REVENGE WITH LOVE : CHAPTER 21 – 30

REVENGE WITH LOVE : CHAPTER 21 – 30

CHAPTER 23 & 24.
DENIAL

Tesiera simply doesn’t believe him. It doesn’t sound right and her face told him exactly what she thought about his little revelation.

“I didn’t kill your father.” He repeated.

“How can you look me in the eyes and tell such a bald-faced lie?” Her nose flared as she spat.

“I don’t lie, Tesiera Rinderson.I see no reason to do so.”

“I don’t believe you.” She deadpanned.

Kracus shrugged, “Then I think we have reached an impasse. What I told you was the truth, I see no reason to lie to a woman who is completely at my mercy.” he reached for his discarded shirt to put it on again. “You’re tied up, bound to that chair. If I was the murderer you accused me of, I could easily kill you now and throw your body to the sea. Why would I lie to a woman I’m going to get rid of, anyway?”

That made sense, but she wasn’t backing down. It had to be a lie. There was no record of any half-brother in the Kingston’s name and she did extensive research—she always does in all her missions. She was meticulous when it came to that, and Big Cat was worse.

The Mafia godfather worked with all kinds of people both legit and illegal, he had all kinds of investigators on this case and after so many years, they finally found the main culprit. After she was presented with this man’s profile, she’d done more digging on him, and although she couldn’t find much, she knew there was no half-brother.

“There is no record of a half-brother in the Kingston bloodline.” She argued aloud.

“I know that.” he admitted, “But that’s because the public doesn’t know about it. We might be public figures, miss Tesiera, but we try not to make our private matters public.” he averted his eyes and muttered, “Not everyone likes being in the spotlight.”

She’d figured that he doesn’t. A man of his wealth and status should be moving with paparazzi but as far as she knew, it was only his two strong-headed bodyguards shadowing him. Her cheek still hurts from where Bose had hit her, and she’ll bet that shit left a bruise.

“It’s simply not possible to hide something of this magnitude from the public’s eyes, Mr. Kracusian.” she retorted, “A new business idea, yes. A financial crisis, that’s possible. But a member of the family, a living human, for more than thirty-years? Excuse the fucking hell outta me because I don’t believe you. Do not think you can make a fool out of me and I’ll let it go, because I won’t!”

Kracus sighed deeply, staring at the raging, gorgeous killer in front of him. The woman tried to kill him—twice—and he doesn’t owe her any explanation. But somehow, he felt like giving it.

Maybe because he knows what it’s like to see someone you love get hurt and you can’t help them. It might be because he understood on a personal level, the pain that lurks behind those deeply ingrained anger and hatred this cold woman wears as a cloak, because he had the same demons. Only the mask is different.

“You probably know my mother and father from your research. My mother is Vera Kingston, and my father is Virgo Kingston. Their marriage wasn’t one of love, it was an arranged marriage for connection and the growth of business. My father took over the company after he got his masters degree.” he stated. “The Kingstons and the Walters have been enemies for many generations. They’ve been fighting for dominance in various aspects of the business world.Walter had a fiancé named Lisa who he loved dearly, he planned to make him his second wife. A year after I was born, my parents had serious marital issues and separated.”

Tesiera didn’t understand his motive of telling her more stories but she decided to play his game, and listen. All the while, her hands played with the lock of the chains that bound her, looking for loopholes to aid her breakout.

“During the course of their separation, my father took interest with a woman he met at the club and slept with her. That woman was Lisa.” Kracus shook his head. Till today, he hasn’t gotten over how dramatic this story was. “My father insisted that he slept with her because he got attracted to her, but I know how manipulative my old man was. I always thought he seduced the woman to get back at Carter Walter. Liking the woman might only be a bonus. Anyway, she got pregnant after the affair.”

Tesiera stilled. She was getting really interested against her better judgment, she admitted to herself.

“She got pregnant and insisted the child was Carter’s’ but my old man knew it was his. Lisa was determined to keep the affair a secret from her fiancé but one night, at a social gathering, my father and Carter had one of their squabbles, and my father told him bluntly that he slept with his woman and she was pregnant for him.” Kracus winced, imagining what that might have felt like. “Anyway, Carter confronted Lisa and she finally admitted it. One thing the Walters and the Kingstons have in common is that they hate publicity and scandals.”

“Since the world doesn’t know yet about Carter Walter’s decision to take a second wife and they have no idea of his relationship with Lisa, the two families came to an agreement to bury the case and keep it away from the press. Walter broke off the engagement but still kept Lisa as his secret mistress. My hard-headed father agreed to all that only on the condition that when that child was born and they confirmed that the child was his, he’d get to name the child and the child would take on his last name.” Kracus snorted. Virgo Kingston had always been a mean man.

“I take it that this Walter didn’t agree to this?” Tesiera asked reluctantly, and resumed fidgeting with her locks.

“Oh, he didn’t agree to it. That brought about its own quarrel and fights, but in the end, they came to a compromise. Since it would be fishy if the child took on the Kingston’s name, and it would make the press start asking questions, it’ll be better if the child takes on Lisa’s last name. That way, the world wouldn’t start asking questions. My father hated the press and he knew what a scandal that would have caused if it came out, so he agreed to it…but only if the child takes on the Kingston’s name as a middle name.”

“Your father has a mean sense of humor.” She muttered.

Kracus smiled, “I know that. It’s probably his way of giving Walter the middle finger, and always reminding the man that he slept with his precious mistress and she has a child for him. Anyway, after the child was born and DNA was taken, the child—who was a spitting image of me when I was born—was confirmed to be my father’s child. My father named him Kracullian Kingston. The child became Kracullian Kingston McCarthy—taking on Lisa’s surname.”

“Which brings us to your claim that this invisible Kracullian Kingston McCarthy is the bully in your fairytale and he’s the man that killed my father.” She chirped in a mocking tone.

Kracus ignored her, “My parents got back together three years after being separated and I think they found love much later in the marriage, but my father made sure that his illegitimate child never lacked anything. Lisa raised him, but the child grew up to be a dïck. He knew he had two powerful families behind him, so he used it to his advantage to do whatever he wanted and get away with it. My father trained me to take over the company but I’ve always wanted to be a doctor since I was a child. He wanted Cullian to have the best education too, which was why he ended up in my school. We looked like identical twins but I guess the world didn’t think much of it, since people have doppelgängers all the time. And our characters were so different.”

“Cullian always hated me and my family. Always.” he deadpanned, “According to him, we were the reason his father couldn’t love him.” he scoffed and shook his head, “Useless sonofabitch. His father couldn’t love him because his father doesn’t know how to show love. My father showed love through his money, and the bastard never lacked a thing. Anyway, Cullian did drugs in school, and he was in a cult, and he was a big-time bully. I simply avoided him.He raped a girl in school and got expelled. My father covered up the crime but he was so mad at him that he scolded him and brutally cut him off. He blamed me for that. That same week, he…he and his gang used drugs to abduct me.”

“The things they did to me…” Kracus averted his eyes. Memories assailed him and his hands balled into fists as he tried to suppress them. He hated those memories as much as he hated the man responsible for them.

“Anyway, after I escaped, Cullian was nowhere to be found. My father had a heart attack and died two years later, and the bastard came back. I was in Med School when I got the news of what he did.” He swallowed tightly, “That monster attacked my poor mother. He assaulted my mother.”

Those emotions in his eyes…
Tesiera was starting to have a problem believing that he made up these stories. The man looked murderous.

REVENGE WITH LOVE : CHAPTER 21 – 30

Finally, he took a deep breath and continued, “The things Cullian and his gang did to me didn’t hurt me as much as what he did to my mom. I hated violence since I was a child and I was going to be a doctor, but because of Cullian, I vowed to defend myself and protect our family. I learned how to fight. I have mastery in different self defense techniques; judo, karate, taekwondo and basic combat. I learned to play with guns and knives. I was trained by skilled men who were masters of their own arts.”

That would explain why he was able to defend himself that night, the thought drifted through her mind. The man wasn’t only a fighter, he was a professional, and logically, this would explain why.

“I vowed to kill Cullian for what he did to my mother. I went after him for years, but Cullian was good at staying hidden. Seven years ago, my men found him. He was a big-shot drug dealer who changed his name and identity, but it was him. I went gunning for him but the bastard escaped.” Kracus paused, “Rumors spread weeks afterward that he was killed in a gunfight by another drug dealer.”

Even if Teseria was starting to believe him, that part erased it. She scoffed, derisively. “Isn’t it just convenient that the man is dead? That way there’ll be no loophole in your little story.”

His eyes bored into hers. “I don’t believe that he’s dead either. I think Cullian faked his own death to avoid being caught by me or the law enforcement. But it doesn’t matter because I never gave up searching for that asshole. I will search the entire world if I have to, but until I see his lifeless corpse, I’ll never believe that he’s dead. My scars are nothing compared to my mother’s demons. I will find that bastard and I will kill him myself.” He stated vehemently.

“I don’t believe your little story.” she told him bluntly.

He shrugged, “That’s too bad, Tesiera Rinderson, because that is all you’ll get. Over the years, I have had a lot of people mistake me for Cullian. I have been attacked by people he wronged before, you are not the first.” He angled his head, “On second thought, I know your mind is at war. You have doubts, I saw it in your eyes. The battle to believe or to deny.”

When did she become transparent? Tesiera narrowed her eyes, her anger rising again. She hated that he could read her mind. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He walked closer to her, bent down to become eye level with her and stated firmly, “I did not kill your father.”

“I don’t believe you.” She repeated just as firmly.

Kracus stared at her for a moment without saying a word. then, Then, he reached into his pocket and withdrew a key. Still holding her eyes, he reached behind her and inserted it into the lock.

I could get lost in his eyes.
The thought which came out of nowhere confused her as much as his actions did. “What the hell are you doing?”

He ignored her, unlocked the key and yanked off her chains of her, freeing her arms. He did the same to her feet before he stepped back to give her room to rise. As Tesiera rose, he made a sudden move and in a split-second, he withdrew one of her daggers from its sheath and raised it in front of him.

She assumed a defensive stance instantly at the unexpected action. But he didn’t attack. Instead, he moved closer to her, his eyes holding hers captive again as his empty hand grabbed one of hers and he pressed the dagger into it.

He didn’t let go of her hand, instead, he raised it to his throat and pressed it there. “Cut me.” He ordered.

“What!?” She hissed, completely cut off-guard.

“You believe I killed your father, and I have told you that I didn’t. Since you don’t believe me, you can kill me. Afterall, you want to avent the death of your father, am I wrong?” He was completely calm as if they were discussing the weather.

She looked down at it, and then back at him. She couldn’t believe this man. When she thought she’d figured him out, he went right ahead to prove her wrong.

“What’s the meaning of this? Do you think I won’t do it?” She asked angrily, tightening her grip on the knife.

He allowed his hand to drop, but hers remained. “Then do it.”

Tesiera glared at him. She hated being caught unawares and she wasn’t one to hesitate when she found her target. So why was she hesitating here?

She could move this knife and kill him. She could dig into his trachea and gut him like a fish, so why the hell was she hesitating?

That’s probably because he was right. She WAS starting to doubt if he was really her target.

When she hesitated for long, Kracus simply stepped back—away from the dagger. “I did not kill your father,” he reinstated.

His man was messing with her head. He was messing with her. “I still don’t believe you. I want you to prove that Kracullian Kingston McCarthy ever existed. I don’t care how you do it, but I want you to prove it. If you have to dig up articles about him— anything at all, I don’t care! But don’t think you can ever get me to believe that you aren’t the killer I spent ten years searching for by only the words of your mouth. ‘Cause that would never happen, do you hear me!?” She spat, getting into his face, her eyes brimming with anger.

They stood toe-to-toe in a face-off. It didn’t get past her notice that the man was more than a foot taller than she was, and she was a tall woman.

Silence descended between them.

Finally he made the first move by taking a step back. He reached into his pocket and withdrew a cellphone—the man seemed to have more than a few of those. Her eyes followed his every movement.

He tapped away for a few seconds. Then, he lifted the phone and showed the screen to her.

Tesiera’s heart stopped as she glanced at the screen. For a moment, she felt lightheaded and took a step back.

“No,” she whispered, shaking her head. “This can’t be.”

Two teens were standing together at the screen. They looked like identical twins and they both were a spitting image of the teen that pulled the trigger that killed her father twenty years ago. But one had kinder, sadder eyes, and the other had cold, cynical eyes.

“This was taken freshman year after sports.” Kracus said.

“No,” she shook her head again, her eyes pinned on the screen. They stood together and looked the same, but she knew the boy who killed her father instantly. And it wasn’t the man standing in front of her.

She looked away from the phone and at the eyes of the man standing in front of her. The kinder eyes that implanted doubts in her even from the very first night she’d attacked him in his bedroom. “This can’t be…”

Her mouth denied over and over again. Because it was easier to deny than to accept.

Because that would mean that she really had the wrong target all along. Worst of all, that would mean that she almost murdered an innocent man in cold-blood. Twice.

REVENGE WITH LOVE : CHAPTER 21 – 30

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