~KAEL MORETTI ~
Rage burned beneath my skin so fiercely it felt capable of splitting me open from the inside. The effects of the poison still lingered even after treatment, but I couldn’t care less. All that consumed my mind was the fact that I had seen her.
Valentina Monroe had been at Paragon. She had been within my reach.
The thought alone made anger simmer hotter beneath my ribs.
Eight fucking years. I had hunted her for that long. Her father had been her shield before, but even after he died, I still couldn’t get my hands on her. I searched cities, imagining all the ways I would destroy her the moment I finally got my hands on her again.
Only to finally find her half-naked beneath the lights of a goddamn pleasure house.
A whore.
The irony nearly made me laugh.
"I can't believe Ferdinard was working with Theodore all this while against you. A wolf in sheep's clothing. If she hadn't stepped in—"
"Rio."
My voice came out low but absolute, and the boy immediately shut up.
Silence settled inside the penthouse office. Floor-to-ceiling windows exposed the city below us, but I was barely interested in the view as i always was. My attention remained fixed on the glass of whiskey untouched in my hand while fury prowled violently beneath my skin.
I still couldn’t decide which part of last night angered me more.
Ferdinard's betrayal. Or her.
Rio shifted uneasily across from me. He was nineteen years old and already carrying enough blood on his hands to drown most men. I had dragged him out of the fighting pits years ago, when he half-starved and half-dead. Now he wore tailored black suits and carried guns.
“You really saw her?” he asked carefully.
My jaw tightened.
I lifted my eyes slowly toward him and watched the realization hit his face immediately. He swallowed hard.
Because he knew me well enough to understand what that look meant. He knew who Valentina was. I rarely spoke of her, but he knew what she'd done to me and how I spent every day thinking of how I'd destroy her when I eventually found her.
“Yes,” I said quietly after a while.
Valentina Monroe. The daughter of Rudolf fucking Monroe. The girl who had smiled in my face while feeding her father every secret I handed her. The girl who watched my world collapse around me and still walked away breathing afterward.
I should have killed her the first day I laid my eyes on her. It would have spared me a whole lot of pain and trouble.
I could still see her standing there on the stage last night. It was the only thing replaying in my mind.
Her wide eyes, bare skin beneath dim lights, and that familiar mouth parting slightly when she realized I knew exactly who she was.
Fear looked good on her.
Too good.
Once upon a time, she has been my weakness. One that cost me everything. One that almost cost me my life again last night.
I had gone to Paragon because of my desperation to find her. Theodore, who ran the biggest conglomerate after Rudolf Monroe passed, had informed me he had leads on her. I knew it was shady, but I couldn't stop myself from going. Night after night, I was going insane. All for one woman who tore me apart. I ran the Green Veil syndicate, and I had always run my operations solely. Rudolf hated it, and now Theodore did too. I had walked through the doors of Paragon with my ally, Ferdinard. Someone I trusted. Someone I called brother. Not knowing he was the one who’d carry out the deed to kill me.
I didn't mind having enemies. Every man did. But I hated friends or loved ones who were secretly foes in disguise. I hated those who claimed to love you, only to stab you in the back.
“They used her as bait to draw me in. But it turns out even Vincent wasn't aware that she had been under his roof for quite a while,” I said.
Rio studied me cautiously. “What now?”
Now?
Now I burned the fucking city down if I had to.
“I want every airport watched,” I said. “Every highway. Every port. Every train station. I want her found no matter what it takes. Take the men with you.”
Knowing Valentina, she'd already be on the run away from me. I could have shot her last night. I had multiple chances to.
But where would the fun be in that?
“And Ferdinard?”
I had the fool caught after last night. The others were handled and killed by my men, including Vincent. A clear message i was sending to Theodore. But I was going to torture Ferdinard myself. Give him a fate fit for a betrayer.
“If Theodore managed to turn Ferdinard against you, then it makes me wonder how many more are already working for him.” Rio’s expression hardened. “Ever since you refused to bow to him, he wants to destroy you and Green Veil completely,” He continued. He was right to be concerned.
“My mother used to say loyalty that can be bought was never loyalty to begin with,” I replied. “I shall flush the traitors out of our midst. And since Theodore’s been begging for a war, he’s going to get one.”
Rio nodded at my words. Then my phone buzzed inside my pocket. I almost ignored it.
Almost.
But something made me pause. It was an unknown number with a message.
'She’s at Blackthorne Private Airport. Come quickly before she leaves.'
My entire body went still.
“What is it, boss?” Rio asked, but I was already moving.
**********
I reached Blackthorne Airport in no time, still bearing the pain of the poison lingering within me. Valentina had boarded a flight to leave the country. I couldn't allow that. Not when she was well within my reach.
I looked down at my wrist, which was empty of one of my favourite watches.
She stole from me. Of course she did. That was probably how she’d managed to afford business class.
Little thief.
One of my men had hacked and provided me with information on everyone who was getting on the flight and their seat numbers in that short while.
By the time I reached the gate, the aircraft doors were already preparing to close. A nervous-looking attendant stepped forward, likely rehearsing some polite excuse about departure regulations, but the gate supervisor behind her recognized me immediately.
That changed everything.
Orders were murmured quickly, and seconds later, I was walking onto the aircraft while the last passengers settled into their seats.
Valentina sat near the window, looking relaxed. Her blonde hair framed the back of her head while she stared down at a food menu. She’d changed into a robe and comfy slip–ons. Perhaps thinking she had succeeded in escaping me.
“Seat’s already taken,” she said absently, referring to the seat opposite hers without noticing my presence.
Then she looked up, and fear hit her instantly. Her eyes widened, and I saw the moment she wanted to scream, so I shut her up with a gun.
“Don’t,” I spoke sternly, aiming the gun at her.
Finally, I had gotten to her. She was alive, breathing, and mine to ruin.
Her gaze locked onto the weapon before lifting slowly back to me. Panic flickered beneath her expression, but she swallowed it quickly.
“Kael—”
“I can see that you're already enjoying my money.”
I let my gaze drift deliberately toward the expensive diamond bracelets at her wrist. She had certainly switched my watch for them. That watch meant something personal to me. It had my mother’s last jewelry melted into it. And she stole it and sold it.
She was never going to cease surprising me.
“Stand up.” I ordered quietly.
Passengers nearby remained oblivious, too wrapped up in their own conversations to notice what was going on.
Valentina moved slowly.
The moment she stepped into the aisle, I pressed the barrel lightly against the small of her back and moved behind her.
She shivered.
“Walk.”
Her breathing turned uneven as she obeyed, moving carefully down the aisle ahead of me.
“You’re making a mistake,” she whispered, stopping at one point and turning to look at me. Once upon a time, those eyes could get me on my knees. Now I felt like plucking them out.
“Be a good girl and do as you're told. Else I might as well shoot those legs and throw you over my shoulder. Either way, you're coming with me. Your choice, Valentina.”
She trembled.
The sight of her fear was deeply satisfying. Then she stopped, and turned slightly back at me.
“I’m not going with you.” Her voice shook despite the defiance in it. “You might as well kill me here. I know you’ve wanted me dead for a long time.”
For a moment, I just stared at her.
Then something dark shifted across my face.
Bold.
Still fucking bold after everything.
Slowly, I stepped closer until there was nowhere left for her to retreat except the seat pressing against her back. Her breathing faltered immediately while I lowered my head slightly, letting her feel exactly how dangerous this moment had become.
“Dead?” I repeated softly, almost amused. “You still think death is the worst thing I could give you?”
Her throat bobbed.
The fear in her eyes was exquisite now. Sharp. Alive. Crawling beneath her skin no matter how hard she tried to hide it.
I leaned closer.
Close enough to smell the expensive perfume on her skin. Close enough to watch panic flicker through those pretty eyes that once ruined me.
“I don’t just want you dead, Valentina.” My voice dropped lower. Rougher. “I want you broken.”
She froze.
“I want you to suffer so badly that one day you’ll beg me to kill you yourself.” My gaze dragged slowly over her face. “And when that day comes…”
I tilted my head slightly.
“That’ll only be the beginning of your pain.”
The colour drained slowly from her face.
Good.
For eight years I had imagined this moment in a thousand different ways. Imagined finding her. Dragging her back to me. Making her feel even a fraction of the ruin she left behind inside me.
And now she stood right in front of me, trembling.
Mine again.
“I can see you chose the latter,” I murmured calmly. “Wrong choice, sweetheart.”
Her brows furrowed slightly, confusion flashing across her face.
Then I pulled the trigger.
The gunshot exploded violently through the cabin.
Valentina screamed as the bullet tore through her thigh, her body collapsing hard against the aisle floor while terrified shouts erupted around us. Blood spread quickly against the bright fabric of her robe, staining it crimson while she clutched her leg in shock.
I watched her for exactly one second.
Then I bent down, grabbed her roughly around the waist, and threw her over my shoulder.
She gasped sharply, fists instantly pushing weakly against my back while pain wrecked her breathing.
“Kael—!” She cried out, which I ignored.
Passengers were panicking now. Flight attendants shouting. People pulling out phones. None of it mattered. My men had already moved through the aircraft entrance behind me, weapons visible enough to silence anyone stupid enough to interfere.