Page 12 of Venomous King
“She is Diego’s daughter?” My grandmother inquires, never taking her glance away from Julia, but cataloging her features that make it impossible to disguise her parentage. Her finger strokes down the side of my daughter’s small cheek, and Julia’s mouth opens as if seeking nourishment.
“She is my daughter; I have claimed her, not that demon. I will raise her. I am her father,” Kai says with angry, clipped words, the fury in his crystal blue eyes causing a chill to race down my spine.
Stella raises her eyes from Julia and glares at Kai. For a moment, I am afraid that she will rebuke his statement, and all hell will break loose. Kai won’t back down from his claim onJulia. She’s his in every sense of the word. My grandmother’s frigid glare appears as she narrows her eyes in his direction. “So be it. You’re a slight improvement over that demon, but only minutely, and I can always make you disappear if you disappoint either of them.”
Just then, Julia releases a little panting whimper, and my grandmother’s attention immediately returns to her. “She’s very pale, and her lips have a slight blue tinge to them. Is she ill, Isabella?”
My eyes meet Kai’s, and he gives me a nod. Here goes everything. “Yes, she has a heart condition. She’s very ill, grandmother. She needs a heart transplant.”
Stella cradles Julia closer to her chest, as if there was suddenly a threat in the room, and Julia releases a whiny whisper of a cry. “That is why you have suddenly revealed yourself to me. You need my assistance to get her a heart.”
“Yes,” I don’t bother to attempt to deny the accusation I hear in her tone. I need her to save my daughter. It’s why we have taken this huge risk to come to her. A moment passes, and then another, while Stella stares down at Julia, her thoughts hidden firmly behind that mask she knows how to wear so well. For a brief moment, I fear we have made a mistake, perhaps Kai is right, and she will be unable to forgive me. Will she allow my daughter to suffer in order to punish me?
“I promise you I will move heaven and earth to ensure she gets whatever she needs. She is a Stratford. She will want for nothing in this lifetime, not even a heart.” Stella coos at Julia until she settles. “You are my little princess, aren’t you, beautiful girl? I will never allow anyone to hurt you.” All the air that was suffocating me leaves me in a whoosh, and as I look up at Kai and Clark from the corner of my eye, I realize I was not the only one who was filled with apprehension.
“When will you be returning to Manhattan? I need to make arrangements immediately. We will need a larger army to protect her. I will reinforce all the walls and gates of the family compound, and hire more men.” Of course she wants to discuss a battle plan; Stella is a force of nature, always ready to take on her enemies.
Fuck. I hoped I had more time to answer this question, but before I can utter a single word, Kai interjects gruffly, “We won’t be returning to Manhattan, and neither my daughter nor Isabella will be prisoners behind your palatial armed walls. If you are willing to help us save Julia, you can do it while we remain hidden, and on our terms. We won’t risk being put in the crossfire of your enemies, Stella.” Oh Shit.
Stella raises a dark, perfectly manicured eyebrow at Kai, and I watch as she clenches her jaw. I’m pretty sure the only thing keeping Kai safe at the moment, and preventing her from ordering Clark to murder him, is her hold on my precious daughter. “Is that so? And if I refuse to comply with your demand? We both know I can force you all back to Manhattan if I choose to.”
“You would lose us forever, Grandmother. I will never willingly return there, and I would lose all respect for you if you forced us back.” I hold my breath, hoping she sees the plea in my eyes that I don’t wish to walk away from her ever again, but I also can’t return to a place that once crushed my soul. Whatever she sees in my eyes has her unclenching her jaw, and rolling her eyes at Kai, before she once again lays a sweet kiss on Julia’s dark head.
“I agree to your terms, for now, Isabella. I don’t wish any harm on either of my grandchildren, and you are right; you are safer in hiding for the moment.” She dismisses Kai with a snarky and hostile look, and my poor lover takes a step back as if he’s been slapped.
Jesus fuck, she agreed. Has hell frozen over, or did a miracle just happen? Either way, we are going to save my daughter, and that is all that matters right now.
I snap out of my memories, and meet my sister’s frightened eyes. “Where did your mind just go, Issy? I’ve been trying to get your attention for a few minutes. You seem so lost, sister.”
“I was reliving the moment our lives changed; the moment I got my family back, and Stella met Julia for the first time. I can’t believe it’s been three years since that moment, and here we all are, still hiding, and I am about to get married.” I sigh and rake my hands through my short blonde hair.
“You’re about to marry the love of your life, Issy, and live happily ever after. You are safe, Julia is healthy, and Kai adores you. Even Grandmother Stella has mellowed a bit toward him; she no longer demands that Clark shoot him whenever Kai steps into a room. That’s progress, sister. All’s right with the world. Diego is your past, and Kai will always be your future.”
My sister is right about so many things. Grandmother has relented a bit, to all of our surprise. She even agreed that I should marry Kai, and remain hidden here in Oregon with Julia, allowing the world to continue believing that Isabella Stratford had perished in that jungle. My darling Julia is well and thriving. She has a wild and strong spirit that will rival Stella’s as she grows. I am sure that will give us lots of trouble in the future. Kai is terrified of the menace she may become under Stella’s tutelage. My grandmother is determined to teach my young daughter about the art of war.
What she hasn’t gotten entirely right is that, while I am about to marry the love of my life, he’s not the only one. As much as my heart and soul still fear Diego, they also still long for him. He is never far from my thoughts, and I can see him in his daughter, who is a mini replica of him. Diego is my past, and Kai is my future, but just over four years ago, I believed the opposite whenI was in Diego’s arms. Before everything went terribly wrong with us, and he showed me his true colors; black like his soul, with his obsessive need to control and own me, to make me his by any means necessary.
The truth is, a part of me desperately wanted to be owned by him, I can’t lie to myself. Some part of me still craves his harsh hand, and the control that he wielded like a collar around my throat. Where Kai is light and love, Diego is darkness and depravity, and I fear I am missing an integral part of myself without him.
Will I ever be free of him, or will my heart still call for him for the rest of my days? Is it fair to Kai, that my heart will never solely belong to him?
Am I making a mistake?
Chapter nine
Mia
“The moment there is suspicion about a person’s motives,everything he does becomes tainted.”
Mahatma Gandhi
My eyes narrow on Carter as he once again checks his phone, trying and failing to be discreet about it, and that nervous tic he has, the one that always gives the scheming asshole away, begins in his jaw. I’ve been watching him since we arrived here in Oregon for my sister’s wedding, and he’s been acting shifty since the minute we got off the plane.
I don’t know what he’s up to, but I mean to find out, especially if it concerns Isabella and her happiness, and if he doesn’t tell me, I will make an eunuch out of him, and ensure the fucker can’t fill me with any more of his wild children.
The husky, blue-eyed, wild children who are currently running around my sister’s house, destroying things, and receiving a tongue-lashing from her best friend, Rachel. I can hear them through the walls here in her family room from the outdoors. I can also hear my little warrior-princess niece giving them a run for their money. Good luck to them keeping up with that hellion, she takes after her great-grandmother. That thought tries to crest a satisfied smile to my face, and I have to bite the inside of my cheek to try to keep it disguised from my guys, knowing how they feel about the situation.
The smirk I can’t entirely hide makes my lips twitch, at the image of my oldest tattling on his cousin, because the tiny little dark-haired princess gave him a black eye, and almost knocked his brother’s tooth out. I know, as a mother, I should unequivocally be on my spawn’s side, but I know full well the terrors my sons are. Their four fathers encourage them, especially the one sending me cautious glances from beneath his dark lashes, to see if I am watching him.What have you done, motherfucker? I will pry it out of you by force if I have to.