Chapter 63 "Hello Kitten"
Cole Ryder's POV
Celene’s crying slowly began to quiet against my chest.
Her fingers were still clutching my shirt like she was afraid I might disappear if she let go.
I kept one arm wrapped firmly around her while the other moved slowly along her back in a steady and rhythmic motion.
“Breathe,” I murmured softly near her ear.
Her body shook again as another broken sob escaped her.
“How could they do that?…” she whispered.
My jaw tightened.
Jeffery stood a few feet away, watching silently. His expression was grim, his hands folded behind his back like he was trying to contain something.
“Explain yourself” I asked without looking up.
Jeffery answered immediately.
"I have no excuse, Boss" he said.
"Create one" his silence would not be accepted, I did not fucking care who I had to kill or punish, including him, so... his half-hearted explanation would not even begin to cover for him putting her in danger.
“We went to retrieve her belongings from the house.”
Celene shuddered in my arms, her fear was so palpable, it broke my heart...
“When she entered the bedroom, we discovered the animal on the bed. Knife through the chest, and a note on the wall.”
My hand paused slightly against Celene’s back.
“What note?”
Jeffery’s eyes flicked toward her before answering.
“‘Hello Kitten.’”
For a brief moment something cold slid down my spine.
I pushed the feeling aside.
Someone was playing games with me...
Someone was being reckless... trying to rile me up, trying to get me to act rashly and recklessly... but that's the thing, the angrier I get, the more calculated I become.
Before I could respond, Jeffery’s phone rang.
He glanced at the screen, then frowned and looked at me.
“It's the comare...”
I looked him dead in the eyes... my mother...what odd timing.
Celene stiffened slightly in my arms when he said that.
“Put it on speaker,” I said.
Jeffery answered.
“Comare...My lady”
What came through the phone next was the unmistakable sound of my mother crying.
“Jeffery? Is Cole there?” her voice trembled.
“I’m here, Mother,” I said calmly.
Her breath hitched.
“Oh thank God.”
“What happened?”
More crying filled the line.
“A package arrived this morning. I thought it was flowers from the foundation donors but when I opened it...”
Her voice broke.
“There was a dead cat inside the box.”
Celene jerked slightly against me.
My eyes darkened at her reaction, my mind sharpening by the words my mother spoke.
“What?”
“They cut its throat,” my mother whispered, horrified. “And there was a card. I didn’t understand it. It said something strange.”
My entire body went still. I knew exactly what it said, and yet I asked her the damned question.
“What did it say?”
A small shaky breath came through the phone.
“It said… ‘Hello Kitten.’”
The entire room fell silent.
Jeffery slowly lifted his gaze toward me.
Celene’s grip on my shirt tightened.
For several seconds, I didn’t speak.
The same message, the same animal, two separate locations.
Someone wasn’t just threatening Celene.
They were escalating. They were growing bolder, targeting my family.
“Mother,” I said evenly, “are you with your security details in the house?”
“Yes.”
“Anyone suspicious around the property?”
“I don’t know, darling. I’ve been inside all morning.”
I glanced at Jeffery.
He understood immediately what I was about to do.
“We will have to swap out your security for now, and that'll take some time... We’re bringing you here,” I said.
“To the mansion?”
“Yes.”
“But Cole...”
“This isn’t up for discussion, mother..." i cut in.
"...if this person is trying to be bold, the best we can do is reduce the casualties until i can get them with my bare hands and slow-cook them over an open fire. ” I said finally.
"Cole, relax with the gory details, will you?"
My mother... ever the weak and soft one... it was a miracle she survived living with my father.
“Anyway, you’re not staying there alone.”
I paused and waited for her to come up with another excuse, but then I got a soft sigh of relieve.
“Alright.”
“I’ll send a car immediately.”
Jeffery was already dialing the number of my most trusted drivers.
The moment the call ended, Celene finally pulled back slightly from my chest. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying.
“Your mother…” she whispered.
“Yes.”
Her voice trembled again.
“He sent the same message to both of us?”
I lifted my hand and brushed damp strands of hair away from her face.
Whoever was behind this knew exactly what they were doing. They wanted me to feel fear, to panic... they wanted to course chaos in my camp.
They wanted me distracted... but fuck it, it only made me riled up enough to want vengeance.
My jaw tightened.
That was their mistake.
Because now I wasn’t just protecting Celene.
I was protecting my family.
And whoever thought they could terrorize people under my protection… whoever thought they could make Celene cry... was about to learn exactly why my enemies feared my name.