Page 65 of Seduce & Destroy

All the breath in my lungs left me. The last time he’d fixed something I was forced to slash the limbs right off a body. The only thing that remained was echoing whispers of Father manipulating me into killing Dylan. It gutted me.

Did he…? Like I had to ‘fix’ the Dylan issue? I needed to run. The only obstacle in the way was Father, I froze as I thought through my next steps.

He sensed my stillness as defeat. “See, Aldo, this is what happens when you trust little girls. They disappoint. Too consumed with the whims of feeling to really believe a girl would fall in love with he–”

“It’s not that easy! She cares about me.”

“No, you care!”

Aldo chose that moment to interject. “She has no remorse, Laney. She broke my family where it would hurt the most, she knew.”

“You’re wrong. You’re wrong. You’re wrong. She loves me. You’re wrong.”

“She doesn’t love you.” Father implored. “It was a trick, Laney, an obfuscation. I should have forbade her the minute I sensed you were getting close. I knew it.”

“Don’t pretend,” I spat out in disgust. “You were convinced by her too. You did this. Leaving me vulnerable and alone my entire life, I latched on. Yes, maybe too soon. But that’s on you.”

“Stop it, child. When you’re in tears two weeks from now, and she leaves you in the dust, I won't be the one to wipe your cheeks.”

“You never have, Father, that’s your problem. When I was crying for her in secondary school, you didn’t see them then either. You won’t now.”

“Secondary school?”

“Yes, she was the girl I had a crush on even th–”

“This is bigger than I imagined.”

“She told me then to be aware of the assassin, she cares.” I rambled on, not even noticing the look Aldo and Father exchanged. “She warned me.”

Aldo huffed heavily. Father took a step back.

I don’t understand why he can’t just trust me with this. Time elapsed slower than usual as I processed his words more fully.

Oh my god, she is the assassin.

Chapter 24

KENNA

Laney was sick.

The estate was on lockdown to prepare for Edward Ravencroft’s funeral. It was finally happening. Tomorrow morning. And she was ignoring me tucked in her bedroom, door locked. I tried.

Laney would be in attendance. As would her father.

Poised in the front row of the church, or inside the first car of the procession on some make believe throne that they deluded themselves into thinking they deserved, with authority they had no right to. But most of all, pretending that things weren’t falling apart behind the scenes. It was fake.

Discontent was brewing amongst the staff, rumours about Forrester’s disappearance were rife and with Novelli out the game, the Ravencroft Estate was poised for revolt. Sorren had given me a wink across the courtyard this morning, but I turned away.

I was the catalyst for revenge, but I’m only now realising that Sorren was the impetus for revolution.

After all this, I could only hope for resolution. The Karstein’s revenge plan has been in the works ever since we burned, but it was at St. James's where the obsession began for me.

Tasked with surveilling the princess granddaughter of Edward Ravencroft, I first laid eyes on Laney, pulling down her sleeves and keeping her head down as she walked from class to class. I thought she was cute, but maladroit.

I took my time confirming her identity to my parents. The scars on my back are a result of my tardiness. Many thanks to my dad. I didn’t think I’d be here again. More obsessed with her than ever, it was the opposite of what I wanted. What I needed.

I came to her long after nightfall like a phantom in the shadows. It was the only way to be incognito in a house like this. To my surprise, I found her door unlocked.