The Ten Club

by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

  “You have nothing to fear,” he said. “As long as you vow to forget the old King and be loyal to me.” He leaned down, placing us nose to nose.

  Oh shit. The flames in his eyes were not from the fireplace. “What happened to you?” I whispered.

  “Progress. And you cannot stop it, Mia. No one can.”

  The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

  King pinched my chin, pinning me with those demonic-looking eyes. “I can see you want to hold on to the past, Mia. But you must let go. Your husband is a memory.”

  I couldn’t make sense of this. “What happened to you?” I repeated.

  Exasperated, he shook his head. “Who the hell cares?”

  “I do.”

  He chuckled sadistically. “Do you know who that man really was, Mia? Do you know what you’re hanging on to?”

  “Of course I do.”

  “No. You do not. I’ve learned quite a lot about this man you seem to worship so much—this man I once was.” He shook his head. “So weak. So soft.”

  I felt a spark of anger. “He was a good person.”

  King frowned. “Really?” Our bodies close, he leaned down to whisper in my ear, “Did you know he fucked Talia the day before he died?”

  What? Talia had been King’s partner in crime for many years. From what he told me, things fell apart when she decided she wanted more from him and he refused. Then his life became tangled with mine and he cut her out completely. She had not been happy about that.

  I stepped back. “What are you talking about?”

  An evil joy twinkled in his eyes. “It’s true. This man that you would throw away your life for, that you hold up on a pedestal, he was unfaithful to you. He fucked that woman in a hotel room in Vegas.”

  “I don’t believe you. He would never.” He hated Talia. She was like an evil cockroach he wanted to crush.

  “It’s true,” I heard a curvy brunette say from the foyer. She was one of the women from the circle who’d just been talking to Hagne. “He fucked me to get his hands on that chalice. Once I told him where it was, he killed me.” She laughed.

  “Talia?” I muttered.

  She sauntered over with a familiar wiggle in her hips. “Back from the dead, you little bitch.”

  I had no clue she’d died; however, I felt so cold inside that I didn’t have the strength to get angry or feel anything other than my heart shredding into sad little ribbons.

  Talia continued, standing to King’s side. “That’s right. He fucked me up against the wall like an angry beast. I told him sooner or later I’d have something he’d want and get what I wanted.” She sighed contentedly. “It was so worth getting strangled for.”

  Wait. This just doesn’t make sense. King would never. “You’re both making it up.”

  King shook his head. “My, my, Mia. You are a stubborn one. Just as everyone says. But why don’t you ask my brother’s woman, Teddi. She was there.”

  My head spun, and my heart felt nonexistent as everything suddenly went from bad to worse. So King cheated on me. He fucking cheated on me? For Mack? Fucking Mack? My heart couldn’t make sense of all this. King chose his brother over his children and wife. And he fucking cheated on me?

  “Oh no. Is the little Seer cunt feeling hurt?” the new Talia mock pouted.

  The rage clicked on inside me, and I exploded. “You evil fucking bitch!” I lunged for her, and she fell to the floor.

  I put my hands around her neck and squeezed. Her face twisted as she tried to push me off, but couldn’t. “You disgusting piece of shit.” I tightened with both hands, watching her face turn red.

  “All right, Ms. Turner,” King said with a chuckle, threading his arms under mine and pulling me up. “Let the mean lady go. I didn’t bring her back from the dead so you could kill her all over again.”

  I hung on to Talia’s neck as long as I could, but King pried my fingers loose.

  Once free, Talia gasped and stumbled to her feet, rubbing her neck. “I’ll fucking kill you,” she croaked. “You and your little baby. I’ll skin him alive and make you watch.”

  If there was one thing I’d learned about 10 Club members, it was that they never made idle threats and they never let go of grudges.

  “Not if I kill you first!” I spat. Blinded by anger, my eyes quickly swept the room. I grabbed a wrought-iron table lamp and swung. It landed right on her temple with a loud crack and Talia dropped to the floor. “You think you fucking scare me?” I yelled at her immobile body. I raised the lamp to finish her. No one threatened my baby. No one.

  “That is enough, Ms. Turner,” King roared and snatched the lamp from my hand.

  I pointed my finger in his face, screaming, “You fuck her? You break your vows to me with this disgusting bitch? You leave everything behind that was good in your life for this? For fucking this?” I pushed him, but it did nothing. He wasn’t a real man. He was made of illusions and powers, but not real skin and bones.

  “This,” he replied with a calm but fierce tone, “is the only thing that matters. Power. And now you see what not having it will do to people—they must compromise, beg, and steal to get what they want. They are at the mercy of others.” He grabbed my still-sore wrist. “If your pathetic husband had had more power, he surely wouldn’t have had to fuck her to help his brother.”

  “You want to see power?” I snapped my arm away and stuck my middle finger in his face. “Fuck you, King. You and the 10 Club.”

  I turned and left the room, knowing full well I wasn’t alone. He was right there with me. I could smell him in the air, feel him on my skin, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of saying anything.

  I walked past several guests, who glided into the party, looking joyous and elegant. All 10 Club members, I assumed, who were about to be sold a giant pile of festering bullcrap and then later used as vessels for King’s little army. Or big army. I didn’t know how far he would go and how many people he would bring back. All I knew was that King was rounding up some of the most vile, cruel, sadistic people ever to walk this earth. Even people who’d once been his enemies. He probably enjoyed making them bow down to him and lick his boots.

  Sadistic prick.

  I made my way down the edge of the driveway, walking beside a never-ending line of expensive cars and chauffeurs congregating in small groups, smoking cigarettes, and chatting about whatever 10 Club help talked about.

  About fifteen cars down, I spotted Arno frowning at me as I approached. I suddenly slammed into a wall and nearly fell back.

  I blinked, but there was nothing there. Nothing I could see.

  Fucking King.

  “Get the hell out of my way,” I snapped.

  “Have dinner with me tomorrow night.”

  “Screw you.” I tried to step around him but only ended up hitting that wall again. I must’ve looked like a crazy drunk to anyone watching.

  “What if I want to make you a proposal? One you’ll want to hear,” he said.

  King and his stupid deals. “Another one? What about the one where you promise never to act like an ancient douche bag, cheating, selfish tyrant and then break that promise? No, thank you.”

  “No. This one is for your brother.”

  My body froze, and my heart tightened in my chest.

  “You’ve now seen I have the power to bring anyone back as long as I have a body to give them.”

  In my mind, there was no excuse for what King had done or how he’d hurt me, but I couldn’t deny that Justin’s death, the impact it had on me and my parents, had been devastating. Justin had been a good person with an enormous heart, whose only mistake was getting involved with Vaughn, 10 Club’s president at the time. Vaughn, a sick psychopath, somehow ended up being the financial backer for Justin’s big archeological dig in Southern Mexico. In exchange, Vaughn would get dibs on anything of interest Justin unearthed. It all ended badly, of course. Justin somehow got involved with Vaughn’s mistress—Vaughn’s property under 10 Club law—and
then Justin tried to free her after he found something important at the dig site. He thought he could use it as a bargaining chip of sorts. Justin didn’t stand a chance. The mistress, pregnant mistress, didn’t either.

  I killed Vaughn for what he did to Justin and the woman carrying his baby, but it hadn’t erased the pain. The only peace it gave me was knowing that Vaughn could no longer go after my mother and father, who he’d promised to skin alive on camera and have sex with. Sick, sick fucker.

  “Not interested,” I lied, knowing King would leverage this to its fullest if I showed too much interest. Once again, I tried to move past the invisible force blocking my way.

  “Sir, back away from Mrs. Minos.” Arno stood at my side, snarling like a rabid pit bull, his eyes locked right onto something next to me.

  “Arno, old friend. So nice to see you.” King did not show himself.

  “We are not friends. Step away from her.”

  “Or what?” King asked.

  “Or the Spiros will keep their vow,” Arno said calmly.

  “Dinner at the Kapsalian,” said King. “Nine o’clock.” And just like that, King was gone, the air around us cool and still.

  “Let’s go.” Arno held out his elbow, gesturing for me to take it. My knees jittering and my heart in a state of toxic meltdown, I latched on and allowed him to help me into the back of the limo.

  Arno quickly had us heading home.

  “The vow you mentioned, what was that about?” I asked.

  Arno remained silent.

  “Okay. You can’t tell me what it is, but this has to be something recent. I mean, otherwise, I would’ve heard all about it.”

  Arno made a subtle nod.

  “Was this vow made before King left to go help Mack?”

  Arno nodded.

  Dammit. Another confirmation that King had known what might happen. He’d planned contingencies.

  “Is it the kind of thing King would make you do if I were in trouble?” I asked.

  Arno remained silent.

  “Okay. He made you swear not to tell me or anyone. But King knew something bad was going to happen, didn’t he?”

  “He believed it was a possibility.”

  Fuck. And that meant he’d taken precautions for us. Just like he had with the wards around the property. He’d also made the Spiros loyal to me.

  “Arno, if King were about to hurt me, would this vow become relevant?”

  “You know I cannot say anything, Mrs. Minos. Not without risking my family’s well-being.”

  Of course I wouldn’t want that. But whatever King had told them could be used to hurt him and protect us.

  “Is it lot number ninety-four?” I asked, taking a stab.

  Arno’s dark eyes shot me a very stern look.

  That has to be it. Something in that warehouse they could use if things turned out for the worst.

  “Just tell me, do you know what’s in lot ninety-four?” I asked.

  “I do not.”

  “But you know how to get to it,” I said.

  He gave me a look indicating he might. “Please. I cannot say anything, Mrs. Minos. Simply know that precautions were made. Your husband was not a stupid man.”

  I leaned back in the seat. So whatever was in that warehouse could kill King if things went south. And King had told Arno how to get at it, but not what it was or likely how to use it. Mack knew what it was—clearly. He’d been trying to break into that warehouse to get it.

  So King gave two people he trusted, more or less, everything they needed to end him. But why not me? Why wouldn’t he tell me?

  Because he cheated on me. And King was afraid to put his life in my hands.

  I laughed bitterly. Oh, King, how well you know me.

  CHAPTER TEN

  I’m not going to lie; King had me by the balls. I had to show up for dinner and listen to his proposal. But what would he want from me in exchange for Justin’s life? I knew King wanted my cooperation, my blood, and my loyalty. Was there something else? I didn’t know, but I had to remember that I wasn’t without my own bargaining chips.

  So against Arno’s advice, I decided to go tonight. Mack had been MIA since our conversation yesterday evening at King’s place, which made me wonder if something terrible had happened to him in that warehouse. Honestly, Mack wasn’t a weakling or naïve. He knew exactly what traps and dangers awaited anyone who tried to break in. Hell, he’d worked for King for…well, I didn’t know exactly how long, but a few centuries at the very least.

  So after a few failed attempts at reaching Mack, I ended up calling Teddi, but she didn’t answer. I wasn’t sure what I’d say anyway. “Hi, it’s Mia. Is Mack okay? Great. Now fuck you! Why didn’t you tell me that King screwed around on me for that damned chalice? Huh? Huh?” Make no mistake, I’d saved Teddi’s ass one or two times when things with Mack were not in a good place and King saw her as a threat to Mack. It hurt that she would keep something like this from me.

  You can’t trust anyone, Mia. When will you learn that? I had to accept that I was alone in this world now and it was up to me to look after Arch and Ariadna. No one else.

  I put on a black sweater, jeans, and black leather boots. I knew King would prefer something sexy and feminine, but I wasn’t going there to have breakup sex or get him to look at me. We were done. Done. Done. I just wanted to hear the terms of his deal.

  Just after nine o’clock, Arno pulled up to the Kapsalian, which was a historic hotel tucked into a lush green hillside bursting with olive trees and magnificent views of the valley below. I hadn’t explored Crete all that much since agreeing to live here as our home base, but that was only because we’d taken the first six months of marriage to go on a honeymoon on King’s yacht. When Arch was born, I had him in San Francisco and stayed at my parents’ home for four weeks before coming to King’s home. We’d only been there for a short time before things with Mack began to unravel and we had to come back to the US looking for him.

  I slid from the car and asked Arno to stay close. This wouldn’t take long.

  I made my way down the walkway toward the hotel’s restaurant. The entire estate looked lovely, built of stone with arched doorways and white plaster. It was about as elegant and rustic as you could get in Crete without jumping into the category of Ancient Greece’s massive temples built in honor of the gods.

  I approached the restaurant’s arched doorway covered in twinkling white lights, where a young woman in black heels asked for my name. I gave it and she showed me through the surprisingly empty restaurant, out to a terrace with a view of the town below. I suspected that King rented out the place for the night. That was his move. And it no longer impressed me.

  “Ms. Turner.” Dressed in a finely tailored black suit, King’s tall, imposing frame rose from the table, and he came around to slide out my chair.

  I walked out alone, determined to make this quick. “You can drop the chivalry. I’m here for business. Nothing more.”

  “I like a woman who knows how to cut to the chase.” He waited for me to be seated anyway.

  I sat begrudgingly. “You like a woman who grovels and cowers as she licks the heels of your polished shoes.”

  “You are mistaken.” He took his seat across from me and leaned those broad shoulders back. “I can’t stand submissive women.”

  “Oh. That’s right. I almost forgot. You like it when they fight. It makes the fun of crushing their souls so much more enjoyable.”

  He laughed. “You know me so well.”

  The waitress walked up, and he ordered me a scotch, neat, and himself a martini.

  “No, thanks. I’ll have mineral water,” I corrected.

  King looked down at my stomach as the young woman scurried off with a nervous-looking posture.

  “My apologies.” He dipped his head. “I almost forgot. And I thank you for taking such care with my daughter.”

  My fists balled under the table. “She’s not really yours, now is she?”

  “
Of course she is.”

  “Funny, when it comes to talking about the things you did before your last encounter with death—cheating, for example, or promises you made to people—you wash your hands. But you will take credit for my baby?”

  “What can I say? I’m a man. I take responsibility when it conveniences me.” He flashed that trademark smile across the table.

  “All right, King. I don’t have time for your games. Name your price.” I folded my arms and sat back in the chair.

  “Oh,” he leaned in, “but Ms. Turner, I was about to tell you how much I enjoyed our fuck yesterday—the taste of your lips, the creamy heat between your thighs, the way you moaned when I came inside you.”

  I lifted my brows, hoping he’d see the middle fingers sticking out of them. I had loved this man. More than my own life. Now he treated my heart like a game?

  “Eh…yeah, no. There is nothing you can say to me, King, that will get me where you want to go. Not to your bed, your desk, your side—nowhere. So I’ll give you ten seconds to tell me what you want in exchange for Justin and then I’m getting up from this table.”

  His devilish smile melted away. “You push hard for a woman who holds no cards.”

  “I hold plenty and telling you what they are is a rooky move. Speak. Five seconds.”

  King tilted his head and stared.

  “Okay.” I stood. “Have a nice life, if that’s what you call your evil existence.”

  “Vaughn or Justin, Ms. Turner. Which would you like me to bring back? Because the choice is all yours.”

  I stopped in my tracks. Fuck. Fuck! Fuck! I had not seen that coming.

  I slowly sat back down, trying to keep my breathing steady despite the sheer terror now clawing at my insides. How the hell did this man always know the way to motivate me? The asshole doesn’t even remember me.

  Oh, but he’s been calling out the dead, who know plenty.

  “I’m listening, King. But if you bring back Vaughn, he’ll kill me. Me and this baby.” Along with everyone in my family after he skinned them alive.

  “Oh, Ms. Turner,” he placed his elbows on the table, a happy evil gleam in his beautiful silvery eyes, “what makes you think I would allow that?”