covers us.
We both sit in the darkness, not moving, not speaking, barely breathing, for fear that we will be found. Eventually, the cart starts moving. We are rolled out of the building and up a ramp to what I assume is a truck. We stop for a while, and then I hear the truck moving.
We drive for hours. We drive so long that the tears at losing Kinsley come back. I let them out, knowing that Santino can’t see me in the darkness.
The truck eventually comes to a stop. To my surprise, Santino climbs out. He doesn’t wait until whatever man driving the truck is gone.
I climb out after him.
He lifts the door to the back of the truck and jumps out. I follow.
“Thanks, man. I owe you one,” I say.
Santino stops and looks at me. “I was hoping you would say that. Because I’m supposed to deliver you to my brother.”
Fuck, I think as I realize where I know Santino from. It’s the last thing I think before losing consciousness.
Fuck. I was wrong. They are going to kill me.
I close my eyes and wait for the trigger to be pulled. At least the pain in my head will be gone when he pulls the trigger. And at least Killian will be safe.
I wait one…two…three seconds, but nothing happens. The trigger isn’t pulled, and the gun isn’t lowered.
Maybe I’m already dead? Maybe this is an illusion?
I open my eyes, expecting to be floating above my body that must be broken and bloody on the floor. Instead, I’m sitting in the same position. I glance up at Nacio, who is grinning wildly at me. He’s won, and he knows it. I gave him a drop of fear, and he ignited it. He had no intention of killing me—at least, not yet—but he’s just proven he has the upper hand here. Not me.
He laughs, and then all the men in the room are laughing along with him. My cheeks flush in embarrassment.
I push the gun away from my head and stand, finally able to breathe again. I walk over to Nacio with a tight glare on my face, showing that I don’t appreciate his games. I can’t let him win this fight, not when my life and the lives of those I love are on the line.
He stops laughing and smugly looks up at me.
“I didn’t come here to play games. I came here to take my father’s place in the company.”
Nacio grabs the neck of my shirt and jerks me forward until my face is inches from his. His grip around my shirt tightens making it hard for me to breathe.
“I don’t play games either. Don’t threaten my life, and I won’t threaten yours.”
He releases me, and I can breathe again. My heartbeat has just gone through a roller coaster of ups and downs in a matter of minutes, and I’m not sure it can survive much more without suffering a heart attack. It’s no wonder my dad died from a heart attack if he had to deal with people like this on a daily basis.
He begins walking to the door before he turns and looks me up and down. His eyes lust over the curves of my chest then ass in the tight clothing. “Follow me, princess.” His voice is harsh.
I don’t react when he says princess. At least I do everything in my power not to react when I want to cringe in disgust. I don’t want it to become his pet name for me.
I walk toward him as confidently as I can in my heels as I toss my grungy hair behind my shoulders. I feel every man’s eyes in the room on my ass. If it wasn’t for my time modeling, I would be completely disgusted by the thought. Now though, I know it’s my greatest power to control these men, and I’m going to use it.
I pause for just a second when I reach Nacio. “It’s Kinsley. Not princess. Not sweetheart. Not baby. I am none of those things to you.”
I strut past him out the door and into the hallway. I don’t wait for him. I just keep walking down the hallway, hoping that I will be able to find my grandfather or find out more information about the operation.
I hear Nacio yell at his men to get back to packing.
And then he is right at my side. “Slow down, sweetheart,” he says in his slick voice.
I roll my eyes at his childish games. “I thought we weren’t playing games with each other.”
His grin widens until it covers his face. It’s a grin that might usually make my knees weak if I didn’t know what kind of monster lies beneath the wicked grin. And if my heart didn’t still long for another grin. A grin that puts Nacio’s grin to shame. A grin that only I cause. Not like Nacio’s that is probably given out to every girl he sees.
Just thinking about Killian makes me want to run out the door and forget why I even came here, but I can’t.
“Not games, but if we are going to work together, I think we should be on friendlier terms than first names, sweetheart.”
He touches my neck, and I freeze. He’s flirting. He’s known me all of five minutes, and he’s already flirting. He doesn’t even know if he can trust me yet. I suck in a breath, trying to decide if I should let him flirt or if I should flirt back. It might make it easier to get him to tell me everything, to get him to trust me. But, as his slimly hand strokes my neck, I know I can’t. I can’t fake attraction for him. I’m not a good enough actress. So, instead, I go for controlling bitch.
I slap his face as hard as I can. I watch as his face turns away from me, and his hand goes from my neck to his cheek. He turns back to me. But his face doesn’t wear a surprised look. Instead, he’s grinning like he was expecting that reaction all along, and somehow, being hit makes him more attracted to me.
“I think you and I will get along well, sweetheart.”
“Show me around, and take me to my grandfather. And don’t touch me again without asking, or I will cut your balls off in your sleep.”
His grin widens. “This way, sweetheart.”
I sigh. At least he decided to settle on sweetheart instead of princess. It still sounds disgusting falling from his twisted lips, but at least he doesn’t get to taint the name that is Killian’s and my father’s name for me. At least I can still have that.
“These rooms serve as our offices. At least the men who are high enough to need an office and aren’t just doing the grunt work.”
“Should I be introduced to the other men in charge?”
Nacio stops walking and sternly looks at me. “No. I’m in charge. You’ve already met my right hand, Seth. And my younger brother will be here soon. Other than that, you don’t need to worry about getting to know the other men.”
I nod although I don’t like it. I need to know the name of every man who has any power in this company. If not, when I call the police to move in, some of the men could run and start this over again somewhere else. I won’t let that happen.
“Still, if I’m going to be running the company, don’t you think I should know all the names of our employees?”
He shrugs. “Not really. I don’t even know most of their names. The less we know about each other, the better. Most don’t stay long anyway.”
I pause at a cracked door as chills roll through my body. I feel a connection to this room. I don’t ask Nacio for permission as I push the door open. He doesn’t say anything as I walk into the large office. I flick the light on and watch as it flickers to life.
A desk sits across the way, just like in Nacio�
�s office. Several chairs sit in front of it. I look to my left and find a nice leather couch against that wall. I hesitantly walk over to the desk, afraid of what I’m going to find, as every nerve in my body ignites.
I pause when I get to the desk and run my hand along the solid wood surface. A computer and two picture frames are all that sit on the desk. I reach out and touch one of the frames. I know whose office this used to belong to before I glance at the photo.
I turn the frame so that I can see the photo of me riding on my father’s shoulders. It is the same frame that is sitting in my father’s office in the casino in Las Vegas.
This office was my father’s. I immediately want to scream and cry. I hate that my father has an office in such an awful place. I want to destroy this office, just like I did to his office in Las Vegas. I can’t though, not without letting Nacio know that I hate my father instead of love him.
Nacio puts a hand on my shoulder in what is meant to be a comforting manner, but it just creeps me out. I haven’t even seen the man do anything horrible yet, but it still gives me the creeps.
“Your father was a good man. He’s been missed. I hope you can fill his place. I would hate to lose you, too.”
I suck in a breath at his threat. “You won’t be disappointed.”
“Good.”
“Will this be my office now?”
“No.”
He walks out the door without another word, leaving me confused. I follow him out and try to keep pace as he picks up speed until we reach the staircase.
“Where will my office be?”
He shakes his head. “You haven’t earned an office yet. Nobody gets to the top without doing the grunt work first. Nobody, not even if they have the last name of Felton.”
He begins up the stairs two at a time, and I follow at a more leisurely pace, not liking what he just said.