The Devil's Masquerade: The Poison (17 page)

Our meeting has taken an unexpected turn, and one that has me wondering about my brother. Maybe I have been overly protective of him and missed all the potential he possesses. Savage invites us to his study where we are instantly greeted by naked women who have no shame or boundaries. Savage freely lets the women take his cock out and grasp it with their moistened lips.

“Feel free to help yourself to one. I have kept them busy for a few days to help ease some recent stress I have been having. Some bitch is causing issues for me, and I am trying to handle the situation diplomatically, which takes a lot of patience on my part.”

“I didn’t know you handled things diplomatically,” I say, pushing a woman away from my crotch and fighting through the bouncing breasts in my face. “I think we are going to go,” I say in frustration.

“Why? Stay. Have a fuck, or two. Rabbie has planned an amazing dinner for later. What about you, Ryan, surely you would like to relieve some stress?”

“No, this is … I don’t know what the fuck this is. But I am not interested,” Ryan says, pulling a woman’s hand out of his pants and dodging the others. “I think I’m ready to go, too.”

“They are here to please, not cause you more stress. Take one home if you are shy about fucking in front of me.”

“Nope. We are going to go but thanks anyway,” I say, exiting with Ryan as Savage stands and positions himself behind a woman bent over a chair. I slam the door shut before we both are scarred any more than we already are by his apparent abilities.

“He will be in there for days sometimes,” a woman says from behind us. “It’s absolutely disgusting, but it does ease his stress and make him more tolerable.” Ryan and I stare at her in amazement. She looks just like Lena. “So, you are my nephews? I am your father’s half-sister, Galena.”

I take her hand and greet her as warmly as I can, despite my shock. “It’s nice to meet you. Do you live here too?”

“Unfortunately. Father doesn’t want me too far away from him. He likes his family close. He is very protective, as you are finding out, I’m sure. Dinner is going to be ready soon. Won’t you stay and enjoy it with him?”

“With him? You are not eating?” Ryan asks.

“No, dinner is only for Father and his guests. I am not real anxious to be a part of that anyway,” she says.

“So come have dinner with us?” Ryan says, shockingly. “Yes please, come with us. We can introduce you to Kayla, Nick’s wife, his two sons, and some friends of ours. Dinner can be a big event sometimes, but it’s always fun.” Galena smiles but seems to be ready to say no when I understand why Ryan is inviting her.

“Come, please. My two boys will climb all over you. They love new people, but I assure you, they will make you laugh. Kayla has put together a great dinner for everyone. It’s a great family night for us, I promise you. It’s not like anyone is going to miss you here.” Galena glances at Savage’s study door and rolls her eyes.

“I would love to have dinner with you and your family,” she says with a light smile.

“Our family,” I emphasize, causing a wider smile to form across her face.

I try to warn Kayla ahead of time with a quick text.

Nick:
Have a large dinner prepared and invite everyone you can. Except Lena and Brady, and leave Franky out of it, too.

I don’t have time to verify if she received the message before we walk in the door with Galena. I feel much better when Kayla greets me with a reassuring kiss. I introduce her to Galena, and she in turn introduces Nicky and Brayden. Nicky, of course, runs right up to her and shakes her hand before asking if she wants to see his latest artwork. She happily agrees to do just that, giving me a chance to talk to Kayla alone. She has invited everyone and made sure Lena and Brady stay away. Franky is sent out with some guards to retrieve some more of her things while Elijah heard
family dinner
and decided he wasn’t about to come anywhere near something that sounded too much like, “A dull night with a big collections of boring fucks,” as he said unapologetically. Dwayne shows up though in his finest, gigantic, sweater, which makes us all laugh at the site of the odd look on him. “What are you wearing?’ I laugh at him in private.

“What? Kayla said dress for a family dinner. This is what I wear to a family dinner.” I laugh, shaking my head. “Fuck you, Nick. This food better be good.”

Exie comes with Bo, while Terrence shows up and immediately takes a liking to Galena. He is smooth and doesn’t hold back on his flirtations ever. Terrence has no doubts in his appeal to women. I have seen him walk up to the most beautiful woman in the room, kiss her hand, and then walk away with her following shortly thereafter. Women love a man with confidence. Well, confidence
and
money.

“You know, I find older women extremely sexy,” Terrence says with a charming smile.

Galena smiles at him and lures him in with a whisper and a deadly smile that throws him completely off his game. “You are certainly related,” Kayla whispers to me. I laugh, gripping her hand.

Brayden suddenly laughs out loud and reaches out to touch Galena. Her expression is shock, and her mind seems to wander off to somewhere none of us understand. “Galena, are you okay?” Kayla asks.

“Oh yes, sorry. He is so adorable and so friendly for such a small child. I had heard he was sickly, but he certainly seems brave,” she says, breathing again.

“He thinks your Aunt Lena. You look just like her,” Nicky says innocently as he tries to secretly pass food to the dog under the table. All eyes focus on her as she looks up at me.

“I guess we all have a twin somewhere. If it grants me more attention from this cutie then I don’t mind it at all,” Galena says, playing with Brayden and causing him to laugh even more. Before the end of the night, Brayden has charmed his way into her arms, and she doesn’t seem to want to let him go. Kayla allows her to sing him to sleep and put him to bed later in the night. “Thank you for allowing me time with him,” she says to us as she prepares to leave. “He is a charming child. They both are. I would have liked to have spent more time with Nicky, but his dog doesn’t seem to like me getting anywhere near him.”

“You are good with children, and as far as Eey, he is overly protective of Nick. Rightfully so I suppose. He did save Eey’s life. You are welcome to come over and play with them anytime you want. They do seem to love having you here. We all do, and I am sure Eey will warm up to you eventually,” Kayla says to her while leaning in against my side.

“I would love to. Typically, animals like me, so I hope Eey will learn to trust me more, and I certainly love children. You know I had a baby once but … she died,” she says sadly.

“I’m so sorry,” Kayla says, unsure of how to react to her confession.

“Oh, don’t worry. It was years ago, but thank you. It was very nice to be here tonight.” Galena smiles with sadness in her eyes, and suddenly, I realize how pained her life has been. Eey looks up at her and whimpers. She doesn’t fear him like Savage does. Instead, she runs her hand through his fur and closes her eyes with a hum. “Your questions about Father were good ones, but they won’t help you against him. I can’t help you against him. Your best bet is just to abide by his rules the best you can and keep out of his way.” I step towards her.

“There has to be a way. If you know anything, please tell us. Help us, and we can help you,” I say, gripping her hand.

“Nicholas, you are so much like your father, always looking for better. I miss him. Do you really think my father would trust me with such valuable information? I’m just his daughter, not his son … or his grandson,” she says, kissing my cheek and saying her goodbyes to everyone else. Kayla leans on me and wraps her arms around me.

“Do you think she will tell Savage about Lena?” Kayla asks.

“I don’t know for sure, but something tells me she isn’t anxious to have another daughter killed, especially her brother’s.”

“Do you think he killed her baby, Nick?”

“I know he did. I saw it in her eyes.” If I had any hope of having a strong ally that is already on the inside of Savage’s tight knit clan, it clearly got busted by the weakness in my Aunt’s eyes. Galena is too scared to help us. Savage has taken too much from her and has left nothing but a mindless minion.

After a night of talking with Galena, I decide to go back to my father’s notes and papers, to look for more on his sister. Maybe there is something I am missing about her. Maybe there is a way to awaken her soul, awaken the strong woman she talked about once being at dinner.

Galena and my father wrote to each other often, but it stopped for no reason at all before I was born. My father moved from a decent neighborhood to the rat hole that I grew up in. A place, as Galena wrote, “Our father would never go to such a disgusting place.” She wrote this when telling my father about a drug dealing gang she was ordered to deal with on her own because it wasn’t a place her father was going to be caught dead in. My father took the hint that wasn’t given on purpose. I spend hours scanning notes between my father and my mother, all of which amounts to nothing. There are more notes about my growing up and the signs that my power was increasing by the day, faster than my father expected it to. He had ideas of leaving me with Elijah’s father and even Lena’s mother, but neither were options that would hide me enough from my grandfather. If Savage hadn’t sent Saldean to kill my father, he might have been sidetracked enough for my father to find the right hiding place for me. Instead, he was forced to become my personal bodyguard for life, at least his life.

My eyes grow heavy until I find a notebook that is buried deep inside an old bag. The black bag, with the name “Simone’s Garage” across it, contains pictures with dates, places, and names. Simone’s Garage? Ah no! I pull out one picture after another of a woman with my father and some of them together at Simone’s Garage. I can’t believe this. “Sophia, nice to meet you. Your nephew has been a pain my ass since the day I met him. Fuck.” The beautiful woman rests against my father’s chest is in every picture thereafter. The pictures show my father with a look that I never saw on him, happily in love. The notebook verifies his love for her. He nearly goes insane desiring her, up to the point of feeling her naked body for the first time. He writes of every intimate detail, even the first time he came inside of her, but it is her orgasm, he writes, that changed him forever. It is what follows that causes me to pause.

My desire to kill is gone. My power feels even stronger, and my mind, for the first time, feels clear and wide open. I used to desire nothing but to please my father. Now, when I look at him, I see a killer. No, a murderer. He threatened me wanting me to stay away from her but; I wouldn’t give up love for him. I told him that. I told him I wouldn’t follow him blindly any longer and that I have a mind of my own. I can form my own army, my own business, and with the protection of the other Lords, I could defeat him. I assumed he understood and would back off. I assumed wrong. When he showed up at her door, I dared him to kill me, but it wasn’t me he was after. I sensed his desire for her the moment I looked into his eyes. He wants her for himself but prefers her death more. There were men creeping around her house while he tried to distract me. I was too smart for that, or so I thought. I stood in front of her and fought them all: one, two, three or more at a time. With each kill, I became hungrier for another. It was like a disease was awakened in me. I craved it, I enjoyed it, and I became so overwhelmed with the poisonous craving that I killed my own love. Sophia was gone before I could say goodbye. I woke up with her twisted body still reaching for me to spare her, but I didn’t realize it was her. If only I realized it was her and my child. I killed them. My poisonous blood killed them.

He won. He got what he wanted and what he believes is better; he got me to acknowledge what I am. The devil inside of me cannot be killed. The killer always remains within me. It desires to be fed, and I fed it with the only love I have ever known. I begged him to kill me, and he screamed for me to take back my role in the family. He turned my brother against me, so I turned to my sister, and with her help, I ran. Her funeral was terrible to see. Her family was as distraught as I was. Most of them believed that she had a heart attack, but her brother approached me and said he didn’t believe that. He planned to devote his life to finding her killer, and he begged me to help him. It was my hands that killed her, but it was my father’s blood that cursed me to do so. I have to find a way to kill my father, and so I agreed to help him if he would help me. That bond cursed his life and his wife’s too. The only person that can cause my father’s demise and seek revenge for all the lives he has destroyed is me.

My father’s words send chills down my spine, considering what I might become, who might suffer because of me.

Chapter 21

Ryan

Every morning I wake up, and for a brief moment, I believe everything is just as it was. Sam is with me in our home and we are back trying to decide between getting married at a Vegas drive-thru or having a lavish wedding in front of all of our family friends. And what I would give to look at more drapery fabrics right now. Somehow, I manage to get out of bed again today. I am not sure how, but my nephews help me forget my troubles some of the time, Kayla picks on me enough to help me get through some more, and Nick gives me work to do to help me make it through the rest of my day and back to bed. The trouble is when I am back in bed, I’m back to the quiet darkness where I have nothing but my thoughts and memories. I can barely tolerate it and end up having to get up and find something to do, something to take my mind off of things. With everyone else in bed, I turn on the television, pace the floor, throw a ball against the wall, stare out the window, check the security cameras, and then she walks in.

“You miss her that much?” Franky asks. I nod. “You don’t have to torture yourself, you know.” She walks up to me and sighs, “I can help you feel better. Come on, Ryan. Let’s try it. It doesn’t hurt to try,” she says, lifting her hand up to softly cover my face. “Just breathe and think of a better place, of a better time, and let me do the rest.” I close my eyes and let go. I let go of it all and do just as she says, and when I open my eyes, I see Sam. I can feel her, smell her, taste her … I remove my clothes and hers before picking her up and forcing her against the wall. My cock slides in easily, and I feel her tense and moan with excitement.