Vicious Minds (Children of Vice #4)(19)
Then she saw the young prince, and to remind her she was so low beneath him, he called her a mouse. Can you believe it? A mouse, a rodent, a creature that feeds on scraps and trash. That’s what he called her, and it hurt her feelings, but she forgave him because she knew she wouldn’t stay a mouse for long. She decided then and there, she’d marry that mean little prince and make him realize how wrong he was. But she had to get stronger, prettier, smarter…she did all of that, always checking in on that family, that prince. From afar he seemed to get colder and colder and when he became king, getting into that castle became all but impossible.
Not to be the deterred, Calliope decided if she couldn’t get in, she’d bring him out. It wasn’t easy, anyone can cause terror, but chaos requires delicacy and patience; after all, you can’t just kill anyone, you have to kill the right ones. A few cartel bosses here and few politicians there, until no one can trust anyone and people are stabbing even their own mothers in the back, thinking they’re the ones who reported their stashes. How does this get the king out of the castle? When there is chaos, there needs to be order, and who better to bring order than the king? Especially when the idiots who are stabbing each other are hurting his bottom line.”
“The drug busts; that has been happening because of you?” His voice was barely a whisper. I knew the only thing holding him back from killing me wasn’t the fact that he knew me from childhood, but because he wanted to know the truth.
“Me?” I said in mock horror but gave myself away by grinning and leaning closer into him. “It was almost too easy, Ethan. Watching them turn on each other, on their own family after all that talk about loyalty…there was this one man, he cried when he found out his wife sold him out. Like legitimately cried…ha.” I bit back small laugh. “Sorry, that wasn’t funny. It was a really sad moment for their family. People say blood is thicker than water, I say put money in the water and blood means nothing anymore.”
“In one year, you pushed all the drug cartels in Colombia to blood wars just so you could get to me?”
“What can I say?” I grinned. “I’m a romantic.”
The look on his face…the blank and cold stare he was trying so hard to keep on his face was cute.
“I’ve lost hundreds of millions of dollars,” he sneered. “Do you think I am amused? Impressed?”
“That reminds me,” I went on, ignoring his comment and adjusting the ring on my finger. “The only way to get to you was to get a job as waitress, obviously I chose a restaurant you secretly own. It’s not a secret anymore because…well…María Paula. She actually held out much longer than I thought she would. I was very impressed by her, you should leave flowers at her grave.”
“Are you insane? Truly?” he questioned.
I rested my elbow and head against the couch and looked him over. “I seem insane to you… of all people?”
“Very.”
“Good, isn’t that one of the prerequisites for this family?”
“You think after all you’ve done, I’d just get down on one knee and give you a ring?”
“Oh…if only,” If it was going to be that easy, I would have just knocked on his front door. “Between your pride, trust issues, and my plot to bring you here, I know you mostly see me as threat…and only believe half the things I’m saying.”
“If you knew that all along, wasn’t this just one big waste of my goddamn time?” he questioned. I was doing my very best not smack him.
He was still playing dumb with me.
“No, because here I am, sitting right across from you, as you give me your undivided attention. So it seems like my trap worked perfectly well.”
“Except for the fact that now you might not leave here with your life.”
“You threaten me to scare me, but in reality, all you’re doing is telling me you don’t want to kill me.” If he truly wanted me dead, he wouldn’t have listened, he wouldn’t still be listening.
“You seem to know a lot about things you shouldn’t know about. Who should I thank for that?” Translation: the only possible way I could have this conversation is if there was a mole.
“I hope that is a rhetorical question. If not, why in the world would I kill an ally of mine?” I frowned, trying to think. “That’s just stupid. This whole point of this conversation is to tell you I am not stupid.”
“I thought this whole conversation was you telling me you want my attention—”
“Actually, I want you to marry me, but we can take it slow if you prefer.” I shrugged. It’s not like I had issues with time.
His nostrils flared. “I do not see that reason and I like you less than I did a day go.”
“Look again. Maybe it will come to you.”
“I do not like desperate women.”
My eyes narrowed, and he offered me a small smile as if he was pleased with his little dig which was why he kept trying to hurt me.
“Do you know how many women want to be my wife? How many people trip over themselves to stand beside me? Do you think just because I’m listening to you that I give a shit about you? Do you think it’s because I fucked you or was it because we met once as children? How pitiful must you be to plan all of this for nothing? How much of a nothing are you in your own world that you come desperately seeking my attention…only to be nothing here too?”