King's Sword

Wednesdays

ADELAIDE

"I am perfectly capable of dealing with my family." I say while typing corrections on the latest business agreement with Mr. Braun. Vance groans from his leather chair to my left, sprawled out with a book laying open on his lap.

He's been like this since the incident last Friday. Hovering like a worrisome mother hen.

"And I am not saying that you're not, but do we have to have Dallas' birthday here? I mean, he hasn't even called since you took the inheritance!" Vance says in annoyance and closes the book with a loud slam.

"Because unlike the others, my brother actually has a job!" I snap back at him before returning to the contract. "Plus, he texted and I thought you liked Dallas."

"I tolerate Dallas, don't put words in my mouth." He grumbles and I smile. "He may have a job, but he still gets along great with your parents."

"He's the baby, remember? That's his whole thing, to be babied." I reply indifferently and sign the document digitally before saving it and emailing it to Neil and Lorie. "That caterer you liked so much will be here." I hum while leaning back in my chair with a seductive smile. Vance glares at me before pushing himself off the chair and coming to sit on my desk.

"Did you hire her solely because she looks like you?" He whispers and crosses his arms over his chest.

Friday has not been addressed. He fell asleep in my hospital bed before I could tease him any longer, and then he was too paranoid to even remember what I had said. That we could talk about us.

I didn't hire the caterer because she looked like me, I hadn't even made the connection until Morgan pointed it out at the company dinner we held a couple of weeks ago. But I saw the way Vance's eyes followed her around. She was easier to control than me. She laughed at his jokes and batted her eyelashes, and even touched his arm when she thought I wasn't looking.

"No." I say plainly in response, making him narrow his hazel eyes down at me.

"I did the thing you asked." He says and smiles warmly.

"The flamethrower?" I ask curiously and he scoffs.

"The other thing." I nod as he shakes his head. "I still don't know why you want a flamethrower."

"Where exactly did you find laced albuterol?" I ask, throwing my feet on the desk to look up at him suspiciously. Christopher apparently has needed an inhaler since the castration incident, and I mentioned that the right formula could induce a heart attack so Vance jumped right in.

"Tommy owed me a favor." Vance says carelessly and pats my leg. He had mentioned the guys he knew from prison, Tommy was one of the more memorable ones.

"Tommy? The guy who killed his father with a tire iron?" My eyes squint uncomfortably as I speak. "He's out of prison?" Vance chuckles with wicked eyes.

"You're planning murder, little one. You're just like us." He reaches down to hold my chin but I swat his hand away as he laughs. "He'll be here in an hour, you should stay in your room." I get up with a confused glance pointed at him.

"I can't meet your friends? Dr. Lawson said I have to embrace relationships." I tease as he follows me out of the study.

"Cute, but absolutely not." I roll my eyes. I am planning a murder and I was fully prepared to shoot my ex last week. I should feel disgusted with the person I have become, but for some reason, I only feel excitement.

Thrilled to see if my plan will work, to revel in the chaos of ambulances being called and people pretending to be devastated. I want to see my mother's face as they haul her brother out in a body bag, and hear Elizabeth's wailing through the halls. Smell the sin in the air like rotten strawberries.