Page 14

Chapter Fourteen

Vivian

By the time I walk out of the meeting the sun is setting and my mind is reeling with all the new information I have gathered. The fact they even offered me a scholarship in computer science under the guidance of Saint and Crue’s wife Katie has blown my mind. I can start next year and I am beyond fucking excited for the first time in a year, I can see the light at the end of a really dark tunnel. My car is idling at the curb so I slip into the back seat. My guards packed up my bags for me so I wouldn’t have to return to the dorms and risk bumping into one of the guys.

I spend the long drive home catching up on emails and returning calls, the Saints are clearly happy with the opening of Lividica. Tate sent me an email updating me on the profits we have made since opening night and I can admit the figure has far exceeded my expectations. I’m considering opening a few more clubs just like it around the country. I open my next email and still, then pull my phone out and dial David.

“Lordess,” he answers on the second ring.

“Why am I looking at an email from the warden of Alexander Denver’s prison?”

“I don’t know.” He answers.

“I need you to do some digging, he could be the one behind the letters and the packages?—”

“It was another head,” he blurts out. I gasp and try to remain conscious as I breathe through the nausea.

“W-who was it?” I stutter.

“I think it would be better to discuss this when you get back?—”

“Who the fuck was it, David!” I scream.

“Kelly Valerian.” A sob tears out of me. I end the call and nearly drop my phone twice as I dial Nova. My heart is in my throat as I wait for her to answer, it rings for so long I begin to think she isn’t going to answer but then she does.

“Vivian.” It’s not Nova, it’s my brother and he sounds murderous.

“Vox, I have to tell you something.”

“Vi, I am going to ask you this once and I’m not fucking around. Do you know who took Nova’s mother?”

Tears spill down my cheeks. “No,” I whisper.

“But you know something?” he pushes.

“Hmmm,” I mutter.

“Vi, my girl is breaking apart hunting for her mom. Olivia and mom called her after I dropped you off and we flew back to Washington to find her house trashed and her missing. Ezekiel, Hayze and Archer are on their way here to help us track down the fucker and bring Kelly home so?—”

“She’s dead.” My declaration is met with silence. I pull my phone away from my ear to check the call didn’t get disconnected.

“Hold on,” he grits out then I hear movement and a door closing before he speaks again. “Lock down those emotions Vivian and tell me how you know.”

I inhale and swipe my tears away and lock my pain away as I compose myself. “A package was delivered to me this morning, David just let me know that the box contained Kelly Valerian’s head.”

“Fuccccckk!” he roars. I can picture him ripping at his hair and pacing as he tries to think about his next move. “Why you?”

“What?”

“Why the fuck would you be sent her head?” I can feel his anger through the phone and my heart aches for him, I know this loss is going to shatter Nova. She went through hell trying to get her mom back when Thomas held her captive and now this.

“I don’t know, Vox, but I plan to find out,” I vow.

“How the fuck do I tell her, Vi?” he asks brokenly. Vox has always been my pillar of strength, he was my rock growing up and always protected me as best he could and it seems now is the time to repay him.

“You hold her through this. You make sure she knows she always has you by her side and she isn’t alone in this. I know you don’t like it, but you need to let Ezekiel comfort her as well. He is her only family left. She knows Olivia is there but its Ezekiel she will cling to and you need to let her.”

“I can’t break her heart.”

“I’m so sorry, Vox.” I mean it, I wish there was another way for this to play out. “What do you need from me?”

“Remove the banishment, Vivian. She is going to want blood and I won’t deny her.”

“A favor asked is a debt owed,” I volley back.

“Grant me this favor sister and the Filthy Few will be in your debt.”

“I’ll see what I can do but in the meantime, all I can offer is a ceasefire until the culprit is caught. I’ll have The Brotherhood track down who the fuck is behind this, you have my word.”

“Vivian?”

“Yeah?”

“Tomorrow, when I call you make sure you answer my fucking call because I know you are keeping shit from me and I want answers, real answers.”

My lungs deflate. “I can’t promise you anything. Tell Nova I’m sorry.” Then I end the call. My hand itches to call my own mom and tell her I love her, but I can’t put her at risk. Whoever is behind this is clearly watching me and I have already put my brother and the guys in danger by being around them while I was at CHU. I get so lost in my own thoughts, I don’t realize we have arrived at my house until the driver opens the door for me. I gather my purse and climb out, then stare at my large home.

It’s stunning and everything I thought I would ever want in a home, but what I didn’t bank on was how lonely it would feel to live here on my own. There is no warmth inside its walls. I don’t have friends, so other than David and the guards, no one ever visits me. I suck in a large breath, then stalk inside. I lock down all my emotions and head into the dining room where I can hear voices.

“I want men stationed around the house, someone is targeting the lordess and our main focus is her safety. Am I clear?” David’s devotion to my wellbeing means a lot, he has been a rock for me through this whole thing. When I enter the room, everyone turns to me. I nod hello and David quickly dismisses them but the second I spot the pink cardboard box at the end of the table, I stop breathing. I can see that blood has seeped through it. I move toward it on shaky legs, noticing a pink ribbon on the floor near it. This sick fuck wrapped up the head of my best friend’s mom like it was a fucking gift!

I reach out to push the lid off but David grips my wrist. “I need to see,” I say quietly.

“Lordess, it’s not a sight you want to see. It will haunt you.” I turn to David and whatever he sees in my eyes has him sighing and dropping his hold on my wrist. “As you wish,” he says, then steps back. I gather all my courage and push the lid off the box. The sight instantly robs me of air and I start hyperventilating. Kelly’s head sits there, perched on a bed of roses, her skin pale white with a strange purple hue to it. The smell is overwhelming. I fight not to gag. When I look into her eyes, tears cascade down my cheeks. The look of utter fear in her soulless eyes will be what keeps me awake at night.

“Where are the letters?”

“I placed them on your desk,” David answers.

“Get the men to take Kelly to the morgue and preserve her as best they can until I decide what to do with her.” I leave the room and swipe away my tears, now is not the time for me to break and give into my girlish emotions. I’m the fucking leader of a brotherhood filled with ruthless men and they can’t see me as weak. I find the two sealed letters on my desk. I drop my purse to the floor, then sit down behind my desk. I stare at the letters for so long my vision turns hazy. “Woman up, Vivian!” I chastise myself.

I reach for the first letter and tear it open.

Masks may hide the truth.

They may keep you hidden but I see beneath yours.

Oh, what a sight it is.

You tried to steal from me and for that you will be taught a lesson.

You shouldn’t have left because now you left them all behind.

I hope you enjoy my gift, he shouldn’t have tried to rise against me then he would have lived.

What the fuck?

I read over the letter again trying to make sense of his cryptic words but I come up blank. Clearly he is talking about the DA but what did Clive Bruce know that I didn’t? I reach for the next one and tear it open, not giving myself a chance to back out.

Roses are red, my demons are fed.

Violets are blue, so just let this stew.

Wonder is a privilege that she will see, for treachery is dead.

In her eyes I saw the red, the haze of fear kept the demons fed.

Oh, what a sight it was to see her begging and pleading.

Keep me waiting and you shall see, you are fond of riddles now let us see.

Come find me and this will end.

Watch who you trust, for they are my men.

His fucking poem sends a shiver of fear down my spine and I suddenly feel cold to the bone. This sick fuck is loving killing and butchering the people—wait, butchering!

Alexander Denver!

I reach into my purse and pull my laptop out. I click on the email from the warden and agree to be added to his visitor list. If this sick cunt thinks I am scared of him, then he will learn really fast that I am not someone who can be intimidated. I won’t allow him to hurt another person. I didn’t know Clive well but his blood is still on my hands.

“Lordess?” I look up from the letters and motion David in.

“What is it?”

“Word has spread about the DA’s murder, The Brotherhood wants answers.”

I grit my teeth. “They will have answers as soon as I get them,” I snap.

“With the Night Of The Saints fast approaching, I fear we will need to appease them and keep them on our side.”

“I need the banishment lifted from my brother and the others.” His eyes widen and an emotion I can’t read flickers through his eyes, but it vanishes just as quickly as it appeared.

“You can’t lift a banishment, once it is decreed there is no going back. It’s a life sentence.”

Fuck!

“Okay, I need to make a call,” I say, dismissing him. Once he closes the door behind him, I dial Vox’s number and he answers on the third ring.

“Yeah?”

“I can’t lift the banishment, if you return to Hollow Hills you have to return as your alter ego.” I cringe when I hear Nova gut wrenching screams in the background.

“Okay. We’ll be there tomorrow, I have to go.” He ends the call and I feel like a piece of shit, my best friend is breaking apart and here I am still trying to play catch up with the cunt that killed her mother. Tomorrow I will look Kelly’s killer in the eye and make sure he knows his days are numbered. Being the lordess means I have the power and connections to have someone taken out, even if they are rotting in a fucking prison!