“I didn’t–
I cross the room and forcefully yank the broom away from her.
“YOU’RE LYING,” I yell at her, enjoying the terror on Jelena’s face as she flinches in surprise. I never raise my voice at my staff. But my staff has never put my wife in danger. She takes a step back and nearly stumbles over my desk as I get in her face. She didn’t just betray me – she betrayed Cullen.
I want to ruin her.
“How much did she pay you?” I ask, barely containing my seething rage. “If you lie to me, this will only get worse.”
“I didn’t–
“DAMN IT!” I yell. “Tell the truth, or I will send you back to your country in pieces.”
Her response comes out with a sharp yelp, “$5,000.”
She squeezes her eyes shut and follows up with apologies, blubbering and complaining, saying my mother manipulated her and doing everything except taking accountability. I glare at her and watch the woman sob pathetically in front of me until she attempts to grab my hand in her pleading. I snatch it away from her and grip the broom I took tightly, blood coursing through me as my reckless urges threaten to push me over the edge.
She folds too easily. It probably wouldn’t take me that long to strangle her to death. I take a step towards her. My grasp on the broom takes a dark turn as I turn it on its side and consider pinning this traitorous maid to my office wall until she stops breathing.
Jelena yelps and steps back. If this creature destroyed the relationship between me and Cullen, I’ll have her blood. I raise my arms, ready to do the unthinkable.
Zack’s voice is the only thing that stops me, “Padraic. I found out who–
He quickly pieces everything together.
“Cullen’s tracker came on,” his voice presses urgently. He’s my brother, so I can tell from his tone that he’s practically begging me to turn on my heel away from this woman.
Don’t leave me a mess to clean up.
I can’t take my eyes off Jelena yet.I want to punish this creature.
“Cullen has a tracker?” I ask my brother cautiously, making sure this isn’t a ploy that will allow this undeserving wretch to escape.
“After the last time, I didn’t want to take any chances.”
I have the choice right in front of me. Stay here and end Jelena’s life, choose violence and isolation for the sake of my ride. Or I could choose Cullen.
“How far away is she?” I ask, glaring down Jelena to instill fear in her. If this is the last time I see this woman, I want her to fear ever crossing me again.
“Tracking her path, it looks like she was trying to get to the main road but ended up on the South hill pond.”
Fuck.
“Near the woods again?”
“Yup. She is not good with directions,” Zack mutters.
It’s hard for most people to adjust to a sprawling estate like this one. I’ve lost staff quite literally on the sprawling grounds. The worst case happened while I was away, but it was still unsettling to know that a cook spent a week lost in the woods.
“Let’s go find her,” I respond. “By the time I get back, this wretch will have a head start – and she’d better hope that I don’t catch her near this small town again.”
I drop the broom. The noise from the handle clattering to the ground causes Jelena to flinch. I step back, allowing her just enough room to flee my office. Zack gives me a disappointed look.
“Were you really going to hurt her?” He asks.
I glare at him. “Yes.”
“What happened to Cullen? What did you do?”