Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 127933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
I turned to Nicolette, whose eyes were wide with terror. She was shaking now, the reality of her situation finally sinking in.
“Do you hear that, Nicolette?” I asked, playfully. “Your lover gets to be part of something far greater than himself. He’ll be remembered for one final act of service.”
“No,” she whimpered, her body trembling.
“And as for you…” I trailed off, letting the silence hang heavy in the air.
“I’d say you’re getting off easy, Nikki. Just a little punishment. Nothing compared to your boy toy,” Bishop commented.
My father remained silent, watching me closely, but I knew he approved. A balance had to be restored, and this was the first step. I gave Phoenix the nod, granting him full control over William’s fate. I could practically see the excitement in his eyes as they gleamed with a dark joy. Phoenix lived for moments like this—where the line between brutality and artistry blurred. I knew he’d make William's suffering a masterpiece.
Emilio, never one to let a grim moment pass without a joke, smirked. “Careful, Phoenix. Don’t make it too pretty. We don’t want to inspire anyone else.”
Phoenix chuckled; already lost in whatever twisted vision he was forming in his mind. My father, ever the tactician, turned his attention to Theron, whose demeanor was weighed down by his daughter’s failure.
“What are you thinking, Theron?” he asked, his voice calm but probing. He knew the older man well, far better than I did and was the one who gave him his position.
All I knew about Theron was that he was exceptional at his role as the Isle’s chief financial architect, overseeing the intricate flow of wealth and resources that kept our secluded society thriving. His knowledge of numbers was unparalleled, and his attention to detail had saved us from more than one economic pitfall. Outside of that? His wife baked some of the best chocolate chip cookies the bakery had ever sold. A man like him didn’t seem fit for the hell his daughter had thrust him into.
Theron sighed heavily, running a hand through his graying hair. He looked like he wanted to be anywhere else, his eyes distant, filled with regret. I couldn’t blame him for that. If I had a daughter—and I realized in that moment I soon would—she wouldn’t be able to so much as breathe on this Isle without me knowing where she was. The very thought of some low-level scumbag like William even looking at her had my blood boiling.
My son, too.
I clenched my fists as the idea of a woman like Nicolette near my boy made me want to rip her apart with my bare hands. No. I would burn the Isle down before I let something like this filth touch him. A bitter resolve settled in me as I thought of my unborn child. Being a father was an entirely new reality, one I hadn't shared with anyone yet or wholly come to terms with. Now clearly wasn’t the time for such an announcement, but I’d never been more eager to share something in my life.
Theron, still watching his daughter with barely restrained disgust, shook his head as if trying to shake the burden of his thoughts.
His voice was quiet when he finally spoke. “What will become of Henry?”
Ah, Henry. Nicolette’s husband. A man as dull as he was uninspiring. Like a Fleshlight. Loyal, yes, but to a fault. He had no idea what was brewing in his wife’s mind. Perhaps that was his greatest failure—his blindness to the rot growing in his own home.
“He’ll be handled separately,” I said, my tone even. “He’ll answer for his failures differently. His ignorance won’t spare him from responsibility.”
Theron nodded slowly, resigned to the fact that his family’s name would be forever tainted by this disaster. “If you seek to spare her,” he began, his voice still as cold as the chamber around us, “do it so that only her holes remain. If she has a child, I can take it and raise it within our family, away from this disgrace.”
The room went still again.
Isaac was the first to break the silence, his brow furrowing in disbelief. “Her holes remain?” he repeated, almost as if testing the absurdity of it.
Bishop let out a bark of laughter. “Now that’s a solution.”
“That’s quite brilliant, actually,” Phoenix chimed in, his voice full of admiration.
He glanced at my Uncle Corbin, who shot him a look of disapproval, but Phoenix didn’t seem to care. This was exactly the kind of twisted challenge he thrived on. “To be clear,” he said, turning to Theron, “you want me to remove everything but the only part of her that’s… useful?”
“Is it really, though?” Emilio quipped, a smirk tugging at his lips as laughter rippled through the room.
I fought to suppress my own grin, the sheer brutality of the situation not lost on me, but Theron’s pragmatic approach was, in its own way, fitting.