Page 50 of London Has Fallen
She takes a shuddering breath, I get the sense that whatever she is about to tell me is fucking important and hard for her to speak aloud.
“It means Beauty.” My heart lurches.
I take a deep breath and force myself to ask. “Who called you Bellezza?”
She remains silent for so long I begin to think she won’t answer until she finally does. “Havoc.” My eyes widen but I remain silent. Havoc is the twin that died years ago. We heard the rumors that the Memento Mori and Murdoch Mafia went crazy, they killed federal agents, Albanians and anyone who was there the day Havoc Murdoch was murdered. His brother Chaos took out an entire family for hiding his brother’s son from them. The rumors about Chaos are a fucking worry, the guy is said to be fucking ruthless and just happens to be the uncle of the girl currently wearing my shirt and tucked into my side. “He used to call me Bellezza, I was his beauty.” The pain that laces her words is so thick I can feel it.
“He isn’t wrong, you are beautiful,” I say quietly.
“He was the first person aside from my mom to love me unconditionally. He treated me like an equal and loved me for who I am. He never pushed me away or tried to change me. He told me to embrace who I am and never change for the world, he said the world could change to fit in with me.”
“He isn’t wrong, you are amazing the way you are. You don’t give a shit what anyone thinks about you and that is a quality a lot of women don’t have.”
“Is that why you’re sleeping with me and not someone your own age?” I can’t help the snort that breaks free.
“Yeah, something like that.” She chuckles. We remain silent for a while lost in our thoughts until she speaks again.
“Do you plan to use my own dagger against me tonight?” I stiffen beneath her.
“What?” I rasp out.
She remains nestled into my side and doesn’t move an inch as she speaks. “I felt it the second you gripped the handle under my pillow after we got into bed. I may lose control of my emotions when you are around but the one thing I never lose is my senses. I told you about Havoc because he is the only person who I have loved without restraint. It’s the closest love I will ever know to having a sibling. If you plan to use that blade to save the lives of your brothers, make sure you kill me because if you don’t, on the life of my fucking uncle, I will dismember your brothers in front of you, piece by piece and make you watch the entire ordeal.”
I ignore the pain radiating throughout my body as I move so I am on top of her and nestled between her legs with the blade pressed against her throat. Her blinds are open so the moonlight casts enough light for me to see the relaxed expression on her face, she isn’t even fazed that I’m holding a blade to her throat.
“All I would need to do is prod the stab wound on your thigh so your grip on the blade would loosen enough for me to disarm you and then plunge the blade into your side, your lung would collapse and you would drown in your own blood.”
“I never should have allowed you to get in my head. I had one job, to save them and it seems I can’t even kill the person who holds the fate of my brothers’ lives in her hands.”
“What about your life?”
“My life was over the moment I agreed to serve the devil in order for them to remain unharmed.”
“You want to save them then, do it, but you and I both know my death won’t stop theirs.”
“How are you so calm right now?” In a move that shocks the fuck out of me she reaches up and cups my face between her tiny hands.
“I don’t fear death, believe me when I tell you being reunited with Havoc in the next life is more appealing then living in this fucked up world.”
“What about your family?” I blurt out unsure of why the fuck I said that.
A devilish smile graces her face. “They would wage war on the fucking world to avenge me. My death would seal the fate of every cunt that ever wronged them. It would be the greatest war the world has ever seen.”
“You are fucking insane!”
“And yet you still see through my crazy and that is the fucking reason why you can’t glide that knife across my throat, because in your attempt to try and seduce me so you could kill me, you forgot to keep your feelings out of it.” A whoosh of air escapes me, she has just called me on my bullshit.
“You want the truth?”
“Nah, I want you to lie to me,” she deadpans.
“I should have killed you the first time I met you, the second time you should have for sure been dead but still, I couldn’t bring myself to fucking kill you because for the first time in my life I saw a light in the darkness. You may not realize it, but you didn’t only shine a light on me, you brought Cronos back. I was there the day he told you about Aida. He’s never told anyone about her.” She doesn’t seem shocked about my revelation, she knew I was there. “I also know you have feelings for me too.”
“I do.” Her honesty floors me. “But unlike you, I can switch those feelings off in an instant and take your life if it means saving my family.”
“I can’t do this with you anymore, it’s clouding my judgment and I need to remain focused on saving my brothers.”
“Then leave, Artemis. I’m not gonna stop you or chase you.” I take a shuddering breath and nod. I attempt to move but her words stop me. “Maybe if I met you under different circumstances, things may have turned out differently.”