Chapter 66: Blood is a bad bargain

I was leaning back on the velvet sofa, my iPad resting on my lap as I lazily scrolled through the morning's stock fluctuations. My dark red halter top felt like a second skin, and my white flared pants pooled around my white Louboutin heels. I looked every bit the Madame CEO the tabloids called me—sharp, pristine, and dangerous.

A light knock at the double doors broke my concentration.

"Enter," I said.

My head of security stepped in, clearing his throat. "Mrs. D'Angelo, there is—"

"Miss," I corrected, not shifting my gaze from the screen. "And if you use that prefix again, you can collect your severance by noon. What is it?"

"Miss... Kendella Delacroix is in the foyer. She says it's a matter of life and death."

I paused my scrolling for exactly one second. "Life and death? How dramatic. Send her in."

I didn't get up. I didn't even look toward the door when I heard it open. I waited until I heard the soft click of her heels stop in the center of the rug. I let ten seconds pass. Then twenty. I wanted her to feel every square inch of the luxury I had taken from her family.

"Aurielle?"

Her voice was small. Cracked. I didn't look up. I finished reading a paragraph, tapped a button, and finally, slowly, lowered the iPad.

Kendella stood there, looking like a ghost of the girl who used to torment me. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her  dress wrinkled as if she'd slept in it.

"What do you want, Kendella?" I asked.

She took a shaky breath, her fingers twisting together. "I... I just came here to apologize for everything I've done."

A small, hollow smile touched my lips, but it didn't reach my eyes. "Apologize? That's a very long list for a Tuesday morning."

"I'm serious," she whispered, a tear finally escaping. "I know I was a monster to you. I was jealous, Aurielle. I was so consumed by the idea of you taking Kieran away that I didn't see what was right in front of me. I didn't know you were my sister. I've always wanted a sister, and I ruined the only chance I had before it even started."

I looked at her—really looked at her—and felt nothing. Not anger. Not pity. Just a vast, cold emptiness.

"You've practically ruined my life, Kendella," I said, my voice dangerously calm. "You humiliated me. You treated Adrien like a stain on your floor. You made it your mission to ensure I never felt like I belonged anywhere. And now, because we share a few strands of DNA, I'm supposed to play house with you?"

"I was trying to save you!" Kendella's voice rose, the apology turning into a desperate defense. "At the wedding... I didn't do that to hurt you. I did it because I couldn't let you commit a sin that would damn you forever. I saved you from marrying your own blood, Aurielle. I saved you from Kieran."

I stood up then. I walked toward her until our shoes almost touched.

"You didn't save me," I hissed. "You just made sure that when my world ended, there was an audience to watch it burn."

Kendella flinched at my words, her lip trembling. "I deserve that. I know I do. But Aurielle... the world out there is already turning against us. Elias is losing his mind. He's looking for someone to blame for the empire crumbling, and right now, that someone is you."

I walked over to the sideboard, pouring myself a glass of chilled water, ignoring the way my hand hovered momentarily over the curve of my stomach. "Elias is a ghost. I own his chair, his bank accounts, and his legacy. He can look all he wants."

"He's not just looking, Aurielle," Kendella whispered, her voice dropping to a terrified register. "He's cleaning house. My father... Julian... he's already filed for divorce from Marliese. He's cutting ties with the D'Angelos. But Elias? He's hiding something. I went to the old estate to get my things, and I saw him. He was talking to a man—someone dirty, someone from the docks. He gave him a folder with your name on it. And Kieran's."

I froze, the glass halfway to my lips, "Why are you telling me this, Kendella?" I turned, my eyes piercing through her. "You spent your life wanting me gone. Now you're playing the whistleblower?"

"Because if you die, I'm the only one left for him to ruin, because I exposed the truth," Kendella cried out, the raw honesty finally breaking through. "And because... because Kieran is falling apart. He's at the docks, Aurielle. He's been there for three days, chasing a woman he thinks is his mother. He's going to get himself killed, and you're the only one who can stop him."

I felt a sharp, unwelcome pang in my chest. Kieran. Even after I had shot him, even after I had called his presence 'charity,' the thought of him in a body bag made the air in the room feel thin.

"I don't care about Kieran," I lied.

"Yes, you do," Kendella stepped closer, reaching into her purse and pulling out a crumpled piece of paper. "I found this in the trash at the estate. It's a location. A warehouse. I think... I think that's where the secret is buried. The truth about why Kieran's mother was never allowed to be seen."

I looked at the paper, then back at my so called sister.

"If this is a trap, Kendella," I said, my voice dropping, "I'll make sure the Delacroix name is buried so deep in the mud that not even a memory of you remains."

"I know," she whispered. "Just... save him. Please."

Then she left without saying another word,

but I caught the way her eyes lingered on the security keypad by the door. She scanned the perimeter of my living room, her gaze darting toward the balcony and the service exits before she finally disappeared into the hallway.

I looked at the crumpled paper in my hand. Kieran was a D'Angelo. He was the brother I never wanted and the man I couldn't stop loving. If Elias was going to kill him, he'd have to go through me.

I grabbed my keys and my pistol.

I'm coming for you,  Kieran.

RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!

The sound came from the courtyard.

I froze.

My pistol and key hit the floor, but I didn't care. I lunged for the window. My breath hitched, fogging the glass as I looked down.

Four of my guards were already face-down in the gravel, their blood staining the white stone. Men in tactical gear moved like shadows. They weren't just attacking; they were invading.

"Adrien," I whispered, the name feeling like a prayer and a scream all at once.

"ADRIEN!"

I didn't take the elevator. I lunged for the stairs, my lungs screaming as I took them two at a time.

I slammed into his bedroom. "Adrien! Baby! Where are you?"

Empty.

The covers were thrown back. His favorite stuffed bear—the one he couldn't sleep without—was lying on the floor, trampled by a muddy boot print.

"No. No, no, no..."

I sprinted to the playroom, I burst inside, but the only thing greeting me was the whistling of the wind.

The large bay window was shattered. Shards of glass glittered on the floor. I ran to the ledge, looking down just in time to see a blank SUV roaring through the gates.

Through the tinted rear window, for a split second, I saw a small, pale hand pressed against the glass.

"ADRIEN!"

Kendella hadn't just been scanning the room for exits. She had been the distraction. She had fed me a crumb of Kieran's location so I would let my guard down just long enough for them to take my son.

"You bitch," I whispered, the grief in my chest curdling into a white-hot, poisonous rage. "You absolute bitch."

I scrambled back into the living room, snatching my pistol off the floor.  I didn't care I was seven months pregnant.

I bolted for the garage.

As I threw myself into the driver's seat of my car, my phone buzzed in the center console. I didn't recognize the number, but I swiped it with a trembling thumb.

"Where is he?" I screamed into the phone. "Elias, if you touch a hair on his head—"

"Aurielle."

.....

I stepped out of my car. I drew my coat tighter around me, my hand brushing against the gun at my hip.

I recalled Kendella's warnings. She'd called me: "I saw some men, I was just outside the gates when they forced their way in. I quickly hid. They didn't speak Italian. Their accents, the way they moved… it had been foreign."

I didn't believe her. But I was so sure Elias had orchestrated everything.

Taking a slow, steadying breath, I approached the warehouse door. My fingertips traced the cold metal. One step inside, then another. The darkness swallowed me whole.

My eyes adjusted slowly, and then I  saw him.

A figure, seated, the back to me.

"Look who decided to come see her father," the figure said."

"Elias,"

My jaw tightened. I took a step closer. "Where is he? Where is my son?"

"What do you mean? I don't have your son."