Page 211 of Lau Ahi
I took a bite of the French fry that she’d almost gagged at seeing on my plate. She was also annoyed that I called it a fry instead of a chip, which meant, of course I would continue.
“You didn’t know? Surely you assumed. How you’ve always been more guarded about me now that I’ve survived theincident,as you love to reference it.” My smile was gone letting the fury she’d seeded in me flourish for her to view. Only now she wasn’t so happy to see my emotions. They scared her since now she knew just how deadly they could be.
“You didn’t kill Kit. His family said he had an accident.” Jacqueline shifted, the silk of her dress gliding easily over the velvet of the booth as her eyes darted about the restaurant again. She was looking for an escape, for Matty or someone on her staff to walk back in so she could flag them down.
If only she knew.
“Just like you told everyone I’d been in rehab instead of admitting that I didn’t have substance issues. It’s how you explained away the fact that I’d shaved my hair, subconsciously trying to look different from Sasha. You should’ve been proud to tell people I had battled a madman and won but you were too busy being worried about how people would perceive me instead of being proud that I survived. Besides that, your preference had a kink. Christopher Newton would be Earl of Merrington Hallhad a kink. One that I have watched people play out multiple ways to understand it better.”
“Understand it better? What in God’s name are you talking about, Asha?” Jacqueline was even more irritated, as though speaking negatively on her precious Kit offended her.
“Race play and the idea of subjugating every other race sexually. You know good ol’Kithas several relatives who are mixed race. None that they publicly claim of course. Amongst all the shades of the spectrum. And Kit seemed to want that same taste of the exotic that his forefathers had. But instead of finding someone that shared that desire to be subjugated he wanted it to be… nonconsensual.”
“You sound ridiculous.”
My eyes lit up and I was grateful she was behaving the way she was. It only confirmed that there was no redemption in her. “Do I?”
“Yes! The things you are speaking of are so distasteful. You’ve been here all these years and forgotten yourself. We do not speak that way about our friends and accuse them of ugly things.” Jacqueline momentarily forgot her fear pointing her finger at me as she lectured me on decorum and etiquette.
“I’m sure he felt the same way as he ordered the footman to let him into our home when no one else was there. Using his best heir of the manor voice to prevent anyone from questioning his presence. I’m sure you had something to do with that.”
“He was a neighbor of course he was always welcome.”
I nodded my head unsurprised that she’d played a part in what happened.
“If you thought Kit was such a catch, why not present Sasha to him as a viable option?”
“She could’ve secured a duke, much more than an earl.”
“That’s a lie. Not that my sister isn’t worthy of a king much less a prince but that’s not the reason. You knew. You knew thetype of person he was and you didn’t care that he was going to do horrific things to me. Not before I agreed to date him or after. You just hoped I would be so eager to please after getting back from theincidentthat my mind would force me to go along with whatever you wanted. Unfortunately for you killing a madman made me even more determined to never be in that position ever again. Shame. How will you ever tell poor Kit’s mother, whose ass you’ve been kissing for a decade to join her little garden club even though you hate the outdoors, that you’re the reason her precious heir is dead?”
“You didn’t kill him.”
I delighted in the way I was about to show her the other side of me. The part that she’d been attempting to harm all these years. I wanted her to know how close to death she’d danced and realize that her time was now up.
“Oh, I did. See Kit had obviously done things like this before. Drug me out of the house and pulled me to the carriage house at the back of his. Had it set up like a proper little torture chamber. That’s how I know he was a serial assaulter. It was too neat. Too clean. But he quickly met his match in me.”
“There’s something wrong with you. You are some kind of psycho. I wonder if you really killed that man when you disappeared or if you were just like him. Some sick woman who was desperate for attention and you probably just went with him willingly. The other bodies they found, you helped him didn’t you?”
For all my armor that shot almost hurt. For her to think that I was somehow as disgusting as the piece of shit that had hurt me. That I was a woman who would be so weak as to harm another behind a man.
“Is that what you think? That I would do something so ridiculous as to pretend to be kidnapped from an eventyousent me to all for what? Your love? Your attention? How delusionalare you about the weight you carry in my life? About your importance to me? The only reason you are still alive and not a tick on the record sheet of souls that I’ve sent to hell is my siblings. I only murder those who truly deserve it. Brandt was my first kill and that was only because he tried to kill me. Kit thought he was going to harm me. The same with the last. But you, well, your damage and pain were far more psychological. Emotional. And even when I’d been able to compartmentalize your bullshit the damage was already done. You’re a terrible excuse for a mother and a horrible person. But that doesn’t bother me any longer. I could continue to ignore your presence, but your lack of concern when I lost my husband? Oh, that firmly put you in the pile of people who could die by my hand. I already have the outfit picked out for your funeral. And trust me, Jacqueline, there won’t be a mourning for you. I plan to wear bright red as a testament of being the one who spills your blood.”
“You think your father will allow you to kill his wife?”
I laughed loudly and deeply from my soul as I sat back content with the look of horror on her face. “You believe that my father would betray his blood for some bitch he got stuck with because she got pregnant? Jacqueline, please. You’re a one-night stand during a war gone wrong. A broken condom or stolen sperm ensured you the spot that you have in this world. No one believes that you’re the queen of this castle let alone of my father’s heart. He won’t even give you access to the business. Please run to abo and tell him what you know. He will give you a play-by-play of how I killed that ingrate. He was home when I walked back covered in blood. It was a good thing that his staff was so smart to stay away when he had histrysts. There were no witnesses and no surveillance since he didn’t want the ability for there to be proof of his crimes. And I’m thankful that it enabled me to cover mine.”
“You’re a monster.” Her eyes watered with sadness over the man that she knew wanted to abuse her own flesh and blood. How ironic that my savagery at protecting myself was deemed monstrous but his to me would’ve been fine as long as it earned us a spot in the peerage.
“I might be. I relished the idea of him thinking I was that weak. I was almost too afraid to fight back before I remembered who the fuck I was. What I had already accomplished and escaped from. I was almost happy that he’d reminded me in the way he did. My ability to outsmart him by pretending to be scared and docile. Only when I fought back I was fighting for my life. I kept a knife on me at all times. He didn’t bother to check. Just ripped at my clothing like I wasn’t a human. And when he thought he was going to put his disgusting phallus in my mouth? Oh, that was the final insult. As though the orifice that I used to nourish myself would be defiled by him. Absolutely the fuck not. I cut off his dick and watched his eyes widen not understanding that he’d invited a lion into a lamb’s den.”
I smiled thinking about how his face had gone immediately pale. White as a sheet was the best way to describe it. His blood hit my face as he staggered backward and I began to laugh as he was trying to reach to the floor to get his dick from where it had fallen, while also trying to staunch the bleeding of his wound. It disgusted me the way he was still thinking about his penis while death was knocking. That annoyed me more than anything else and I wanted to end his life even quicker than it was slipping literally through his fingers. A stab to the heart as he attempted to fight me off him was almost laughable when I thought back on it. I watched in delight as he fell to his knees then on his back. I climbed on his chest and straddled him just so I could see when the light finally faded in his eyes. A fire quickly took care of any evidence that could’ve placed me at the scene. Especially when the place blew up within minutes. In a trance, I’d walkedback through the gate that separated our yards knowing that everyone in our neighborhood thought the area far too posh and too safe to be infested with the type of crime that would necessitate anything more than an alarm and a good safe. The type of insurance had on the homes would replace anything that had been stolen and the irreplaceable valuables were normally at country estates. Abo found me and got rid of my clothes and kept a close eye on the investigation since he was concerned about the finger pointing to me. It was one of the main reasons I came to school in the states.
“You are so fucking dramatic, Asha. You have been milking that incident for over a decade. Really, I worry why you think you should be able to study the criminal mind seeing as how you’re a criminal yourself. I’m sure your father helped clean up this mess for you as well as the situation with Brandt otherwise our names would’ve been dragged in the mud.”
“Are you serious right now?”
She sniffed almost disconnected from everything and I wondered if she was on something.
