Page 35 of Venomous King
Now why the fuck would I want to do that? It’s much more fun to antagonize the evil dragon entering the room. “I see you are still alive, you miscreant.” She glares at me before turning her icy glance on Kai. “And you, you did nothing to stop this situation? How could you let this happen?Pathetic.”
“Hello, grandmother. How wonderful it is to see you.” Issy approaches her grandmother and envelops her in her arms, and I get my first really good glance at Stella. Has she aged even more since the last time I saw her? The reminder of the meeting is still healing on my abdomen, which prompts me to repay her the courtesy, except I’ll make sure I cut off her viper head with my blade.
“Isabella Stratford, I raised you better, darling. You have picked weak and villainous men to stand by your side. It’s really unsightly, child. Allow me to dispose of them both and find you suitable replacements.” Stella’s cold, sapphire eyes meet mine, and I see the warning and promise in their depths. She woulddo it too; have both of us murdered, so she could marry Issy to whoever she believes is worthy of one of her princesses.
“Enough, Grandmother. No one will be replacing anyone. Haven’t you learned your lesson from what you experienced with Mia? You cannot choose who we love, and I love them both, regardless of your approval.”
Stella disentangles herself from Issy’s hold as she makes it further into the room, and I watch as her faithful shadow, Clark, places himself at her back, weapons strapped to his body, and his eyes trained on me. I guess I am still the threat. I want to preen like a peacock that Clark views me as dangerous. What does he think? I will try to murder her in this room while my little girl watches. Give me a little credit, asshole, I would wait until she was leaving and down the driveway, or Julia was already snugly tucked in bed.
“Julia, my sweet love. Gammy has bought you a bunch of new dollies and dresses. Why don’t you go look at them, so I can have a conversation with your mommy and, ugh, daddies.” The look of disgust that crosses Stella’s face, which she has to disguise for Julia’s benefit, brings me nothing but happiness.
Once my happy little girl skips away to see the gifts, Stella sits herself down in one of the armchairs like a queen ruling court, and I have to grind my teeth to avoid telling her to get the fuck out of my house.Is it my house too now? Who the fuck knows at this point?
“Grandmother, we have asked you here so that we can put the past behind us, and attempt to come to some sort of an agreement. One that all of us can live with.” Issy raises her hands instantly to stop her grandmother’s reply. “I know you disapprove, you have made your opinion painfully and loudly clear, and you know it won’t change my mind. I will not give up on either Kai or Diego. They are Julia’s fathers, plural.”
“I see you have chosen to forget all of the nightmares that criminal put you through in that jungle. How he kidnapped you and held you for months against your will. How he took you from your wedding at gunpoint!” Stella’s cold glare meets my own, and I refuse to look away. “He made you hide from your family, and the world, for fear of what he would do if he recaptured you. How can you just move past that, Isabella? He is a villain.”
“I have not chosen to forget any of it, and while everything Diego did to me by kidnapping me and keeping me a hostage was horrific, and it wasHORRIFIC, Diego.“ Issy turns her irate glare on me. “I have chosen to look at the positives. He made me stronger. I am not that same weak girl, who could not stand on her own two feet, and had issues with addiction. He made me a survivor, and most importantly, he gave me Julia, and for that, I will always be grateful.”Well, fuck.
“I cannot so easily disregard the suffering that he caused, Isabella. I spent months fearing for your life, followed by months mourning you.”
“I understand, Grandmother, but that doesn’t change the fact that he will be in Julia’s and my life going forward. If you do not want to hinder your relationship with us, you must adapt. You will not attempt to have him murdered, and you will accept him as a part of our lives, and as Julia’s father.”
The miserable look on Stella’s face, and the uncomfortable one on her buddy Clark’s face, makes this whole shitshow almost worth it. I glance at Kai from the corner of my eye, and the prick is trying desperately to hide his amusement.Har, har, motherfucker, she doesn’t like you either.
“Fine.”The word sounds wrenched from the bowels of hell, leaving her lips. “I will not attempt to murder him, and accept him as... one of your men.” Stella rolls her eyes, and the disdain comes off her in waves. “Really, you and your sister, and yourneed to have harems of men. In my day, one was enough. In fact, your grandfather Jaxon was so much trouble that even the thought of having more than one of him gives me hives.”
Stella’s face softens as she meets Issy’s glance, and I see all her love for her on display. Is Stella softening with age? “One condition, and I will not negotiate this. If you don’t all agree, I will continue the war with him, and have him murdered at the first opportunity; your wrath be damned, Isabella.”
I knew it was too good to be true, the old bitch has to get what she wants one way or another. “What is it that you are requesting, Stella?” Kai inquires, as he rests his elbows on his knees and meets her intense glare. He doesn’t flinch when her wrathful scowl turns in his direction. Brave fucker, might be hope for him yet. I’m still going to murder him though,eventually.
“Julia will carry the Stratford name, not Cabano, or yours. She is one of my heirs, and my name protects her.” Her cold eyes break from Kai’s glance and meet mine. “Your name puts a target on her back from your underworld dealings, and yours, Kai, offers nothing.”
Before I can object or rip her miserable, entitled throat out, my father clears his throat and enters the room. His eyes are instantly trained on Stella, and her breath hitches audibly. “Hola, hermosa reina de hielo (hello, beautiful ice queen).”
My eyes ping-pong back and forth between them in disbelief, at the sight before me, as they stare intently at each other. Is that a blush rising on Stella’s cheeks?Oh, hell no.Are these two attracted to each other?I might have to shoot the evil witch.
Fuck, I really have entered the twilight zone.
“We agree to your demand, grandmother.” Issy stares at me with a threatening look, and a promise that she will make me regret arguing later, but fuck that, I’m not a quitter.
“I’m offended at your words, Stella. Being a Stratford is not everything. Isabella was happier when she wasn’t one.” Kai scowls at Stella, who finally pries her eyes away from my father.
“Right now, being a Stratford is the most crucial thing in the world for Julia’s and Isabella’s futures; it ensures their protection, and security, from anything and anyone who would attempt to hurt them. I don’t expect you to understand, Kai. You came from a simpler life, and that hoodlum, all he knows is violence. I insist on Julia being named only as a Stratford.”
“Hijo (son), I agree with Stella on this. As much as it pains me not to have Julia carry our name, she will be safer from our enemies in the long run.“ My father moves further into the room, his eyes filled with emotion, as he implores me to concede in this matter. Fury fills me, and I feel like I’m losing control, and giving up something important to me. She’s my child.Mine.I don’t want her ever to feel like I didn’t claim her. I don’t want her to question if I love her because, in such a short time together, I have experienced the type of love with Julia I didn’t even know was possible.
“It’s settled, this is not up for discussion again,” Stella declares like a queen making a fucking proclamation, and I want to wrap my hands around her neck and strangle her immediately, but I see the slight lift of Issy’s lips; this makes her happy.
“Hermosa reina (beautiful queen),will you do me the honor of joining Julia and me for some ice cream?“ My father nervously questions, his hand fiddling with his shirt. Ah, hell no. It’s on the tip of my tongue to deny that they can take Julia anywhere, when Stella nods, rises from the chair, and precedes my father out of the room, without a comment or a backward glance.
A chuckle sounds from the fucker across from me. “What, pretty boy?” I question menacingly. “Nothing, just pretty sure Stella is about to become your evil stepmother.”
That isn’t happening, no fucking way. I’ll set this whole world on fire, before I allow that bitch to get her dragon talons into my father.
Chapter twenty-three
Issy