Page 26

Barbara

“T omorrow?” I repeated after him, my head spinning from my orgasm and his unexpected question.

“Yeah,” he said, propping his head up as he lay on his side next to me. “You’ll have to accompany me, of course, because I’m never letting you out of my sight, mind manipulator or not. But I can get you packed and then move everything, you’ll just tell me what to take and where to put it when we’re at my place.”

He grimaced, rubbing his forehead. “No, wait. I’ll have to make space for you first. Do you want to redecorate? I’ll let you redo the kitchen and the living room.”

“I haven’t even seen it yet,” I said, exasperated and overjoyed at the same time. “It’s not a no, but can we slow down? I mean, I want to be with you. I just have a lot to process right now. Decisions to make, like… what to do with my life now that I can actually choose for myself.”

He leaned in to nuzzle my cheek, his fingers gliding down my spine.

“Okay. Take your time. Is three days enough? Because I can’t wait to fuck you in my bed, and even though it pains me to say it, I really want to see all your pink shit littering my bathroom.”

I giggled, pressing closer until our legs tangled together. He thrust into my belly, his cock half-hard, and I sighed, dropping a kiss on the warm, dark gray skin of his throat.

“We’ll see. Not long, though. I suppose I’ll have to talk to my mother. I’ll do it today, and then we can figure out what to do next.”

I smiled, my chest filling with happiness. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact I would be free. Free to be with whoever I wanted, free to pursue a career I chose—maybe I could even go to college. Or get a cat. And I would be able to eat what I wanted, and sleep in on the weekends, and read what I chose, and maybe get another tattoo, and drink alcohol, and…

“I love it when you smile like this,” he murmured, pressing my knuckles to his mouth. “I’ll make you smile every day.”

I kissed him with a happy sigh, feeling that my life, which had seemed like a complete trainwreck just a few days ago, couldn’t be more perfect now.

After breakfast, when Scarab set out to do his rounds around the property, I called my mother on the phone to check whether she was in the office. I vibrated with the need to tell her I was moving out and going to live with my bodyguard. I knew she’d be angry, but I almost didn’t care. Soon, I would be free.

“I was just about to call you,” she said coldly. “Will you come to your father’s study, please?”

I agreed at once, thinking it was fortuitous that she was still home. The house was so big, our entire family could stay in and go about our day, not passing each other once.

Now that I had this freedom to discern what I liked and not, I decided I hated it. Living in an apartment would be a thousand times better. I’d always know whether Scarab was around. I’d never be lonely again.

I knocked on the study door and slid in, taking in the masculine room furnished in heavy wood with black upholstery. My mother presided behind Father’s enormous desk that stood on carved clawed feet in the middle of a burgundy carpet.

“You’re here,” she said, giving me a tired look. “Sit with me.”

She patted the seat of a stool next to her leather desk chair. I came over, hesitating because of the weird setup. If she wanted to talk, why not sit on the sofa?

As soon as I saw what was on the wide screen of Father’s computer, I knew. My mother didn’t let me ask questions, just hit play.

I saw a black and white but very crisp recording from last night. It showed Scarab carrying me on his shoulder and touching me intimately on the way to my room, our lewd conversation coming through the speakers. My face flamed, because I’d never even realized there were cameras in the house, and the fact my mother saw and heard this made me cringe with shame.

But then, what difference did it make? I was about to tell her I was moving in with him.

“Are there hidden cameras anywhere else?” I asked, pleasantly surprised by how cool my voice sounded.

“No,” she said, pausing the video. “Only in the corridors and on the stairs. We had a problem with the servants once, which was why these were installed. Explain yourself.”

I stared at her bitter, unfriendly face, and it struck me how old she looked. My mother, who was always impeccably dressed and made up, had eyeshadow rolling in the wrinkles around her eyes. A weak surge of guilt made me tense, but then, I hadn’t done anything wrong. It was her who failed me as a mother.

“I’m in love and I’m moving out to be with him,” I said simply, raising my chin.

Her face was impassive as she studied me. I clenched my jaw when I felt like my lip wanted to wobble under the weight of her judgmental gaze. Any moment now, she’d tell me how stupid I was, how na?ve, how unable to choose the right thing. She’d insult Scarab and call him horrible names.

I waited with bated breath, but my mother did none of the things I expected. Instead, she slumped back in her chair, massaging the space between her eyebrows. Finally she looked at me, almost sadly.

“No, you are not.”

I bristled. “Yeah? And what will you do? Have me committed? He won’t let you do it! He loves me and he’ll save me, and I don’t care what else you threaten me with, but it won’t work!”

She nodded once, sighing heavily. “You’re so young, Barbara. Well, listen to what I have to tell you and then make up your mind.”

I wanted to walk out of there and slam the door in a fit. But my mother seemed so exhausted and defeated, the guilt I was conditioned to feel every time I disappointed her glued me to my chair. I could at least hear her out. There was nothing she could say that would change my mind, I was sure.

“The mind manipulator who attacked you was sent by Ernest Landizza,” my mother revealed in a tired voice, making me sit up with a shiver. “He wanted to show us how easy it is for a person with his influence to destroy your father’s career. After the video came out, he contacted us with his demands. Your father agreed to work on the bill Landizza wants passed.”

I held up a hand, my thoughts swirling with the information. Not only was this a shock, but the implications of what my mother just said were difficult to grasp.

“You knew?” I asked, my voice rising in outrage. “You knew about it all and you still blamed me? And now you want me to marry his son? They tried to kill me!”

She rolled her eyes in annoyance. “He wasn’t trying to kill you, just make it look like it. You would have fallen safely, maybe broken your arm at the most. And your father’s name would have been cleared.”

I shook my head, unable to comprehend the logic behind that. My mother knew I was going to be attacked? She agreed for them to make me fall off the balcony and break my arm ? Not to mention the risk of me dying if something went wrong…

As I stared at her, shocked into speechlessness, she sat back with a pleased huff. She probably thought I was subdued by the revelation.

“After the video surfaced and your father agreed to Ernest’s demands, he sent the mind manipulator to fake the attack on you. However, he didn’t allow the information about it to surface until he was sure your father wouldn’t go back on his word. We tried to get it publicized, but Landizza is incredibly influential. He shot down all our attempts and made it clear any news coverage that came out would need his go ahead. Your father was impressed with the man’s power. They spent a lot of time talking. You came up.”

Her face soured in an accusatory look. “You know, Barbara, if you tried a bit harder to be the woman you’re supposed to be, you wouldn’t have attracted filth like the Landizzas and that horrible bodyguard of yours. Like calls to like, daughter. You should have known better, but it’s too late now.”

“I came up… how?” I asked, my voice so hoarse, it was barely a whisper.

She laughed nastily. “Well, Landizza mentioned his youngest son was interested in meeting you, but all his attempts at scheduling a meeting were shot down by your team, very rightly, of course. So Ernest added it to his list of demands. You will marry Adonis.”

I shook my head. This was outrageous, all of it, but the thing that hurt me the most was that both my parents had so obviously sacrificed me for their own ends.

“I don’t understand,” I shook my head. “Why didn’t you fight? Father is influential, too. He could have at least tried!”

“Oh, we tried,” she said, waving her hand dismissively. “I got you your bodyguard, didn’t I? We called in favors, offered Ernest other things… But the Landizzas have no class. They can’t negotiate like well-bred people. It was either their way or no way.”

I hid my face in my hands, trying to put it all together while my mother sighed, clicking away at the keyboard. So what happened was, Ernest Landizza sent the mind manipulator to record a video of me slamming my father. After he secured my father’s cooperation, he sent the manipulator again to attack me, and the viciousness of the attack was supposed to prove that our family were the victims of terrorists.

Though, it all depended on how it was spun in the media. Ernest Ladnizza owned most of the news stations that mattered and a bulk of online information centers, plus a popular social media platform. If he wanted a story told a certain way, he got it done.

Now I understood why the video went viral so fast. He did it on purpose to show my father his power.

And after they made me fall from the balcony, they left me alone, since Landizza secured my father’s help. The attack was publicized just before the gala, our good name cleared, and… And I was introduced to Adonis, who wanted to marry me—on a whim, most likely. He probably felt humiliated after he was rejected by my team.

“Okay,” I said, sitting up with a deep breath. “But this changes nothing. I still won’t marry him. I’m done living my life around my father’s career. Neither you nor him really care about me, so I will stop caring about you, too.”

“I thought you might say that, you little ingrate,” my mother said with a grim smile. “So take a look at this.”

I flinched when I saw the screen. It showed a paused video of an abomination man wearing jeans and a leather jacket, three human men holding chains surrounding him. It was shot from above, likely by someone recording from a second floor window.

“Is this… Phantom?” I asked, my throat convulsing.

He wore different clothes just this morning, but he could have changed. I had no idea when this was taken. I hadn’t seen him in over an hour, so it was possible this was him. The camera was too far away for me to see the abomination’s face properly.

My mother snorted with disdain, ignoring my question. She hit play.

The three men circled the abomination slowly, swinging their chains. He watched them, standing on bent knees, ready to move. They attacked together. He dodged one chain, rolled away from the other, and kicked one of the men. His movements were fast and sure, but the humans had the advantage of the chains, keeping their distance while they attacked. He seemed to have no weapons.

It’s not him. He always carries a grenade! I tried to convince myself as my heart beat faster and faster.

One of the attackers managed to get his chain around the abomination’s arm. Another got him from behind, winding his chain around the abomination’s neck, but that was fine. I knew that neck was armored. He wouldn’t suffocate.

And yet, those chains were enough to restrain him, just for a moment.

The third man had a gun. He brought it fast to the abomination’s eye and shot. I screamed.

The recording ended, and I turned to my mother, shaking. My knuckles were in my mouth, and I was breathing too fast, wheezing from fear and shock.

“Relax,” she said with a snort, unmoved by my distress. “It’s not your guy.”

I shook my head as bile rose in my throat. If I could have spoken without fear of vomiting, I would have told her she was sick. How was I supposed to relax? I just saw a real person murdered!

It was a monster snuff video, just like the ones Scarab told me about. I didn’t understand why my mother had it and why she showed it to me, until she spoke again.

“Those three men with chains are professional abomination hunters,” she said softly, almost with pity. “They are Russians, and it so happens, they are in the US currently. I hired them.”

“What?” I looked up, shock and nausea burning in my throat.

“Last night,” she said, a victorious smile spreading her lips when she saw how affected I was. “After I saw the footage of him taking advantage of you.”

God. I had to find Scarab right now and warn him. He might be lethal and hung with weapons, but if they were professionals, they could still hurt him. It was shocking how easily they had killed the abomination man in the video. If they got Scarab… If they shot him through the eye…

“Sit!” my mother screamed when I lurched to my feet. “Listen to me or I’ll give them the go ahead to end him right now!”

I sat down slowly, watching her without blinking. This couldn’t have been my mother. Clarissa Ashford was selfish and cruel, but this unfeeling, callous person was so much worse. She was a monster.

“Good,” she said through clenched teeth. “They are nearby, waiting for my call. But he doesn’t have to die, Barbara. You can save him.”

I didn’t move or speak, waiting for the inevitable. I didn’t know what was coming, and yet I did, too. It was like a horrible premonition that hung heavy in my chest but couldn’t be translated into words.

“You will make him leave. You will be thorough and do a good job. If he suspects anything and sniffs around, the hunters will eliminate him. Do you understand?”

I nodded once, hot tears sliding down my face.

“After that, you will accept Adonis’s courtship and marry him in two weeks. The invitations are being printed as we speak. If you do anything contrarian during that time or at the wedding, the hunters will find Phantom and eliminate him. Do you have any questions?”

“If… If I do it all,” I began, hating how tremulous I sounded. “You will send them away after the wedding? He will be safe?”

She nodded, shooting me a distasteful look.

“Oh, Barbara. If you had only been so loyal to your parents and not to a filthy monster. Don’t look at me like that. It’s all your fault. If you were a good daughter, I wouldn’t have had to do any of it.”

I hiccupped as my heart heaved with pain at what I had to do. To think that only last night, I said I loved him, and he was so happy. And now… I had to break him.

But even broken, he would at least be alive. I took a deep breath, looking at my mother with all the hate I felt for her. Unlike her, I knew exactly who was to blame for it all.

She rolled her eyes while a victorious smirk played on her lips.

“Well, go on. You have one hour to make him leave.”