Page 218 of Lau Ahi
She balled her fist in front of her face exasperated with my truth. “It’s what you do! Everyone is always going after you. At work. On two separate continents. You got the agent to marry you without knowing him at all!”
“You’re fucking mental.”
“Maybe I am. But what does that make you? Some whore that has been passed around by anyone that would have you. You go to that club I’m sure more people than I could even count have taken you for a ride.”
I chuckled wondering how much of my life had been monitored by this crazy woman. I thought of the times she’d copy something I’d wear and when I made a note of it would feign ignorance of it. When she styled her hair the way I did and temporarily started to wear glasses. All a softer form of trying to plagiarize and colonize my life because she felt constantly rejected in hers.
“You can say what you want and believe what you want but it’s not true. You, of course, couldn’t get in because you didn’t have the connections. Not that it matters, but the only person I ever slept with there I married.” I flashed the enormous sapphire ring that I refused to take off even though it had been months since I lost him. Since she knew so much about jewelry she knew exactly how much was spent on this ring and I could see the jealousy yet again in her eyes.
“You made a terrible mistake, Asha.”
“Oh? And what is that?”
“Brandt isn’t here to keep me off you. He won’t keep me from carving you up. Tying you up. Tasting you again. Do you know how divine your fear tastes on my tongue?” She flicked her tongue like a snake thinking it would rile me but it only fortified my convictions.
I was done playing with her and since I had my answers; she was no more use to me.
I pulled out the gun that had been carefully hidden at the small of my back. The fitted athletic jacket combined with my hair being down concealed the fact that I was armed. A knife would’ve been so much better but I needed to be neat with this kill.
“What are you going to do with that?”
Margo’s eyes were trained on the gun and I smiled sweetly as I watched her panic increase.
“This? This is how I’m going to take your life. I would want a far more dramatic means to an end but alas, enough of my life has been unknowingly based on you. I’m far more efficient in this murder than I’ve been with the others.”
“Others? What do you mean?”
I laughed, wanting to gloat at my subject matter expertise over hers yet again. “You think that Brandt is the only man I’ve killed? Silly Margo. We’ve always debated the proliferation of female serial killers who are not given their due because of their sex. You were speaking from observation while I was speaking from hands-on experience. Brandt, a pesky little earl who was a serial rapist and then a hedge fund manager who couldn’t keep his hands to himself. You convinced someone else to do your dirty work undermining the agency of female murderers everywhere by lying on your back to achieve your goals. I put in the work myself and no one has ever been the wiser. Christ, Margo, you’re too lazy to even commit your own murders! No wonder Brandt didn’t want to keep you around.”
The final insult had her forgetting about her safety and coming toward me only to be stopped abruptly.
“Asha! Put the gun down!”
I didn’t turn my head to look at the person behind me because I knew he couldn’t really be here. There was no way that he was speaking to me right now so I stared at Margo, watching as her eyes shifted between the gun and an apparition.
“If this is my mind’s way of trying to stop me from doing what needs to be done, I’m not listening.Asha can’t come to the phone right now. Please leave a message and when she returns, she might answer it.” I was grinning watching the way that Margo was trying to keep her eyes on me but also glancing behind me. It had to be a trick to get me to stop being locked on her but that wasn’t going to happen.
“Asha, there’s actually someone there.” Margo swallowed so hard I could hear it over the blood rushing through my ears.
“What are you about, Margo? Oh really? There’s someone there? Shame, another body to get rid of. No matter, I’ll just burn this place down.”
“Asha, please, I need you to let me handle this.”
“I’m not going to let anyone handle my business for me. I wasn’t raised that way and being a weak bitch has never been something to strive for. My father would be ashamed, my sister would be appalled and my husband will scold me when I meet him in the afterlife. I don’t want my first words to him after such a long time to be words of disappointment. I will never disappoint the only man I’ve ever chosen to love.”
“Asha, I don’t want to put a bullet in you to stop you but I will.” The threat was laughable because we both knew he would never hurt me.
I sighed, his dramatics irritating me when all I wanted was to check this off my to-do list for the day. “No, you won’t, Alec. Because then I’d have to shoot you. And you wouldn’t want tolose out on her chance to woo Jemma Marie. And if you want a chance in hell of getting with her, I’m your in.”
He chuckled, and I could hear him coming closer but I still refused to put the gun down. “You’d choose bribery at a time like this?”
“I’ve always used whatever I needed to in my arsenal to ensure that I’m able to achieve success in any situation. Choose wisely.” My threat was apparent and he could only laugh.
Margo looked between the two of us surprised at our banter. “Are you really arguing with him over this?”
“Margo, I will put a bullet in your head right now and go home to sleep like a baby knowing that the person who’s haunted me and apparently stalked me for years is gone. Do not underestimate the extensive lengths I will go through in order to have my vengeance.”
“We’ve been watching her, Asha. The FBI knows that she’s involved. More information has come to our attention and we’ve got this handled.” Alec’s voice was almost pleading but I didn’t care how sincere he sounded.
