Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 32429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 130(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 130(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
"There was no big fight," I hiss, pushing some papers away on the desk. "Xander has always been a thorn in my side. At first I thought I could help him. But soon enough, I realized he was the black sheep of the family. Wherever I went, he would just be weighing me down. An incessant reminder that I needed to take care of him and please my parents by doing so. But I wasn't going to bear it for much longer. So I took matters into my own hands. I took his life."
"What do you mean by that? He's clearly still alive."
Saul's brows knit together in confusion.
"I mean exactly what I said. And we're done with this topic."
He nods knowingly, as if he's fully aware he's overstepped, but for some reason I can't bring myself to stop talking about my brother. There's so much more I want to say... I've never opened up about him to anyone else, but now I find myself having the sudden desire to fill in Saul.
"All you need to know about him is that he's capable of killing and hurting anything with a pulse. He would do this to his own brother, what do you think he would do to you?"
I stand up, pulling up my buttoned shirt and revealing scars that line my body. I'm sure Tallulah has noticed them before, but I don't think Saul has.
The knife scars stretch all over my belly. Even though they're all healed, they're still puckered and a different color from the rest of my skin. I've done my best to try and cover them up with tattoos. Still, they're always there. A silent reminder of what my brother did to get back at me for stealing his life.
"This is his vengeance all over my skin. Revenge for what I did. To think of everything I did for him... Every decision I made to better his life was met with resistance. He was never on my side."
"Dio," Saul murders. "I can't believe your own brother would do that to you."
"Are you an only child?" I ask him, even though I already know the answer. When he nods, I smirk. "Then you have no idea what it's like between brothers. We were always competing with one another. Always trying to see who could outdo the other one. In some ways, I think Xander won, but then again, I have everything I've ever hoped for, including Tallulah. And soon enough I'll have Ivette, too. I'm clearly fucking winning."
Saul doesn't need me to tell him that Ivette is Xander's wife. He's known that all along, ever since we sent a sicario after her.
He still hasn't found her. We've been eagerly awaiting the news of Ivette's demise. I know it's unfair of me to go after my brother's wife, but it's the only way I can think of to hurt him as much as he hurt me in the past.
Besides, there's a part of me that can't resist going up against Xander.
There's that childish rivalry coming out to play again.
I want to beat Xander so badly... I'm willing to go to any lengths to do that.
"Why did Ivette run away from him?" Saul asks me.
"That's not my business," I mutter. "Especially because I don't know much about it. I haven't been in touch with my brother in decades, and I don't know what's going on in his twisted mind now. But I know that when he met his wife, Ivette, she was a different person. She was an innocent girl and he drove her to the brink of madness. Do you know that he branded her as a child?"
"Branded her?" Saul's eyebrows shoot up, as if he can't believe what I'm telling him.
"Yeah, he put his initials on her. Carved them in himself. I bet she's still wearing them because those cuts were too deep to ever heal up properly. And besides, that's not even the worst thing he's done to her."
Saul's questioning gaze follows me around the room as I base pace, wondering what Tallulah is doing.
I want to tell Saul more, but I feel I've exhausted the topic for now. My mind is firmly back to my ward.
"Leave me," I say firmly without any room for him to argue.
Saul seems to sense I need to be alone. He probably knows that I have to work through my feelings for Tallulah before I can commit to anything else.
"See you later, padron," he mutters as he walks out of the room.
I'm left alone with my thoughts and my guilty conscience over everything I've done to Tallulah.
Chapter 5
TALLULAH
Age fifteen
Once my parents tell me the truth about Xavier, it's time to start my training.
They've made it plenty clear that I'm going to be the one who winds up killing him. Once I accepted that my beloved guardian godfather was going to go down because of me, I embraced it.