Page 102 of Wrathful King

Reina let out a frustrated breath.

“If money was what you wanted or needed, all you had to do was ask and we would have given it to you.” Despite all the darkness she saw, my wife still believed in human goodness. She turned to my mother next and said, “It wasn’t my mother’s fault Papà no longer loved you. None of it was on her. And you destroyed her.” Reina’s chin trembled and I gripped her closer to me. “That day, at the shop, it was your words that pushed her to commit suicide.”

Maria threw her head back and cackled like a crazy witch, the strands of her hair flying wild.

“Well, I helped.”

“What?”

“I slipped a drug into her drink that made her docile and depressed, then convinced her it was for the best. It didn’t take much though, she was done with her life by that point.”

Reina lunged from the couch, grabbing Maria by her hair and shoving her onto the ground.

“You fucking bitch.” She slammed Maria’s head against the living room floor. Hiroshi and my mother just watched the entire scene, unfazed. “You’re sick, you psycho! You killed my mamma.”

Bang. Bang. Bang.The floor rattled each time she slammed Maria’s head into the ground.

Lots of wailing from Maria—that’s rich.

“Fuck your cooking and all the shit you’ve done. I should go after your family the way you went after mine.” Reina was choking out her words through broken sobs, but I knew she could handle this. This might actually be the best thing for her, to really unleash all her pent-up anger.

Maria attempted to claw at her face but Reina was quicker, snatching her hand and folding it backward. Her lessons with Darius certainly paid off. The loud crack sounded just as another scream tore from her.

Reina lifted her head, her feral smile that of a vengeful goddess. This was her moment, her revenge. And fuck, my queen was fearless.

Reina sat straddling her and then pulled out the knife I watched her snatch earlier. She plunged it into Maria’s shoulder. The scream had Asher running back into the room, gun in hand.

“Oh, look at that, bitch.” Reina was really in her element. “I missed your neck.”

Asher cocked his head but the story was too long to tell, so I just shrugged.

“The only reason I won’t go after your family like you’ve gone after mine is because I’m not psycho like you.” Her voice was full of pain. For her mamma. For her papà. For her sister. “It’s the only mercy you’ll get from me, which is more than I got from Perez Cortes and his men.”

Then she plunged the knife into her neck. Maria gurgled, her voice drowning in blood. Her hands flopped but Reina slapped them away while continuing to plunge the knife into her neck. Over and over again. Blood pooled around her, staining her clothes.

Pure adrenaline kept her going. She was panting but refused to stop stabbing her, deliriously spitting out curses in English that were brand-new even to me.

She didn’t stop until Maria’s body went limp.

36

REINA

The silence in the room was deafening, but in my skull, the pain, loss, fear, anger—it all pulsed through my body like it was a living entity controlling me, seeking justice and revenge. Each strike and stab was for my mother, my sister, those poor trafficked women, and myself.

Suddenly I was reliving it all over again.

Screams.My own. Theirs.Torn limbs.Theirs.Pain.Ours.Fear.Ours.Anger.Mine.

Days and nights when I was desperate to escape reality, lost in the fog of the heroin, flashed through my mind in fast motion, demanding I punish and bestow pain.

Darkness was now part of me, and it was a part that Maria, Hana, Hiroshi, and Angelo all had a hand in cultivating. They made this version of me. What goes around comes around.

Those nightmares and terrors would remain with me for the rest of my life. The memory of Mamma’s life leaving her eyes. My eyes blurred with tears that refused to fall.

Focus, Reina.

I blinked, my muscles stiff. Numbness soaked into my bones, mixing with blood, and slowly a sound registered. It was my heavy breathing.