Page 85 of Vicious Seduction
His smile was borderline unhinged. “With her in our possession for signatures and voice recordings, we could do just about anything.”
I nodded resolutely. “Give it all to charity. I want Eliza stripped of every penny she’s ever owned.”
Hand fisted in my hair, he planted a kiss on my lips that I felt blossom deep in my heart. “God, it’s sexy when you’re vindictive.”
“Not vindictive,” I informed him haughtily. “It’s karma, just like you said. Only, we’re helping it along.”
“Call it what you want. It still makes me want to fuck you raw.”
Holy crap, did it suddenly get hot in here?
“I like your line of thinking, but I have concerns.”
“Like what?” I asked, fighting back the lust-fueled haze in my brain.
“An enemy taken to their lowest can be the absolute deadliest. If a person thinks they have nothing to lose, they become infinitely more dangerous. If we strip Eliza of everything she has, including her pride, she’ll suffer, but she’ll also become a possible threat. I don’t want to have to live every day worrying that woman will try to get revenge.”
Hell, he was right.
If anyone was malicious enough to come after me for bankrupting them, it would be my mother. The loathing and fury would drive her insane—more than she was already. What options did that leave for me? She had to be punished, and I didn’t want her to have the freedom to hurt anyone else.
I met Oran’s sober stare and nodded. “Just get rid of her.” Some souls were beyond redemption. I was ready for it to be over.
His lips touched mine again, but this time with exquisite tenderness. His kiss lifted away the thin veil of grief that tried to wrap around my shoulders. If only signing away her life was as effortless for me as it had been for her to sign away my innocence, but that wasn’t the case. I supposed I was glad. I didn’t want to be her breed of monster.
I smiled softly. “That everything?”
Oran leveled me with a sober stare. I was instantly backon alert. My poor nervous system would need some serious time off when this was all said and done.
“I have something to tell you, but I need you to stay calm.”
I gaped at him. “That’s probably the absolute worst thing you could say to a person to keep them calm.”
“Just shut up and listen, will you?”
I arched a brow in warning. He ignored me.
“Wellington told me what happened to Amelie.”
My heart plummeted into my feet, along with all the blood in my body.
Seeing my reaction, Oran held up his hand. “Now, I told you to stay calm and hear me out, so let me finish before you freak out.”
I had half a mind to tell him where he could stick it, but his next words left me speechless.
“Amelie’s alive and well here in the city. I saw her myself. She was drugged when she was taken and ended up having a reaction. She was in a coma, and when she woke up, she had amnesia. Wellington was worried she could be a liability, so he put her up in an apartment.”
Oh God. Not again.
I couldn’t let myself have hope again, then see it dashed away.
My head shook in jerky motions. “No. It can’t be. I can’t do this again.”
Oran cupped my face on either side and locked his gaze with mine, demanding my attention. “Shh, listen, Lina baby. I saw her myself. It’s not a trick or a mistake. The girl I knew as Darina is alive and living in Queens.”
I didn’t shed a tear or cry.
I rocketed straight past both to spontaneous body-heaving breathless sobs, the ugly kind that leave you snot-coveredand hoarse. Oran didn’t say a word. He just held me as the wrecking ball of emotions ran its course.