CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
To describe my reaction as dramatic upon discovering Linus had had his head buried between Susana’s legs during the home invasion would have been an understatement. The rage that pumped through my blood made every vein in my body pop out.
After the police left and Rocket had been taken away to the animal hospital, I went back upstairs. My arm was bandaged, and I was as restless as a tiger. In fact, I was jumping out of my skin. I paced about as if a monster had taken possession of me.
Poor Clarissa sat there silently, watching.
“I’m going to look for Linus. He’s got to be here somewhere. His car’s there.”
“But what if something happened to him?” asked Clarissa in her little tremulous voice.
“Then that will explain it,” I replied.
Driven by the need for answers, fury impelled me along. All I could think of was Rocket. I prayed he would survive. The vet had given me cause for hope when he said that the creature’s vital organs were safe and that Rocket’s heart was still beating.
A tear dropped on my cheek. I loved my dog. He was the hero of the moment. He’d saved us. If he hadn’t alerted us, something more sinister could have happened, considering the door to our private quarters had been unlocked. There was no doubt in my mind that Howard had been on his way up.
I entered the kitchen. There was nobody around, so I stepped outside into the courtyard. I could see Susana’s room was lit. That seemed to be the only sign of life. Will was out for the night, and Roland spent his weekends away.
The thought of knocking on Susana’s door made me cringe. She was such a flirt, and I wasn’t in the mood for her sleazy advances.
A weird feeling suddenly hit me. What if Linus was there?
I stood by the door and was about to knock when I heard loud moans and groans. Noticing that the curtain was slightly open, I peeked in. My veins froze. I’d found Linus. His big, bulky frame was on his knees with his head buried between Susana’s legs. She was moaning with her head tossed back. Fuck.
Just as she was screaming through an orgasm, I knocked. There was a pause, then I heard some shuffling.
“Who is it?” she asked.
I leaned against the door. “Aidan,” I said with authority in my voice.
Holding a skimpy towel that barely did the job, Susana poked her head out. Her face had that rosy complexion a woman got after coming. “Hi. I’d invite you in, but…”
“I’m here for Linus.”
“Oh?” she said. “I’m not sure…”
I interjected, “I know he’s in there, Susana.” I pushed the door open, and she stumbled back.
As I barged in, bare-chested Linus sprang to his feet while doing up the zipper of his pants.
He looked at my arm. “Shit. What happened to you?”
“I’ll tell you what happened to me. I was shot. And so was Rocket. And I tell you what. If he dies…” I pointed my finger in his face.
His face crumpled in dismay. “Shit.”
“Where the fuck, were you?” I shouted. Seeing this strong, powerful man cowering before me made my knuckles whiten with fury.
“I didn’t think you were going to be back until late, and I…”
“You have to be at your fucking post regardless of whether I’m in or out. You know the score. That’s why I pay you a truckload of money. To keep us safe. And to keep the estate watched over.”
I wanted to punch his lights out. I bit my lip, using every ounce of willpower I could muster.
While Linus whimpered some lame excuse, I directed my focus on Susana, who stood there half-naked. I noted a gleam in her eye that nearly made me convulse. She was enjoying herself.
Clarissa had been right about her all along. She was gutter material. I only kept her there because of Will.
“Go and put some fucking clothes on, will you? In the morning, you’re out. I don’t want to see your loose ass around here ever again.”
As she crept off, I yelled out behind her, “I thought you were fucking Will.”
Linus stared down at his feet. “Aidan, I’m sorry, man. She, you know…”
“She seduced you. Yes. I get it. We could have been killed. Instead, I’ve got blood on my hands. I had to kill a man because you couldn’t keep your cock inside your pants.”
“You shot the intruder?” Linus asked.
“Yeah, the fucker’s dead. It was either him, or those I loved.” I combed my hair back with my wet palm. A realization had just hit me. This was the second man I’d killed in my life, and despite hating the sonofabitch, it left me gasping for air.
A bitter taste landed at the back of my throat, a remnant of the churning bile being whipped up in my belly.
Susana stepped out and looked at me, her face pale and drawn. “He’s dead?”
I frowned and cast a quick glance at Linus, who was equally puzzled by her reaction. My eyes narrowed. “Why should that concern you?”
A tear dropped on her cheek.
I charged toward her and grabbed her arm. “You fucking knew him, didn’t you? This was all your doing?” I shouted so loudly she winced. Her expression switched from sad to haughty in one beat.
She spat in my face. I pushed her, and she fell to the ground on her ass.
Linus stood between us. “Aidan.”
“I’m not going to hit her. That would feed her scheme to bring me down.
Linus helped her up. His face was cold. “You lured me, you bitch.” Now it was his turn to vent rage. He pushed her onto the sofa. “Stay still.”
Susana leaned over to the drawer. Linus grabbed her arm. “Don’t you even think about it.”
He looked in the drawer and brought out a pistol. “Now what have we here?” Linus passed it to me.
“Are you related to John Howard?” I asked, standing over her.
“He’s my father.”
My eyes stretched wide. “You’re Susie, Jacqui’s daughter?”
“Yes. She was my mother. You murdered her.”
“I did no such fucking thing. Your father murdered her.”
“Only because you made her unfaithful,” she shot back.
“She seduced me, Susie. And in any case, your father was beating her to a pulp every night.”
“It was none of your business. My father loved my mother!” she cried.
I looked at Linus. “Call the cops. She’s an accomplice.”
“If you get me arrested, I will sell this story to the papers. It will be a feeding frenzy for social media.”
“Call the cops, Linus.”
He took out his phone. She touched my arm. “No. Please. Don’t. I’ll go. I won’t say anything. I promise.”
I shook her off. “I don’t believe you. You turned yourself into a honey-trap so that those I love…” My voice strained, it was so thick with emotion. “You’re lucky nothing happened to Clarissa.”
“I would’ve popped a champagne cork if that had happened,” she said, reverting to nasty defiance.
My fists clenched, pumped and ready. I had to fight every little sinew in my body. I would never hit a woman. But that was torture. Her dark, evil expression sent cold sweat dripping down my back. Like father, like daughter.
“What?”
She stood there with her hands on her hips, willing me on to attack her. “You heard me.”
“You fucking whore,” I spat with the fury of a punch.
I turned to Linus. “Call the cops.”
He tapped the number into his phone.
She went to run, but I grabbed her in time. “Tie her down first.”
Linus said, “With pleasure.”
She writhed about like a wild cat as Linus wound sticky tape around her wrists and legs.
“Put some on that dirty mouth,” I said.
After I was no longer needed, I headed out. Before leaving, I turned and sniggered darkly in her face. “Rot in hell.”