THE TEMPTRESS

||Vengeance||

•STEPHANIE•

I dragged the poor bastard by his feet, scraping him along the rough cement floor of the warehouse. He let out a groan, still kinda out of it, but the pain was starting to hit him.

In the middle of the room, there was just one chair. I stopped in front of it, let Luca's feet drop, and turned to face him.

Hauling an unconscious dude from the car to the warehouse was no walk in the park. I was pretty beat, considering I took down his crew solo before nabbing him.

Originally, I thought about blowing up his hideout to cover my tracks, but it seemed pointless. Word was already out that I was the mastermind behind the whole thing.

I didn't give a damn about the consequences. I got what I wanted, and today was the day Luca Diesta would meet his end in my hands.

After a breather, I pulled him up and tossed him onto the chair. I tied him up while he was slowly coming back to his senses.

"You." He spat out my way, like saying my name left a bad taste.

I looked up at him, finishing up with the ropes around his legs.

"You're gonna pay for this," he growled, glaring with his beat-up face.

I stood up, narrowed my eyes, and braced my hand on my hip.

"I knew you shouldn't be trusted. You sneaky backstabbing bitch!"

My fist met his jaw, making his mouth bleed.

"You should save the energy by stop talking because I will take my time shredding you to pieces."

He spat blood on the floor. I leaned down, hands on the armrest, meeting his angry gaze.

"Why don't you take a closer look?" He faced me and glared straight into my eyes. "Did you really think I was going to let you get away with what you did, thirteen years ago? That I would let you live after taking away the lives of the people that I cared about?"

He glared, jaw clenched, but said nothing.

I eased back, fixing my posture, never breaking eye contact.

"Dalton Dellamonica. Does that name ring a bell?"

A hush fell over us as I observed the play of confusion, realization, and then denial on his face.

"No... no... it can't be."

"That's right. I'm his daughter," I declared calmly.

"No!" He yelled, disbelief etched on his face. "His daughter died years ago. I killed all of them."

His statement sent a chill down my spine, but I fought to keep my composure, resisting the urge to unleash my rage on him.

He doesn't deserve an easy death. He deserves a slow, painful one that makes him beg for a bullet to end it all.

"Stephanie Dellamonica. You better remember me like your life depends on it."

"No... no... no! You're supposed to be dead!" He shouted again.

"That's too bad then. Guess one of your men knows where his true loyalty lies and didn't want to finish the job."

His eyes widened in shock as realization hit him.

"Steven... that fucking traitor! I'll kill him."

I scoffed, arms folded.

"What makes you think you'll get the chance? You won't leave here alive."

He scoffed back, a smile playing on his lips as he relaxed in his chair.

"My son will find you. And when he does, you won't live. After all you've done behind his back, playing us for fools, pretending to be someone else, you're going to die, bitch!"

I couldn't help but smirk, catching him off guard.

"You really think he'll be able to do all that?" He squinted at me, and I took a step forward. "Why do you think I brought you here?"

His jaw twitched, and I let my arms loose, leaning down to be on eye level with him again.

"I'm going to lure him out. Kaden already hates you so he's not going to shed a single tear for you when I kill you in front of him. He's already in a vulnerable state and sees me as his only weakness. Which means, he won't be able to stop me from taking your life."

He growled, struggling against the ropes binding him to the chair, and I chuckled.

"But before that, I'll make you suffer by hurting him first, and you'll have to watch. You might not be his top weakness, but he's definitely yours. You're about to get a taste of watching your family die before your eyes."

Stepping back, I glared at him before strolling away to the other side of the warehouse.

"Stephanie, wait... Stephanie!" he yelled after me, but I didn't stop.

The warehouse was two stories tall with a small staircase leading to the second floor. I climbed the stairs and waited at the top.

All my weapons were neatly arranged, and I picked up a recurve crossbow, a modern piece. In a few more minutes, Kaden would arrive, and my plan would kick into action.

I had texted him earlier, telling him to come alone if he wanted to see his father alive. But I knew he wouldn't come unprepared.

His buddies and his crew would probably surround the place, trapping us in. They likely figured out the truth about me by now.

But that was the least of my concerns. I don't care if I die here, I will make sure that Luca dies first before I did. Even if Kaden managed to interfere with my plans, I will still finish what I had to do.

But, if I go down tonight, I'm taking them down with me.