Page 16 of Venomous King
“This is a house of God, you demon! Leave here immediately!” The pastor comes forward, holding the crucifix around his neck high in the air in his trembling hands, as if that piece of metal could somehow repel me. It won’t. I don’t bow to anyone, especially some unseen man of God, who would have married myPrincesato another man. I don’t even bother to move, raising my arm and shooting him in the head, before returning my glance to my waiting prize.
“Get the fuck away from my sister, you psychopath!” A blonde in a dark green dress rushes at me, and tries to dislodge my hold on my weapon. My hand strikes out, my fingers wrapping around her delicate throat and squeezing, even as she attempts to strike at my face.
“Mia, as always, you’re a little viciousbitch. This is not about you, littlereina (queen). Your sister belongs to me, and I’ve come to collect what is mine.“ I squeeze tighter and tighter, as her face turns a beautiful shade of crimson. Mia’s nails sink into my neck and arm, as she attempts to scratch at my face in her frantic endeavor to dislodge my hold. With one more harsh squeeze, I could end her life, the life of one of the people who have hidden myPrincesafrom me all these years.
“Release her, Diego, or I will fucking end you!” A furious shout greets me, before a dark blond-haired demon with furious, frightening, husky blue-gray eyes meets my glare.Carter Pemberton.My eyes take him in; he’s aged a bit in the years we haven’t seen each other, a maturity present that he lacked before. The fury and violence in his posture are nothing new; however, he was always an unhinged, violent psycho, and some things don’t change.
My eyes leave him, and I take in the rest of Mia’s harem. How one little, violent woman managed to get four alpha assholes to agree to share her still confuses my mind. It’s not that she’s not beautiful, she is. She’s just not Issy. No one in this godforsaken world is, and that’s always been the problem, since the moment I laid eyes on her in that hospital room.
My eyes narrow on my cousin Mateo, who has a small boy clutched in his arms, using his body to protect him from the noise and violence surrounding us. “Hello,primo (cousin). I see you have been reduced to a nursemaid for yourbitchof a queen.”
“Fuck you, Diego, this is my son. You need to stop this shit and leave here. You’re not wanted or welcome.” The frightened boy peeks out around Mateo’s arm, and blue-gray eyes meet mine, with tears cascading down his innocent, round face.Pity.It looks like only Carter seems to be procreating, and the world definitely doesn’t need more of his craziness.
“Take your hands off of Mia, fucking now, or I’ll break every bone in your miserable psychotic body.” Theo pushes forward, his sizable six-foot-two body radiating with fury and madness, and a gun clutched firmly in his grip, pointed at my head. In the depths of his midnight blue eyes, I witness the same turmoil that resides in mine. The same chaos and insanity that prevents me from functioning the way I did before I met Issy. Mia Stratford is his everything, and there is nothing he wouldn’t do to protect her, and keep her safe. I’m intimate with the same feelings, because I share them for her sister.
“I see no one has managed to put a bullet between your cunt eyes, Theo. Perhaps I should remedy that.”
“Momma!! Momma!” A terrified little boy rips out of Finn’s grasp and darts forward, wrapping himself around Mia’s legs as she trembles in my hold, and her breath stutters. I release my grip, allowing her to take a needed breath, and she immediately tries to push the child toward safety. My eyes skate over another little mini Carter, and a shudder races through me. Two identical mini Carters, the world can’t even handle the original.Jesus fucking Christ.
“LEAVE MY MOMMA ALONE!” The little heathen screams, as he tries his best to kick me in the shins.
“Alexander! Come to Papa right now!” Theo demands in a firm, steady voice, and the small boy instantly obeys after one last kick.Little fucker.
“Release... me... Diego. You... will... never leave... here... alive.” Mia’s raspy breath skates across my skin, and regret fills me momentarily. I’ve never wanted to hurt her. In fact, there was a time when I wanted her to be mine. Myqueento rule by my side, but that all ended when I laid eyes on her pitiful and weak sister. The woman who torments all my waking and sleeping thoughts, Isabella fucking Stratford.
She’s not as weak as you thought, is she? She managed to escape that jungle, survive, and leave you behind. She’s been hiding from you for years, going on with her life, falling in love with someone else, while you remained obsessed, broken, and searching for her. Who is truly the weak one here?
I lean forward, so that my words are only for Mia’s ears, “If I die here, you will all die with me. Are you ready to see your sons’ lifeless bodies before you, for them to succumb to the darkness, littlereina?“ I rub my chin against the top of her head and lay a chaste kiss on her hair, my eyes firmly on Carter and Theo. I know I shouldn’t provoke them, but I can’t help myself. They knew Issy was alive this whole time, the fuckers. They knew I have spent years at war with her grandmother, thinking that she was the cause of Issy’s death. They should get to feel even a small amount of the torture I have felt.
“If you want someone to blame for how I found you, littlereina (queen), you should speak to your lover, Carter.“ Her body goes rigid in my hold, and her head turns as far as my grip will allow on her neck, to stare at Carter with complete, unabashed fury. A snort escapes me; it looks like Carter Pemberton is a dead man, regardless of whether he leaves here or not. I should feel guilty for selling him out, but I fucking don’t. He had years to tell me where myPrincesawas hiding, but he kept quiet.
“Diego Cabano!You release my granddaughter immediately, you unhinged heathen! How dare you come in here and attack us! I will have your beating heart ripped from your chest! You will die here today by my hand.“ Armed men part and a small, age-lined, beautiful face appears, with identical arctic blue eyes that I’m obsessed with. She stands tall and regal in her petite stature, her dark blue dress is wrinkled and unruly, but she’s utterly without fear, and filled with wrathful fury:Stella Stratford, the Ice Queen of Manhattan, and my worthy adversary over the last few years. Glee instantly fills me, and thedesire to wrap my bare hands around her swan neck and snap it, is all-encompassing. I could end this blood feud between us here and now.
I release Mia, shoving her backward toward her men, and Carter instantly pulls her behind his body, using it as a shield, as the rest of them close in around her. My focus returns to the dangerous viper in front of me, with too much of my men’s blood on her hands. Her hands are as blood-stained as mine are.
“You’ve been trying to kill me for four years, Stella,” I allow a menacing smile to break across my face, the scarred skin on my jaw pulling taut, and I raise my arms wide to show her that I don’t fear her in the slightest. “And yet, here I am, still standing and breathing, and about to take back what is mine.” Instead of fazing Stella, it seems to enrage her more, and she darts forward out of the protection of her men, until only a foot or two divides us.
Fearless, powerful, queen; thesewords slide through my mind instantly, and I wish Issy were more like her grandmother. With her by my side, I could rule the world. “I will succeed this time,” her hand strikes forward, taking me by surprise, and slapping against my face with a loud clap. My head slides harshly with the impact, and instant heat fills the spot where her fingers made contact.Fucking psycho bitch.
I raise my hand, halting my men as I feel them moving closer behind me, and just waiting for the signal to murder everyone in this church. If Stella Stratford is going to die, it will be me pulling the fucking trigger, and watching as her life drains from her body. I want her to go to the devil, knowing it was me that sent her.
“I don’t recommend you attempting that a second time, Stella. I have very little restraint where you are concerned, and have no qualms about killing my future wife’sabuela (grandmother).“I point my gun right between her eyes, and she doesn’t even flinch.
“You are not worthy of my granddaughter, Diego Cabano, you never have been. If I have to meet my maker, so be it, but you will be coming to death’s door with me.” She grits her teeth, a look of rage and disdain across her elegant face. In the depths of her frigid blue eyes, I witness a certainty that she will try to end my life, even if it ultimately costs her hers.
“Grandmother, please! Oh my god, please stop! Diego! I... I am here. I am what you want; please don’t hurt her, don’t hurt anyone else.” Her voice is shrill and frightened, but even so, is still a siren song to me. I lose all interest in her grandmother, as I finally get my first look at myPrincesain over four years.
She crawls from underneath the giant, who is still trying his best to shield her. Her beautiful pixie and doll-like features meet my gaze, and I take her in. She’s chopped off all her gorgeous, long, dark hair, and now has a short platinum-blonde bob. I want to immediately hate it, as I loved wrapping my fingers in her long tresses, but somehow, this new look also suits her, and makes her even more beautiful. The blue eyes I loved to stare into are now mud brown, somehow making her look more mature, and older. My mouth goes dry as I take in her perfection.
She’s still tiny, but her body and curves have filled out, and become more womanly over the years we have been apart. She looks less like the scared and frail Issy of my past before me, and more like a grown woman, ready to protect those she loves. All the oxygen leaves my lungs, and my heart pounds in my ears like a war drum, calling me to her side, needing to touch her and feel her in my arms.My Princesa, my doll, mine.
“Issy...” It’s the only word that escapes my lips in a harsh whisper, as I feast on her appearance before me. Was she always this beautiful? A part of me wants to argue that she wasn’t,that something in her has changed and bloomed, and that it was due to being away from me. I want to reject that thought immediately. I wanted her to have suffered from my absence, like I suffered from hers.
She pulls from the blond’s embrace, even as he tries to haul her back behind him. “Isabella, NO!” The sound of his voice instantly grates on my nerves, and the desire to cut out his tongue, and that hand that touched her, is all-consuming.
“I’m... here, Diego. Please don’t hurt anyone.” Her chocolate eyes meet mine, as crystal tears slide one after the other down her face. A host of emotions race across her features: terror, fear, and then I see it;acceptance. She always knew this day would come, that I would find her, that I would never stop searching for her, and that she would always be mine.
“Come to me,Princesa, and I will spare them, even fucking Stella, who has spent years hiding you from me. Everyone buthim. He will fucking die for touching what is mine.”