Severance (Entangled Series Book 2)

by C. M. Radcliff

  Kai shakes his head lightly. “You’re not on tonight’s agenda and if you’re smart, you won’t ever be.”

  Spinning back around, Kai pulls me out the door without so much as another word. I follow him in a daze as he leads me through the house and out to the car. My mind is in a different place as he holds the door open for me and I slide into my seat.

  Silence settles in the air as Kai climbs in and starts the car. Our world was just turned upside down and the anger and pain settles in the silence as we pull onto the road and drive away from Anthony’s

  ◆◆◆

  My parents knew this entire time.

  The betrayal sets in deep as that bitch, reality, slaps me across the face again.

  My entire life has been a lie.

  They lied to me, and Anthony helped them cover it up without me ever knowing.

  I can hate them for it, but not Anthony. He did what he was hired to do and simply provided them a service. It was never his place or any of his business to reveal their secrets to me.

  He didn’t owe me the truth, but he gave it to me anyway and now I owe him his life and the vengeance he so desperately seeks.

  I will kill Luca, but it won’t be just for me and Kai. It will be for every other child he destroyed and the daughter he took from Anthony.

  ◆◆◆

  The car swerves as Kai jerks the wheel to the side and my body is thrown into the door. Pulling off the road and onto the shoulder, he slams on the breaks and throws the car in park.

  Kai quickly turns in his seat to face me. “Dahlia.” His voice is demanding, begging to be heard. “You gotta fucking talk to me, bambolina. You’re pulling away and I can’t lose you, not now.”

  “I’m fine.” My voice is impassive as my face is void of the emotions running through me.

  I’m not fine.

  “Don’t fucking lie to me,” he breathes, but it comes out as a plea. “Neither of us are okay, but we will be.”

  Reaching over, Kai takes my face in his hands and turns my head to face him. His soft brown eyes are troubled as they search mine. I feel my guard slowly crumbling to the ground as his touch brings me back.

  “I promise you that we will get through this, no matter what. We’ll talk to your parents and we’ll figure this all out, okay?”

  He brushes his thumb across my cheek as I lightly nod my head. “What about Luca?”

  Kai’s body stills and his eyes widen slightly as he remembers who is truly to blame for everything.

  “Luca dies.”

  Kai

  Whipping the car around, I head in the opposite direction, driving back toward the city.

  Dahlia glances over and I keep my eyes trained on the road in front of me as I step hard on the gas. The engine purrs and the car picks up speed as I drive well over the speed limit.

  “What are you doing, Kai?”

  Glancing over at her, I take in her confused expression before turning back to the road. My knuckles turn white as I grip the steering wheel tightly.

  “What should have been done a long time ago.”

  Dahlia shakes her head lightly and turns in her seat. “Cut the shit, Kai. If you want me to be open with you, this vague shit isn’t going to work.”

  Taking a deep breath, I sigh, knowing that she’s right. “We’re going to see Luca.”

  Reaching over, she rubs my shoulder and smiles as I glance over at her. “That wasn’t so bad now, was it?”

  No, it wasn’t, but you’re not going to like how this is going to go down.

  I give her a small smile and continue our short drive back toward the house that I spent the first half of my childhood in. The long driveway is just as I remembered it, although I haven’t been here in many years. I never came back after we were taken from the farm. I refused to come, so my father bought me an apartment, which was just another way for him to exercise the control he had over me.

  He’s always been a power-hungry man, driven by control… but that would soon be ending. His time was up and any form of control would soon be out of his hands.

  Pulling up in front of his fortress, I stop the car right at the bottom of the marble steps. Killing the engine, I throw off my seatbelt and turn to Dahlia, grabbing her hand as she reaches to unbuckle her belt. Her eyes flash to mine as I hold her hand tightly, not allowing her to move.

  “I’m going in there alone,” I tell her sternly as I try to conceal the regret running through me. I know how badly she wants and needs this, but I can’t let him near her.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” she barks as she cuts her eyes at me. “Let go of my hand, Kai. You are not leaving me behind.”

  She winces slightly as I tighten my grip on her hand. “I can’t let you go in there. It’s not safe.”

  “Fuck you, Kai,” she seethes. “We’ve never been safe and that is not getting in my way of seeing that motherfucker take his last breath.”

  Staring at her, I hold her hand tightly and she glares back at me as she’s being completely driven by her emotions right now. I’m playing with fire as the flames dance in the bright green depths of her eyes. She’s out for blood and for her own revenge and I’m the last thing standing in her way.

  She deserves this… Luca deserves her rage and her pain.

  Releasing her, I quietly let myself out as she remains seated. Her eyes follow me as I walk around the front of the car and open her door. Dahlia’s eyebrows are pinched together and she looks at me in confusion as I lean over her and undo her seat belt. As I move back out of the car, I hold out my hand for her, but she stays in the same place.

  Dahlia’s eyes bounce back and forth between my hand and my face before she places her hand in mine. I help her out of the car and quietly close the car door behind us. We walk in silence, hand in hand, up the walkway and onto the front porch.

  Pausing at the door, I turn her toward me and take her face in my hands. “I may be making the biggest mistake of my life, but he is yours, bambolina.” Dahlia looks up at me with her eyes full of emotion. “You are my queen and I’ll protect you at all costs, but I won’t deny you the revenge that you seek.”

  “Thank you,” she whispers as a tear rolls down her cheek. “I love you.”

  “I love you more than the air I need to breathe.”

  She smiles lightly. “The air is heavily polluted and pretty shitty, so that’s not saying much.”

  “Fuck you.” I chuckle as I dip my face down to hers and quickly steal her lips. “Every analogy is such a cliché. I just fucking love you, okay?”

  “I know you do.” She smiles against my lips. Pulling away from her, I drop my hands down to hers and squeeze them. “We could both die in there.” The seriousness in my voice brings back the reality of how grave our situation is and what we’re about to do.

  Dahlia squeezes my hands back and her lips curl upward into a wicked grin as the flames shine brightly in her eyes. “We could both die at any second. None of this shit is guaranteed and if this is my end, at least I’m going out with my fucking dignity. I’ll die in peace knowing that I finally fought the monster who hid under my bed.”

  Taking a deep breath, I release her hands and grab my pistol. Dahlia follows suit and holds hers at her side. Grabbing the door handle, I look back at her and she winks. “It’s time.”

  With a nod, I quietly open the front door and we slip inside into the darkness. Closing the door behind us, a light flickers on in the sitting room, revealing my father in his plush leather chair. Taking a drag from his cigar, he smiles as he exhales the thick smoke.

  “I’ve been waiting for the two of you,” he says as he sizes us up. His eyes land on Dahlia’s gun for a fraction of a second before trailing back up to our faces. “I thought that I would die of old age before you came to try and take me out.”

  “We’re not here to try,” Dahlia informs him as she steps into the room in front of me. “We’re here to ensure that you’re gone for good.”

  Okay, so we didn’t plan a
ny of this out, which we should have, but Dahlia’s going fucking rogue.

  I gave him to her, but she’s taunting a lion with a piece of meat. She doesn’t know the caliber of the man in front of us and I didn’t prepare her.

  If anything happens to her, it’s her blood on my hands.

  “Where are your guard dogs?” I ask him as I walk into the room, seeing that he’s completely alone. “Are they waiting in the dark to blindside us?”

  My father laughs loudly as he leans forward and snubs out his cigar. “You would know more about my guard dogs than me, seeing as I’m sure that you’re behind their disappearance.” He rises to his feet and walks to the side of the room. “No bodies have been found, so you’ve at least learned something.”

  Tightening my grip on my gun, I feel my circulation being restricted and my knuckles turn white. Dahlia’s body goes rigid and we both follow him with our eyes as he walks to the small wet bar in the room. He grabs a decanter of bourbon and reaches onto the top shelf for a crystal tumbler.

  “I must say, I didn’t think you’d end up with this whore after everything that happened.”

  “What the fuck did you just call her?” I bark. I refuse to put up with his shit any longer. He’s already done enough damage in our lives.

  “A whore.” He chuckles as he pours himself a drink. “Which is exactly what she is and what she’ll always be. You helped turn her into one and I thought you’d moved past that.”

  “No one created a whore… all you did was ruin a little girl’s entire life.”

  “Oh, Kai.” He laughs lightly as he turns to face us. “Aliana was good for you and I really thought you two were building a future together.”

  “No, Luca,” I seethe. “You were trying to build my future with her for me and fucking her behind my back.”

  “Jealous, are we?” He sneers. “I heard that you weren’t exactly following in my footsteps in the fucking department. After all the years that I conditioned you, I thought for sure that you would fuck like a porn star.”

  Dahlia inhales sharply beside me and starts to walk toward him. Her rage radiates from her body and she burns holes through him with her eyes. My arm darts out to block her, stopping her in her tracks.

  “Somebody’s feisty.” He smiles as he moves his eyebrows up and down. “Or maybe she’s the one who’s jealous…”

  “Nobody’s fucking jealous.” I scoff and roll my eyes. “Aliana and I barely slept together. I didn’t want it and she was too busy fucking you. Dahlia couldn’t give two shits about any of that. We’re not here about that.”

  Luca takes a sip of his drink and sets it down on the bar. “Oh, but that’s exactly why you’re here, Kai. If you wouldn’t have fucked up, things would be playing out as they were intended to.”

  “So, is that why you killed her then?” Dahlia questions him with her eyes narrowed.

  Luca laughs loudly and reaches behind his back, producing his own weapon. “She knew too much.” He shakes his head in disappointment. “That’s the thing with you whores. You can’t keep your legs or your mouths shut.”

  Dahlia’s eyes are on his gun and she glances at me from the corner of her eye. I can hear her words, just from her body language.

  What the fuck.

  “You ruined it all, princess.” He narrows his eyes at Dahlia. “I should have done this many years ago, but better late than never, right?”

  In an instant, his arm is extended in front of him as he aims his gun at her head.

  “Drop the fucking gun, Luca,” I demand as I point my own at him.

  My father shakes his head. “You’ll thank me later, son.”

  The muscles in his arm twitch and my own gun falls to the ground as I shove Dahlia onto the ground right as Luca pulls the trigger. It all happens so fast. My body is thrust backward as a searing pain erupts within my chest. Dahlia’s scream rings in my ears as I crumble to the ground, tumbling into the darkness.

  Dahlia

  Time comes to a standstill and ceases to exist as Kai slowly collapses onto the floor. The blow from the gunshot knocked him down and onto his back. A scream escapes my lips and the sound from Luca’s gun drowns everything out.

  Blood instantly begins to soak Kai’s shirt and I watch it seep through the fabric as I’m frozen in place. I’ve never had an out of body experience until now.

  “Look at what you fucking did!” Luca’s voice echoes throughout the room. “Of course, Kai has to play the goddamn hero. That bullet was meant for you, but it’s just as good lodged in his chest.”

  My hand clenches and I feel the pistol in my palm. I was so lost in the moment that I didn’t even feel it there. I glance up at Luca who stares down at Kai in disappointment. His gun hangs easily in his hand, there’s no indication that he feels threatened.

  He forgot that he’s not the only one in this room with a weapon.

  “Fuck you, Luca,” I growl as I point my gun at him and walk closer to him.

  “Isn’t this cute.” He chuckles as he stares past the pistol, directly into my eyes. “Little girls shouldn’t play with big boys’ toys.”

  His long fingers wrap around the butt of his gun tightly as I get closer. Dropping my arms, I pull the trigger and shoot his wrist. Luca screams out as the pistol falls from his hand and the blood spurts from his exposed vessels.

  “You little fucking cunt!” he yells as he holds his arm against his chest. “You’re fucking done.”

  I smile. “You’re right. I am done.” Luca freezes as I press the barrel of the gun into his forehead. “This is where it ends; with you.”

  Luca glares at me and opens his mouth to get the last word, but I interrupt him as I pull the trigger. I fire a shot directly into his forehead, and he quickly loses his balance and falls onto the ground at my feet.

  Luca’s dead eyes stare up at me and I look down at him with a smile consuming my face. He was the last one, the leader of the pack, and now he was gone.

  They say that an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. Or that getting revenge won’t bring back what you lost.

  Whoever said that was dead ass wrong. Nobody is truly blind, except for the dead and his death gave me everything that I had lost. I had control over my life and what happened in it. The puppet strings had officially been cut away.

  We’re finally free.

  I quickly walk back over to Kai and drop down onto my knees beside him. He’s still breathing, his heart is still beating, but he’s losing blood and it’s not slowing down.

  “Fuck,” I mumble to myself as I ball-up his shirt and hold it against the hole in his chest. Kai’s unconscious and doesn’t react to the pressure. I shouldn’t leave him, but I need to find a phone. I need to get him help… fast.

  Suddenly, the front door opens and I’m on my feet in a fraction of a second with my gun drawn. A tall guy with dark features steps into the room. He’s dressed like he stepped out of a Dior commercial. Stopping in the doorway, he cocks an eyebrow at me and my gun and scans the room.

  “Who the fuck are you?” I demand, cocking back the hammer of my pistol.

  “Tell me why the fuck my target is already dead, first,” he barks. He looked at me like I was a joke when he first entered, but now he’s looking at me like I’m the enemy.

  “Self-defense.”

  The man cuts his eyes at me. “Looks like you’re fine.” His eyes drop down to the floor beside me where Kai lies. “Can’t say the same for your friend there.”

  “Luca deserved to die.” I shrug. “Kai was just the final straw for me. That’s right, I’m the one who killed your target. So, why don’t you tell me who the fuck you are.”

  “Put your gun away,” the man sighs as he walks closer. “Anthony warned me that you two might be here.”

  “Anthony?”

  The man nods. “You just did my job for me.”

  I look at him with the confusion evident on my face. “Anthony sent you here?”

  “You think I came here for the s
how?” The man rolls his eyes. “Please. I have far better things to do.”

  “And I’m just supposed to believe that Anthony sent you?”

  The man shrugs. “Honestly, I don’t care. You can believe whatever you want. I know enough about you and Luca’s son that might convince you.”

  Of course, I need to call Anthony and I don’t have a fucking phone.

  Ignoring the man, I drop back down onto my knees and tend to Kai. The man crosses his arms over his chest and watches with a mild curiosity as I struggle to keep my shit together.

  “Can you call 911? I don’t have a phone,” I ramble. “Or can you call Anthony? He’ll know what to do.”

  The man assesses me with his eyes as he stands unmoving, like a statue. A few moments pass before he drops down to his knees beside Kai. “Let me help you. I’ll drive.”

  I let out a sigh of relief and fight back the tears that fill my eyes as the man begins to look over Kai’s chest.

  “Aleksei,” he says quietly after a moment.

  My brow furrows as I stare at him in confusion. “What?”

  He looks up at me and his dark eyes are detached as they meet mine. “My name.” He pauses. “You wanted to know who I am.”

  Pursing my lips, I nod slightly. “Thank you, Aleksei,” I tell him quietly. “Thank you for helping us.”

  His dark eyes grow even darker and drop a few degrees. “Don’t thank me yet. This is far from over.”

  Kai

  Slowly peeling my eyelids open, everything is out of focus as I struggle to look around. Everything is a blurry mess as the colors and noises blend together. I can hear her voice, but I can’t make out the words. She’s far away, too far away and I can’t reach her.

  An unknown pain in my chest explodes as I shift my weight and my eyelids slam shut as I wince.

  Someone groans in the distance and the sound is unfamiliar but I can feel it vibrating in my chest. It’s too much for my mind to process and my eyes refuse to open.