Antichrist

I clear the fog from my throat. Having Niko here has absolutely nothing to do with the false confidence I feel. Lie.

“You want to tell me why you were working with Luca?”

She chuckles, and the sound is ugly enough to bounce across the walls in the—whatever this place is—and slap me right across the face. She slowly sits up, hanging her legs over the bench and bringing her eyes to mine.

“What, you want me to tell you that I want to be your mother? I don’t. You’re wasting your breath. You were a sheer inconvenience that turned into a bargaining chip for my safety.”

She has dark hair, almond-shaped eyes, and an obvious gap between her two front teeth that somehow draws attention to just how big her lips are.

“Truth is, I don’t care for you as much as I’m guessing you care for me.” Her words are targeted for me, but they don’t hit where I’m guessing she is wanting them to.

I step closer to her cell and Niko strolls backward, leaning against a stray table that’s in the middle of the room directly below the light. I appreciate it, because instead of him being stupidly overprotective, which would have done nothing but show this woman that he thinks I’m incapable of handling my shit, it shows her that I don’t need his protection.

I flick the little door open that is used to serve food and smile up at her.

“I didn’t come here for a mommy-daughter chat. I have strong women in my life and have had them in my life since I was a little girl. Your absence only gave me the woman I deserved, so I thank you for that.”

I tilt my head and her beady eyes shift up and down my body. I can see her scrutinizing me. My obvious wealth, health, and success. Instantly, I know why she does it. She wants the life I now have. I don’t need to rub it in her face. The look on hers is enough for me.

“Really, I was just curious. I’ve been asking myself since finding out about you being the little podcast woman—good move, by the way—why. Why would you go through all of this time and effort for little old me, but then it hit me.”

I snap my fingers together and she flinches.

“You did it because despite how much you hated me, you loved my father. You hated me because he loved me. Wanted me. Enough to offer me shelter and safety without me knowing who he was.”

I hold up my finger when she starts to interrupt.

“That killed you, because that man you spoke about in your podcast in Mexico wasn’t Luca’s father at all… it was mine.”

Her face falls, and I watch as anger rolls over her shoulders in waves.

“Joseph was who you ran from, and it was mine who saved you. You mixed up the timelines to confuse me into thinking Luca and his father were good people. Papa knew you were resourceful, because hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, so he set me up a life with Aunt Elsa in Halsin, off grid from the life he led but close enough that he could still keep an eye on me. And I know what you’re thinking.”

My brain won’t stop the scenarios from rolling off my tongue, as if it was waiting for this moment all along.

“But why didn’t my father just kill you, and I bet you’re still asking yourself that one question, huh?”

She shuffles on the bench, and I know I’ve got her.

“Well, let me enlighten you, Mother.” I run the tip of my finger down the glass door. “Pierre Laurent is a smart man. Too smart for someone like you, or Luca, or his father. He placed them in your life. The motions you went through were orchestrated by him, without any of you idiots knowing, and you want to know why?”

I tilt my head to the other side, eyeing her up and down. I can feel Niko behind me now, just quietly, and I suspect it has everything to do with the way my fingers are dangerously close to the lock on the door.

I raise one finger up. “To take down Luca’s father’s empire because that Cathedral had been in the wrong family for too long, while gaining access to the Italians through me.”

Another finger. “And on top of that, stealing me out of Luca’s arms for Preacher would have been much easier than trying to take me out of Niko’s, because he knew that I would have clung to Nik by my fucking talons.”

Third finger. “And lastly, because he wanted this moment to be for me. He wanted me to decide your fate.”

By the time I look back at her, she’s crawling up the bench with her arms wrapped around her legs.