Ironically, it was Andras’ coaching that helped me dodge Vera.
I dipped, retreating toward the wall, my footwork Olympic worthy. Without space on my side, it didn’t matter. I’d cornered myself.
Vera grabbed me by the neck, digging her acrylic nails into the tender flesh. I staggered back. My shoulder blades hit the window with a smack.
I raised my arms to loosen her grip, then twisted, landing a roundhouse kick to her stomach. She flew back with a yelp, falling straight into Andras’ arms.
Thank you, Ari, for forcing me to take self-defense lessons.
“Such a weird coincidence.” I pointed between them. “That you two hooked up just after Eugene was incarcerated.”
Tabby ran to her mom, patting her stomach, making her wince. She pointed at me. “You have no proof.”
Meanwhile, Reggie sidestepped Andras, rushing toward me, trying to pin me to the wall. A useless endeavor.
Not only was she out of shape, she’d also never fought for anything in her life.
I clasped her arm, twisted it behind her back, and bent it just before breaking point, leaning into her ear. “I suggest you stop trying to hurt me if you don’t want more charges to be brought against you.”
With Reggie as a human shield, I advanced.
Andras, Vera, and Tabby took collective steps back, watching me in horror.
Reggie thrashed and kicked, trying to break free. “Don’t let her hurt me.”
“She doesn’t really need her hands, does she?” I used my free hand to pet her head. “It’s not like she does anything with them. And no, handing credit cards to cashiers and texting friends don’t count.”
I knew I sounded like a villain.
I also knew I didn’t give a fuck.
Still on the carpet, Vera shook a finger at me, holding my gaze. “If you touch one hair on her head.”
I couldn’t remember the last time she’d looked at me. Really looked at me.
As a kid, I’d always wanted her to. I wish I’d known then what I knew now. That seeking love from people incapable of giving it would only burn a hole through my heart.
And there was no Band-Aid in the universe that could fix that.
I tossed my head back and laughed, tightening my hold on Reggie. “Read the room, Vera. You’re in no place to threaten me. Your cover is blown. Eugene is about to rot in prison for a lot more years than he planned, and you and Andras will join him.”
Thin rivers of sweat trickled down her temple. “Good luck proving it.”
“Don’t need luck. My private investigator did all the work.” I offered her a serene smile. “Word of advice, Vera. Next time you plan a murder, don’t leave a digital trail.” I frowned. “Though I’m not sure what cell access is like behind bars.”
I reached behind me, untucked a rolled-up folder from the back of my jeans, and tossed it at her knees. Evidence I’d printed on the plane.
The contents scattered around her, flashes of her sins blanketing the carpet. Her eyes soaked in the proof of her crimes, one by one.
She flew through all stages of grief in less than a minute, then circled back from acceptance to anger.
“You filthy little roach.” Vera’s nostrils flared. “It’s your fault. You know that?” A vicious grin hiked up her cheeks. “Your dad died because of you.”
I couldn’t help it.
I shrunk back behind Reggie, knowing she could feel it but unable to stop the tiny quivers.
Get your shit together, Fae.
Milk the truth out of her now.
Worry about the rest later.
“He changed his will.” Vera clawed Andras’ thigh, using it as leverage to stumble to her feet, almost taking his pants down with the momentum. “You were set to inherit the entire company, his car, most of his properties, and all the crappy old junk he kept around.”
“He had every right to. It’s his will.”
“You expect me to just sit back and watch you take everything me and my girls worked for?”
It took all my self-control not to yell.
Instead, I remained deathly still, clutching on to Reggie, my voice eerily level. “I expect you to be a reasonable person and not murder your husband over bullshit.”
“Bullshit? Bullshit?” She scoffed, peeling off an errant false eyelash from her cheek. “You fucked off to Seoul. And us? We were the ones who DoorDash’d his breakfasts, dropped his laundry off at the dry cleaners, and supervised maids as they cleaned up the house. You were off living a fairytale, while we put blood, sweat, and tears into pretending to be a happy family.”
Vera yanked off the other eyelash pair, tugging some skin with it, adding, “How did that bastard thank us?” She pointed to the ceiling. “With a will that barely gave us a roof above our heads.”
I shook my head. “Has it ever occurred to you that he left all he legally could to me because he didn’t feel valued by you? He had to ship his daughter across the ocean to spare her abuse from his wife. He chose you while he was alive. So, he chose me in death. Fair enough for you?”
I didn’t bother telling her I’d trade places any day. That I’d give every penny up if it meant he’d chosen me while he was still here.
Why didn’t he choose me?
“Fair? We’d be left with nothing.” Vera’s chest heaved up and down with her shouts. “What were we supposed to do?”
“Work.”
“I have.” Vera unclasped a gold earring. “Since I was five, stealing wallets at malls. Never again.”
“Because you’ve graduated to murdering men for their money.”
“You can’t see past your privilege. You didn’t drop out at twelve to make money for your mom and brothers. You never had to sell your body for a bag of groceries. Work? I’ve done it all. My body has done it all.” She gestured to Reggie and Tabby. “How do you think I ended up with them?”
I believed her.
I believed her, and I pitied her, and still—and still—I hated her.
She had no right to kill my dad.
“Mom.” Reggie stomped her shoe. “You said my daddy died in the war.”
Tabby scratched her temple. “You said my daddy drowned saving an injured dolphin.”
Vera ignored them, unclasping her other earring. “Before I was twenty-two, I had a toddler and another baby on the way. Diapers, formula, hospital bills. I was so sick of it all. Then, your dad moved in next door to my pimp. I knew I’d hit the jackpot.”
She shoved the baseball-sized hoop earrings into Tabby’s palm. “I had an OB appointment for Reggie, so I asked him to watch Tabby. I had a fever that wouldn’t go away. Your dad let me stay at his place. He spent the entire night up, watching over me until the fever broke. Two months later, I moved in permanently.”
Beside her, Andras’ eyes never left Vera, glued to her lips as if hearing her past for the first time.
“My pimp moved out from next door after your dad paid him off.” Vera stepped forward. “For once in my life, I had it all. Two kids. A home. A hot husband. Then, you showed up. So needy. So greedy for his time. Always crying for a bottle or to be held.”
“I was a baby. I did what babies do.”
“What about Reggie? She was just a baby, too. He even dared to ask me for my breast milk for you, too. You’re not even my kid.” She kept advancing toward me, her steps slow and measured. “The minute he saw you bundled in that box, I knew you ruined everything. Because the way he looked at you… Tabby, Reggie, and I had his sympathy. You had his love.”
My grip on Reggie tightened as I realized how close Vera had gotten. I could see the green flecks swimming in her dead eyes.
“Bullshit.” I shook my head, refusing to believe it. “Dad chose you. He sent me away. He—”
“Boohoo. You went to an exclusive international school with all those rich kids, while he couldn’t even afford your fencing equipment. You know he dug into our savings? He sold our stocks, dipped into our 401(k).”
Oh, Dad.
No matter how wrong he was for this, it still didn’t give Vera the right to harm us.
I wanted the earth to swallow me whole. To bury me beneath the house until it decayed. “That doesn’t excuse how you treated me.”
I released Reggie, pushing her away. She collapsed into Vera’s arms, sobbing into her chest.
I watched the two of them embrace, shaking my head. “You never gave me a chance. You never loved me.”
This set Vera off.
She shoved Reggie into Andras’ arms and closed our distance, coming toe to toe with me.
“Love?” She scoffed. “At least you have someone to take care of you. You bagged a billionaire. Don’t pretend you would’ve caught us without his help.”
Maybe.
But that didn’t mean I couldn’t fight my own battles.
“I can fight my own wars.” I straightened to my full height, staring down my nose at Vera. “Consider this your front-row seat. Game over, Vera. Eugene, too.”
Andras shoved Reggie into Tabby, elbowing Vera away. “You leave my son out of this.”
He seized my arms, rattling my entire frame. Unlike Vera, he beat me in strength.
I slammed against the wall, yelping. Sharp, all-consuming pain zipped up my spine.
My phone fell from its pocket, tumbling to the carpet. The recording app flashed on the screen. I tried to grab it, panicked that he’d see it.
But Andras had shoved his face into mine, saliva painting my cheek with each word he spoke. “I will not let you ruin Gene’s life. You hear me? I have had it with your crusade.”
His hands hiked up to my shoulders, and he started shaking me. My bones turned into Jell-O.
I tried to fight, making use of my quick feet.
I kicked.
Stepped.
Slid.
Nothing worked.
Andras was rabid. Completely void of pain.
“Gene did nothing wrong.” Andras shook me harder. “Your father was a loser. He didn’t deserve Vera. He didn’t deserve her girls. I had to put up with your shit for two straight years to stop you from making trouble again. Vera is right. You are a rat. Sooner or later, you will eat your way into destruction.”
My head began to swim. I’d stopped registering his words a while ago, drifting in and out of consciousness. With each jerk, my bones knocked against one another.
Suddenly, it stopped.
I collapsed to the carpet, barely registering the commotion.
Focus, Fae.
A sharp noise.
Something smashed.
All I knew was, I no longer flailed like a rag doll.
Then, Zach’s voice filled the room like pure oxygen.
“You fucking touched my girl? Grave mistake.”
I blinked away the haziness, just in time to see Andras fly across the room.
“I hope you’re okay with cremation, because there will be nothing left of you to bury.”
Tabby screeched, huddled against my empty mattress with Vera and Reggie. Andras smashed against the far wall. He collapsed onto the floor, covering his face with his fists.
Zach stalked to him, kicking him in the stomach as he lay in a fetal position. The pointy tips of Zach’s loafers cracked Andras’ bones, one rib at a time. They popped like knuckles, punctuated by Andras’ agonized screams.
“You.”
Zach stomped on his chest.
“Can’t.”
A rib this time.
“Touch.”
The ankle.
“Her.”
His throat.
“If.”
His wrist.
“You’re.”
And finally, his face.
“Dead.”
Blood gushed from Andras’ nose, spurting across the carpet. His bare chest bore matching stains and the early beginnings of nasty bruises.
Oliver stormed into the room, peeling his best friend off my ex-fencing coach. “Zach.”
Rom joined him, clutching on to his opposite shoulder. “Jesus Christ.”
Andras had stopped talking. Possibly even stopped breathing. It was hard to tell. He resembled a red bean bag. A lump that used to be a person.
Thud.
Thud, thud.
Thud.
I flinched before realizing the sound had come from my chest. My heart thrashed against its cage.
Zach shrugged off his friends, swatting them away like flies.
He rushed to me, scooping me into his arms. “Where does it hurt?”
Everywhere.
But I didn’t think Andras could survive another round of Zach’s fists and legs. Not that I cared. He just wasn’t worth the jail time.
Zach held me close to his chest. I wished I could melt into him.
I dug my nose into his skin, inhaling, not caring that my words came out garbled against him. “You came.”
“I don’t listen well.” He stroked my hair, gliding his fingers everywhere Andras had touched, replacing it with him. “Oliver and Romeo tagged along because they were afraid I’d kill someone.”
Oliver clapped Zach on the back. “Multiple someones.”
He raised his loafer, wincing when he realized Andras’ blood had caked the sole.
I leaned against Zach’s chest, nuzzling my cheek into his neck. “Tell me about the octopus.”
“Octopus arms have minds of their own. Most of an octopus’ neurons are in its arms. They can perform tasks without the mind of their owner. They can even move when the arm is chopped off.”
I scrunched my nose. “That’s morbid.”
I’d had enough morbidity for the day, thank you very much.
Zach began carrying me down the stairs into the living room. Blue and red lights swirled across the window glass, casting different shades on his beautiful face.
“I recorded everything.” I pulled my head back, staring up at him. “Upstairs.”
Oliver strolled into the room, holding up my phone. “Already have it.”
Rom guided him outside by the collar to greet the cops, giving us some time alone.
Zach sat on the couch, keeping me in his arms. “We’re lucky you’re the octopus and not me.”
“Why?”
“If I had eight limbs, Andras would be dead by now.”
I giggled, finally letting myself relax.
My smile faded at the sight of an officer leading Vera outside in cuffs. “It’s really over. Why don’t I feel better?”
Four paramedics carried Andras away in a stretcher.
Zach swept his thumb under my eye. “Because none of this brings your dad back.”
“I miss him.”
“I know, baby.”
“Thank you for coming.”
“Always. You’re safe now, Farrow.” Zach kissed my temple. “You are safe always.”
But my heart wasn’t.
Because it had finally realized something dangerous.
