Page 25 of Die for You (Kiss or Kill #2)

“Well, that’s not entirely true,” I rebuke. “You betrayed your brother.”

Gianna watches her plan unfold with a smile on her face.

“I made a mistake!” Lewis says, his panic rising. “Lenny wants me to be him! But all I see is disappointment when he looks at me. I’m nothing but a failure in his eyes.”

All I hear are excuses. Lewis is weak and nothing like his brother.

To think Lenny sacrificed so much for him makes pointing a gun at him easy. But I know Lenny doesn’t want him dead.

Gianna, however, does. “I know you like it messy,” she says, placing a large hunting knife on the altar.

The silver blade catches the flickering candlelight.

Lewis screams and runs for the door.

This is a test I can’t fail. It’s either me or him.

I fail, and Lettie suffers.

I am Gianna’s perfect killing machine because I’ll do anything to save my daughter.

Reaching for the knife, I throw it with precision. It embeds into Lewis’s back between his shoulder blades. He drops to the floor.

Gianna arches a brow, indicating we’re not done.

I switch off any emotion and walk to where Lewis crawls toward the door. It’s merely a flesh wound, but he’s weak because of the shit he injects daily into his body to survive.

I yank out the blade from his back and use my foot to turn him over. Tears stream down his cheeks as he begs me to stop.

But I can’t.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper before straddling him and stabbing him in the chest and throat. I stab him over and over again, and end up covered in his blood.

The blade is slippery, and I cut my own hand during stab twenty-two.

I hit bones, arteries, and organs.

He coughs up blood, his eyes pleading I show mercy. I can’t stand the look he gives me, so I stab him in the eyeballs. The only mercy I can show him is when I grip him by the hair and run my blade across his throat.

Blood oozes from the incision, bleeding out Lewis’s life, and with one final breath, he perishes by my hand.

He collapses onto the hard floor with a heavy thud.

My hands tremble as I come to a slow stand.

What a mess I have made. What a mess indeed.

Usually, this kind of scene would leave me wired for days. But now, I want to be sick looking at my handiwork. I took an innocent man’s life. Regardless of his weakness, he didn’t deserve this fate. I killed Lettie’s uncle.

I killed family.

I have done some awful things in my life, but this is unforgivable.

“I had my doubts, Valentina. But you’ve proved me wrong. There’s one last thing I need you to do.”

Of course there is because nothing is ever enough for Gianna.

“Bring me Bria and do to her what you just did to Lewis, and only then will I believe you. You forget, I raised you, piccola . You are shrewd and cunning because I taught you well. Sweet dreams.”

She leaves me alone with the mess I made, knowing this is just the start of things to come.

I barely sleep.

Being in my old “room” doesn’t bring back happy memories. It just fortifies my hatred for Gianna.

Lewis’s blood is still under my fingernails, no matter how hard I scrubbed.

How am I going to tell Lenny what I did?

I shower and dress in an outfit that Gianna left out for me, which reminds me that I left my things at Lenny’s.

I don’t know what comes next.

I’ve done as Lenny said. But the jury is still out on whether Gianna believes me.

Once dressed, I hear the joyous laughter of children from the dining hall. I decide to go check it out. When I enter, the smell of greasy breakfast turns my stomach.

Sisters peer up at me, but don’t say anything as they tend to the children.

Kids of all ages sit at the tables, poking their food and laughing with friends. Not much eating is occurring, not that I can blame them. I wouldn’t feed this slop to a dog.

I look at the table I was sitting at when I drove my spoon into Hugo’s eyeball. It was a proud moment for me. I finally stood up to the bully. And Lenny took the blame for it.

He’s been my savior since the very beginning.

I notice a young girl with messy blonde pigtails sitting at a table at the back of the room. She clutches a rag doll close to her chest, her wide eyes taking everything in. She looks about eight years old.

My heart bleeds for her because with her tattered clothes and eyes too big for her emaciated face, I can’t help but see me in her.

I grab a glass of milk and an apple from the breakfast selection and walk to where she sits by herself. The moment she sees me approaching, she shrinks in on herself, wishing to disappear.

“Can I sit?” I ask with a gentle smile.

The girl won’t look at me, but she nods.

I put the glass of milk in front of her and casually cut the apple into quarters. “My name is Valentina. What’s your dolly’s name?”

The girl’s tiny fingers grip the doll tighter.

“Is her name…Sally?”

The girl shakes her head, her pigtails wobbling with the movement.

“Hmm, Gracie?”

Again, she shakes her head.

“I know,” I say, taking a bite of the apple. “Her name is Robert.”

The girl peers up at me and giggles. “Robert is a boy’s name.”

“It is?” I ask, faking shock. “Well, what’s your name, then?”

The girl looks at the apple, licking her lips in hunger.

“Would you like to share my apple with me?”

She nods.

I offer her a quarter.

She takes a small bite, which pleases me immensely to see her eating. “My name is Elena. And my dolly is just Dolly.”

“You know, I once had a cat called Cat.” I wonder if he’s still alive.

The girl’s eyes widen. “Really?”

“Yes, really.” I subtly push the plastic cup of milk toward her, hoping she’ll drink it.

“Everyone thinks I’m stupid for calling her Dolly. They say Dolly isn’t a name.”

“Dolly is a name. A very famous singer is called Dolly.” I begin to hum “9 to 5” by Dolly Parton. “So next time someone calls you stupid, you can correct them.”

She smiles happily, and with Dolly under one arm, she reaches for the cup of milk and drinks it.

Once she gulps it down in one mouthful, she wipes her lips with the back of her hand. “Will you read to me?”

“I would love that,” I reply with a smile.

Elena leads me to the library, her small hand in mine. We read her favorite fairy tales while she sits on my lap, listening intently.

The book is worn; the pages tattered and torn. The library hasn’t changed since I was here, which gives me an idea.

I kill bad men.

They have a lot of money.

Perhaps by giving to the disadvantaged, my conscience may lighten.

When I think of the sins I’ve committed behind these walls, I know my conscience will be tarnished forever.

“There you are.”

The moment I hear Gianna’s voice, the urge to protect Elena is overpowering.

“I’ll finish the story later. Okay?”

Elena nods, sensing the sudden shift in my demeanor. She quickly jumps off my lap and disappears before Gianna pokes her head around the corner.

I smile, attempting to act nonchalant.

Gianna’s red dress matches her devilish charm perfectly.

“I’ve made some calls. I hope to have news of your daughter very soon.”

My daughter is her granddaughter. The way she speaks so flippantly about her own kin angers me profusely.

“Have you given much thought to…Bria?”

Truth be told, I have.

I have no idea how I’m going to do this. It’s a choice I don’t wish for Lenny to make—his wife. Or his daughter.

But in the end, that’s what it comes down to.

I think of the state of the orphanage and wonder if perhaps I could kill two birds, so to speak.

“What if we threw a charity ball? Here, at the orphanage.”

Gianna hints that she’s listening. “We invite anyone who is anyone and raise money for the orphanage in the process. Lenny wouldn’t miss this for the world. And where Lenny goes, Bria goes. We have home ground advantage. We can’t go to them, so we make them come to us.”

“How did you know I was here?” she questions.

Thinking quick on my feet, I reply, “I traced the text messages you sent me. You taught me some very valuable life lessons, Gianna.”

She nods, thankfully believing my bullshit.

“I’ll have to be more careful in the future. But this is a good idea. We bring them to us. Lenny won’t start a war here, not with the lives of the children at stake. He knows he’ll lose. It’s only a matter of time.”

Vince’s warning plays over in my head. But I know better than to ask her what she has planned. This will merely rouse suspicion.

“Well, I do love a good party. And what better way to display my power to my peers than by taking down the enemy in a private yet public affair. I’ll find your daughter, I promise you that.”

I nod in what appears to be gratitude.

“It looks like I have a party to plan. In the meantime, I need to send a message to Lenny. He’s made a fool of me long enough.

“Drop the body of his brother on his doorstep.”

I cannot show emotion, but this is the most horrible thing to do. He was the one who said whatever she asks, I must do. But this will destroy Lenny.

However, what choice do I have?

“I’ll send one of my men with you,” Gianna says, a sure sign that she still doesn’t trust me.

I don’t want to do this, but what would Lenny expect of me in this circumstance?

He would expect that I do as Gianna says.

“Am I to make myself seen?”

Gianna smirks. “Oh, of course. You can do the honors in telling him that you are the one responsible for his brother’s death. An eye for an eye.” She snickers as if remembering a fond memory. “Well, that seems rather obsolete, seeing as Lewis has none.”

I can’t believe I once respected this woman.

What a fool I was.

“No time to waste, then.” I stand, wanting this to be over ASAP.

Gianna is happy with my enthusiasm to destroy Lenny. She sends a text to my minder, no doubt. “Danny will meet you around the back.”

I don’t ask any questions because I know better.

Walking through the orphanage on autopilot, I wonder if I should send a text to Lenny. It’s too risky. Gianna is the one who taught us never to assume no one is looking, because that’s usually when someone is.

I can’t help but see the irony that once again, I am a prisoner behind these walls.