Page 54 of Vicious Kingdom (Dynasty of Queens #3)

D eath was an exquisite performance art. The black-clad mourners moved like shadow puppets against the church’s amphitheater backdrop, their grief a choreographed dance of handkerchiefs and hushed condolences. Death also had a way of revealing what a person truly was, once they no longer are.

I stood motionless at the front row of stadium seating, dry-eyed as the pastor celebrated the life of my father.

The man speaking barely knew Alfred Hertz, yet here he was, painting him as a pillar of the community, a devoted family man, a shining example of entrepreneurial spirit and moral fortitude.

“Alfred gave generously to those in need,” the pastor intoned, his voice echoing through the cavernous room.

The guitarist played softly in the background, an upbeat undertone that made the sorrowful eulogy seem brighter.

“His legacy will live on through his charitable works and, of course, through his beloved family.”

Leo’s hand tightened around mine. Thank the gods above and devils below that he was here. There was no way I would get through this charade without his glowering presence. He scared off the majority of curious onlookers and braced me to face those more bold.

“I can’t stand it any longer,” I whispered into his ear. “I have to use the bathroom so badly!”

His lip twitched, but he gave me a nod.

I made to move, but my mother shot out her hand. “You can’t leave.”

“I’ll be right back!” I hissed, avoiding her grip.

She glared at me, not disguising her anger and disappointment.

Scooting past my mother, who was wild with grief that her part in this play demanded, I hurried up the center aisle, keeping my face bent so no one saw that I wasn’t crying.

I couldn’t muster a single tear for the man who sired me.

For myself? For my lost youth, and the future where Dad wouldn’t see me shine? That I wept buckets for in the privacy of my room, despite Penelope and her tequila shots.

Today, I felt nothing. Not the expected grief, not even anger that had been my constant companion growing up. Just…nothing. A vast emptiness where emotion should be.

“That isn’t true,” I muttered to the stall door.

Bunching toilet tissue in my hand, I reexamined my mind. I felt…happiness.

It was wrong to admit it. But so what? I was safe. I had a man who adored me, a glittering career, and a new family who embraced me.

Flushing, I emerged to wash my hands.

And came face to face with the Tormentor.

There was nowhere to back up, nowhere to hide. He’d surprised me, and I hadn’t even heard the door open.

“Go away,” I warned.

“Don’t you see, Pookie, you can be mine now! Your father won’t object,” he hissed.

Like the damn serpent he was.

“My mother will never approve of you—and I doubt your father will let you take me,” I countered, striking his ego with my words.

“Then I’ll kill them too.”

Wrath, terrible and consuming, boiled through me. “That was you. You robbed me of the chance to make my father proud!”

His putrid eyes narrowed. “He was never going to see you, Pookie. I was the only one who saw what a cute little cub you are.”

I struck, my fist colliding with his windpipe. Accurate and precise, the punch carried the full weight of my fury.

The Tormentor stumbled back, coughing and wheezing. “You’ll pay for that!”

Before he could lunge, the door banged open.

If I had written the scene, I would have framed Leo in a bright light, golden hues shimmering around him.

But he wasn’t the knight on the fiery horse.

He was an agent of darkness, shadows glittering in his obsidian eyes.

“You know….” He stepped inside and locked the main door. “You didn’t think I was watching. That I noticed.”

The Tormentor scrambled backward.

“That was Mr. Hertz’s fatal flaw, the loophole you operated too long under.” Leo took a calculated step forward.

“If you kill me, everyone will figure it out,” the Tormentor threatened.

“Plus! I have stories. Videos! Pictures. They’ll flood the internet.

My laptop is set with a timer, and it will explode.

There will be so much scandal surrounding her—” he jabbed a finger “—that she’ll never be able to show her face in public again. ”

I gulped. It would never be over. This bastard would haunt me from the grave!

“So?” Leo stepped again. “I’m not a weak man, Jonatan, and you hurt my wife.”

Leo pounced.

The Tormentor lunged at Leo, his desperate hands clawing at my husband’s face. Leo caught his wrists with practiced ease, twisting until the bones creaked beneath his grip. The Tormentor kicked wildly, landing a glancing blow to Leo’s shin that did nothing to slow his advance.

I moved to help, but Leo said calmly, “Stay back, Annaliese.”

“You don’t understand,” the Tormentor gasped, spittle flying from his mouth. “She’s always been mine!”

Leo’s expression never changed—no rage, no satisfaction, just cold calculation as he slammed the Tormentor against the bathroom wall. Porcelain tiles cracked under the impact. His head bounced off the surface with a sickening thud, but he still thrashed like a fish on a hook.

I stood frozen, watching as Leo’s hands moved with terrifying precision. One palm pressed against the Tormentor’s chest while the other cupped the back of his head.

“No, she’s mine.”

A single, fluid motion—a savage twist—and my cousin went limp. His head lolled at an unnatural angle.

“Leonardo,” I breathed, air stinging my throat. “What have you done?”

“What should have been done long ago.” He rose and began to wash his hands. “Go back to the service, Anna. I’ll deal with this.”

My legs wouldn’t move. The weight of what I’d just witnessed anchored me to the bathroom floor like cement blocks. The Tormentor’s hideous body slumped against the wall, his dead eyes fixed on nothing.

“I can’t—” My voice cracked. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to stop the violent trembling that had overtaken my body.

Leo stepped toward me, his movements deliberate and calm, as if he hadn’t just snapped a man’s neck. His hands, now clean of any evidence, framed my face. Those dangerous fingers that had ended a life moments ago now caressed my skin with impossible gentleness.

“I’ve got you, Anna,” he murmured, his breath warm against my forehead. He kissed me gently. “Trust me.”

“I do.” I did.

I should have been terrified of him. I should have run screaming from this bathroom, from the nightmarish horror, but it was like the heavens burst open and the sweetest relief sank into my bones.

It was over.

So simple. So finite. Leo didn’t think less of me, and now, I was free.

Fueled by that strength, I retreated to the amphitheater where my uncle was taking the stage. He stood behind the podium, cleared his throat, and began to wax on about my father’s many fine qualities.

I sank into the seat beside my mother, who had daggers in her eyes. I was just attacked—and by the grace of heaven saved!—and she only cared what people would say about my getting up mid-service.

Leaning back, I smiled.

My husband was back not five minutes later. He laced his fingers through mine, and we sat together while my uncle droned on about his brother.

“I can try to find his laptop,” I offered.

That was the final ghost of torment, the last specter of suffering.

The one necessity to ensure my future was golden and unmarred by the years of suffering, by my father’s lack of influence, by family who didn’t get me and would never let me be.

Now that I knew the source of that threat, I could banish it from my life.

This was liberation on waves of deceit. It brought me the breathless freedom I’d been craving since I could remember, since my eyes first opened to the foreign planet of my childhood.

I squeezed Leo’s fingers hard. He squeezed back.

“You said you trusted me,” he murmured, his voice steady and certain. “Prove it. Let the scandal fly and watch me weather the lies. Trust me, Anna.”

I shifted uneasily, glancing around the room.

The Tormentor’s threat echoed through my mind.

Another layer to his cruelty, and society would eat it up.

Too many faces were there, faces that would twist in disgust. They would believe my cousin’s rumors, would point and mock me behind my back and whisper in the darker corners of their minds.

Whispers that would bring my marriage shame.

It threatened to eat me alive to think about what would be said.

But Leo was strong.

He was fierce and devoted.

That I believed with every fiber of my being.

“I—I trust you,” I stammered. Did I? I questioned my strength as I said it. Questioned my own ability to face the morbid music.

Leo gave me a blistering smile, a smile that burned like the sun.

My gut tightened with worry. I was asking the impossible to have him shelter me through the oncoming chaos.

Asking more than I’d ever imagined possible, more than I’d thought I could ask for when I first met him.

But I had to believe the man squeezing my hand could take it.

Could weather any storm at my side. Like a lighthouse rising tall and bright against the crashing of brutal waves, like an immovable force of nature.

That was why I chose him.

My mother leaned over and poked my thigh. “You are behaving in the most undignified fashion—”

I slapped her hand. “Touch me again, and you’ll be sorry,” I snapped.

She sucked in a sharp breath, eyes wide as if seeing me for the first time. “Ungrateful child—”

“Leave my wife the fuck alone,” Leo growled, loud enough that the spectators behind us shuffled forward to catch the juicy gossip.

Mom sat back, fuming.

Uncle Jon returned to our row, looking about curiously. I couldn’t bring myself to feel bad for him. He should have known what manner of creature his son was.

As the rock band played a final song, chatter erupted in the back. The notes continued, and the worship leader sang, but the majority of society was fast losing attention.

Janet Cummbers shot from her seat and rushed to the front, leaning over the rail to hug me.

“Brace yourself, my dear!” she howled. “Another tragedy has struck your family.”

Caught in a cloying web of Chanel No. 5, I hugged her back. “What’s happened?”

“Your cousin Jonatan leapt from the roof and has broken his neck.”

I hid my delirious smile against her shoulder. Hearing her say it, reality sunk in—I was free.