Page 116 of Thorns of Blood

“You married that bitch,” she hissed, glaring at me. She acted so high and mighty, as if she almost reached the heavens and God himself. They would send her straight to hell, but the fact that the woman thought she deserved it all blew my mind. “After everything I’ve done to secure your position, you married her. Out of all the women in this fucking world, why her?”

“Because I love her.” Her spine jerked upright. “Because she’s my other half. Strong. Independent. Kind-hearted. So fucking different from you.”

Another slap. “Insolent! Your father must be rolling in his grave.”

I met my mother’s malicious gaze with my own.

“Which father?” I asked incredulously, my lips curving cruelly. “The one I never met or the one who raised me? Considering your track record, I’m afraid you’re gonna have to be a bit more specific.”

“You… you… ungrateful little bastard.”

“You got that right. I am a bastard,” I scoffed. “Now what the fuck is your plan? Kill me and take over the Tijuana Cartel?”

She threw her head back and started to cackle like some crazed, deranged psychopath. She laughed and laughed, the sound bouncing against the walls.

“No, my son,” she snickered. “You’re the bait.”

It hit me then.

“Liana. You want my wife.” It was my turn to laugh, staring her down mockingly. “She won’t come.” But when I freed my wrists, I would snap her frail neck in half. “You fucked up, Mother.”

Her complexion turned crimson, and I could practically see steam coming out of her ears.

“Oh, but she will. I told her to come alone or I’m ending everything and everyone dear to her heart.”

I scoffed. “She won’t come.”

“You’re lying.”

I shrugged. “Suit yourself, but if you would have done your homework, you would have learned that Lia isn’t even in Boston. She left me yesterday.”

“That Russian whore left you?” she scoffed, pacing around like a feral animal in heels. “How fucking dare she? You’re too good for her.”

“No, she’s too good for me,” I corrected her, locking my calculative gaze on her while continuing to work on my bindings. “Especially considering what you’ve done to her.”

She stilled, the click of her heels ceasing. “Everything I did was for you.”

I couldn’t believe the woman was so delusional to actually believe her own words. But she’d learn soon enough that she fucked up, because we both knew she was a selfish bitch. She always had been and always would be.

I wanted to kick myself for not ending her ages ago, back when I learned of how she betrayed the man who raised me as his own. I should have known then that my mother’s hunger for power wouldn’t end at having a son in line to rule the Tijuana Cartel.

“You’re delusional,” I told her as she approached me. “It’s not a good look for a woman your age.”

I struck a nerve this time. I could see it in her eyes.

“You think she’s all that, but that girl is a whore.” She leaned forward so that her face was level with mine. “She was going to eliminate your claim to the cartel. I stopped it.Me. Your mother.”

I spit in her malicious face. “You killed an innocent baby, you narcissistic bitch. If you think I ever wanted that, you’re delusional.”

She closed her eyes, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand, then slapped me, my muscles tightening against my bindings. A growl vibrated in my chest, the sound almost animalistic in the silence of the room, and my bindings finally gave out.

I was about to wring her neck when one of her men said, “The woman’s here.”

The door opened to reveal Lia standing on the other side. My brothers each had an arm as though restraining her, and Icould hardly recognize her in the jeans and simple black T-shirt that saidBite me.So different from the put-together woman I thought I knew better than myself.

I didn’t have time to ponder her outfit because a rage unlike anything I had ever experienced shot through me at my brothers’ betrayal. I glared at Cristiano and Romeo, wordlessly telling them they were dead.

Had I been blind when it came to my brothers too? Were they just placating me over the past few weeks while they plotted against me? I knew we weren’t always on the same page, but for them to betray me in the worst way possible was unforgivable.