Page 35 of Wrathful King

“I’ll kill them too,” I said, reckless now.

To my surprise, he laughed. “A killer like your father, it would seem.”

The tip of his blade pressed deeper until I felt hot liquid trickle down my neck.

The malicious gleam in his cold eyes almost lit up the basement cell. Or maybe it was another hallucination.

“You think anyone will want you?” He kept his voice low, but he watched me carefully. “After me, there’s nobody for you. Not ever again. It’s only a matter of time before I have your body and soul.”

“Never,” I screamed. He caught my wrist and bent it until a yelp tore from my mouth.

He snickered. “Like father, like daughter. He was a stubborn motherfucker too.”

I was nothing like Angelo Leone.Nothing.

Yanking my wrist out of his grip, I cradled it against my chest, then pressed myself flat against the stone wall, watching and waiting until I could strike him with a deadly blow.

Hate swirled within me. So powerful I thought it’d eat me alive.

It killed the cinnamon girl. It killed the sunshine inside me. Leaving me with only hunger for my next kill.

Perez Cortes’s body strung up in the air, screeching like the pig that he was. I shook my head. No, not like a pig. Like a snake. I didn’t care if I died… One way or another, I’d make him pay.

“I offered for your husband to buy you back from me, but he didn’t agree on the price.”Lies, lies, lies.A thought nudged at my mind, but I was too distracted with the throbbing ache in my chest. It felt like a gaping and raw wound, strangling me.

I reached for my necklace once again, but of course it wasn’t there.

So, I focused my gaze on the ring on my finger. It wasn’t shiny anymore. The diamonds were stained crimson and filth clung to the metal. I often wondered why he hadn’t taken it from me. They took everything else—my clothes, my dignity, fucking everything—yet they left my wedding ring.

“You’ll take it off one day.” I raised my head and found his gaze locked on my finger. “Very soon.”

“In your dreams,” I muttered under my breath, earning me a slap across the cheek. My ears rang, but I refused to show weakness.

“If it were me, I’d give up all my wealth.” I snorted, imagining that scenario. “He said you’re not worth it now that you’re used merchandise. He doesn’t want anything this filthy.” He chuckled, looking me up and down. Another twist of my ring.

Wait… What he’d said before, about offering Amon a price to buy me back…

“He’s alive?” I choked out, meeting his dead stare.

“He just needed one more bullet,” he gritted.

The ringing in my ears turned high-pitched.Kill, kill, kill.My hatred for this man ran almost as deep as my love for my husband. My fingers itched to feel that cold metal in my palm so I could fill this fucker with bullets. I was so lost in the fantasy of killing Perez that I missed his next move.

His big palm clutched me by my throat and lifted me in the air. I choked and clawed, kicked at his shins, but I couldn’t fight him off. I was tooweak, toosmall. I waspathetic.

“Don’t you worry, baby girl.” I fucking hated his voice. “I’ll finish him off.” Amon’s body, sprawled on the crimson-stained gravel, danced behind my eyelids. “Make him regret ever having you.”

“The o-only thing I regret is you t-touching me,” I croaked, each syllable hurting my throat. Survival instincts kicked in, my body fighting to live despite my wish for death. “I’m going to kill you for taking him from me.” My throat burned as I attempted to break free of his hold. I was a rabid dog, hissing and biting. My strength was waning. The heroin was working too well, sending me into that mental space where nothing mattered.

Perez dragged his blade down my collarbone, over the side of my left breast, and across my torso before he paused.

“This can be quick and painless,princesa. Just relax.”

Fuck that.

Those words had me fighting harder. I swung my knee, hitting his groin. A guttural howl escaped him.

In the next second, he dropped his hold from my neck and ground my face into the stone floor. He ripped my filthy dress and I screamed until my throat turned raw and I tasted copper.