The Devil's Masquerade: The Poison Read online

  My third goal is to insure he never gets to Nicky. The only chance they all have is if Nicky survives. His power is like no other. I didn’t even realize what he was capable of until he helped me. He is young but smarter than anyone three times his age.

  Everything is quiet tonight, and I enjoy the smiles and laughter until I sense something strange. I instantly run outside to investigate. It’s a brisk evening, with the fall air making its way through. There are many scents, but one clues me in to who is watching us. It has been a long time since I have seen her, but her scent is distinctive, and I will never forget it. Before I have a chance to check it out, Nicholas steps out beside me, searching the darkness as well. Does he sense her too? With a cock of my head, I watch him as he listens and carefully observes the trees’ movements. His sudden low growl evokes a trembling in the air and a spine-chilling effect on me.

  Nicholas looks down at me and hesitates before speaking, “Do you sense it, too?” I get excited by his acknowledgment of me. He doesn’t usually pay me much attention, and he certainly never speaks to me, but tonight, we share a common trait, one I wasn’t aware he had. Looking back out at the trees, he stiffens, and I follow his gaze. She is not visible to him or me, but I know she’s there. Racing towards the trees, I follow her and back her up to the fence. She turns to me and instantly eyes me down as she always had with foes. I can only assume her attack strategy hasn’t changed either. Sure enough, she comes at me in her usual fashion, and I wait for the right moment before slipping her grasp and finding her weak spot. No one knows that spot except her father and her brother. I release my hold on her, allowing her to stand in amazement.

  She paces around me in awe as she begins to realize. “Dante?” Galena asks, but she knows the answer. “I am only looking after him, Dante,” she says as I growl my disapproval. “You can distrust me if you want, but I was the one that helped you. I talked Father into letting you go and not killing you. Now, I can help your son, too. Protect him from Father and make sure he doesn’t fall into trouble he can’t escape.” I know her, and the only reason she tried to keep Father from killing me was in hopes of protecting her own secrets. I am the only one that knows the secret that Galena would never want our father to know. She approaches me with a smile, carefully reaching out her hand. Looking deep into her eyes, I search for any sign that she might have changed, but before I can decide, I hear Nicholas calling for men as he and Ryan head out towards us. I quickly lunge at Galena, sending her retreating over the estate wall. My sister is too controlled by my father to be fully trusted, but there is still something there that I once knew and loved. My boys head off every possible escape as they meet me in the midst of the trees. Galena is long gone before they can cut her off.

  “There is no one here Nick,” Ryan says.

  “There was. I know it.”

  “Yeah, you know it. I think you are on edge and jumping at the shadows of the trees.”

  Nicholas smiles as he looks down at me and brushes his hand over my head, removing a piece of Galena’s shirt from my teeth. “Trees don’t wear clothes,” he says, holding up the fabric to Ryan.

  “Wow, it would seem even our dog has a special kind of sense about him,” Ryan says rewarding me with a loving rub of my ears.

  “A special sense. Funny how that worked out for us,” Nicholas says, eyeing me suspiciously. “There is something about you. I don’t know what it is, but I am beginning to trust you more with my son, dog… Eey,” Nicholas says.

  Chapter 7

  Kayla

  “Nick? Nick!” I yell, a little louder each time until our bedroom door opens and I see his tall, dark form slowly walk in with an admiring smile.

  “You called, Princess?” Nick says, leaning down and pressing his warm lips to mine. Feeling his strong hand press sweetly against my cheek, he leans in and hums, “You look better. I was worried about you. You were screaming in your sleep last night. I wrapped you in a blanket and kissed you several times, but nothing seemed to work until I let you sleep on my chest. Not that I minded having you that close to me, but I hate that you are having nightmares.” I don’t say a word. Not that I have to, he knows the cause of my nightmares and considering the look on his face, he is feeling the guilt already.

  Savage’s face haunts me every day. That night, oh that night was my worst nightmare. I couldn’t do anything for my husband, or my child. All I could see was evil’s swirling eyes stealing the breath from my lungs. The more I tried to free myself from him, the more he controlled me. I could hear my mother’s voice screaming at me, “You loser, you weak little nothing. You don’t even deserve Nick and your boys.” In the end, through her laughter and my son’s and husband’s screams, Savage comes forward and backs me into a corner where I can neither breathe nor escape. I hold onto Nick every night, desperate for him to tell me he has it all figured out and everything is going to be okay. I am beginning to fear that he won’t be able to come up with a plan in time.

  Nick leans down and gently kisses me. “I decided to let you sleep once you calmed, but you didn’t sleep long, Princess,” he says as I catch a strange mark on his neck. The mark is almost like a branding into his skin, except it doesn’t resemble anything more than a simple blackened circle. I try to pull back his shirt to see it more clearly, but he grabs my hands and holds them with his. “That’s nothing. I promise, Princess. It is nothing to be worried about. As you can see, I am fine and still more than strong enough to hold you in my arms and keep you safe.” He embraces me fully, proving how wonderfully safe it does feel to be in his arms. “Lay back and rest. The doctor did say you will need some time before you can regain your full strength again. As always, you have been trying to overdo it too soon.”

  “I’m fine Nick. What I need is to know what happened with Savage?”

  “You don’t need to worry about that. I am taking care of everything. You just worry about taking care of yourself and our boys.”

  “Don’t do this Nick! Don’t shut me out and force me to standby and wait for things to happen while you’re out protecting everybody else. I’m strong enough to handle anything, and you know it. Please, let me help you.”

  “Princess, I know you are quite capable of handling most things, but this time, the situation is not something for you to handle. This time, I need to take care of it on my own. It is beyond you. I fear it is beyond me even, but I have no choice if I want to protect you, protect the boys, and everyone else. Savage is too strong, and until I can figure out a way to beat him, I have to work with him,” Nick says, staring at me hard and doing the best he can to convince me there is nothing I can do.

  “So are you going to tell me what your plan is? Do you even have a plan? Oh, please Nick, please tell me you have a plan?”

  “You know I always have a plan, Princess. Good or bad I always have a plan. I can’t explain it right now, so you’re just going to have to trust me.” I tug my hands from his and quickly pull back his shirt to gaze over the burn marks and bruises on his neck, arms, wrists and chest before looking deep into his eyes and trying to understand what he is doing to himself. He doesn’t speak. He doesn’t even try to explain. The expression in his eyes tells me all I need to know. He is endangering his life somehow, and I will certainly not agree with whatever his plan is.

  “Nick …” I try to speak, but the words just won’t come out. No matter how hard I try to confess to him I am scared and, for the first time, fearful that we are going to lose, I can’t. I can’t force the words from my mouth. I can’t do that to him. I can’t burden him with that right now. I’m being selfish, hoping he will soothe my confessions with the right words that everything is going to be alright. The more I look into his eyes, the more I realize, he doesn’t know, and those words I have been waiting for are not going to come, no matter what I confess. So with the best smile I can form, I simply say, “I love you. I love you so much …” Tears form in my eyes, and he immediately stops me with his comforting hand on my cheek.

&nb
sp; “I love you too, very much. What’s wrong, Princess? I haven’t seen that look in your eyes since … since you were a kid, waking up with nightmares. I don’t like to see you like this. Tell me what I can do to fix it?”

  “Promise me. Promise me you will always love me and never stop fighting for us? Promise me that, and I promise you I will feel better and not need to know anything else.”

  “Kayla, don’t you understand that my love for you is so embedded in my heart that it doesn’t beat without you?” I smile wide, wrapping my arms around him. “You went through a very traumatizing experience, Princess. You were comatose for two days, and I don’t understand why you insist on acting like you’re able to handle everything that you usually do so soon. You’re still weak and tired. You will feel better in a few more days,” Nick sighs again, cradling my face in his hands, “Rest, and we will talk more later.” A sweet kiss, a tender grasp of my thigh, and he smiles. “Get all the rest you can because I am anxious to prove my love for you, in my special way, later tonight.” I take hold of him and don’t want to let go. Why wait until tonight?

  “Nick?” I stop kissing and fondling my husband to see Franky peeking through our bedroom door. “Oh, there you are? I managed to find that information on your mother for you. Do you still want to see it?” Franky says with a sweetly innocent smile.

  “Yes. Thank you, Franky. Get some rest Princess. I have the boys playing in the office with me, so don’t worry about them.” Nick kisses me on the head, a g-rated kind of affection that I am not accustom to.

  “Are you not feeling well, Kayla?” Franky asks with a concerning tilt of her head.

  “I’m fine. Just a little tired is all,” I say imagining myself choking her sweet little head off her body, but with a smile, of course.

  “Are you sure? If you need me to, I would be happy to look you over and write a prescription if necessary?” she says.

  “No thanks. I’m good.” I smile back at her as Nick looks back at me with a grin.

  “Thank you, Franky. That is very nice of you.” Nick says. “I think she just needs a little more rest.” Uh-huh rest … and my gun.

  “Oh, it is absolutely no problem. Happy to help,” she says, holding her hand over her heart. “If you change your mind, I will be downstairs with Nick for another hour, I would think? Wouldn’t you Nick?” Nick nods, taking my hand as if he knows I am ready to jump across the bed at her. He excuses them both before I can respond, which is probably best for everyone.

  I don’t know why that woman bothers me so much, but there is something about her I just don’t like. I lie back in bed and actually begin to fall asleep until I feel the bed move. I feel someone slyly climbing into the bed near me. “Don’t get excited Kayla. I am not Nick, so you can keep your panties on,” Exie, says as she suddenly plops down right against me.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I called earlier, and Nick said you were having nightmares all night.”

  “And you came by to check on me? That is so sweet.”

  “Hell no! I thought you would be out of it enough so I could steal those shoes I have been asking to borrow for months now,” she says, causing me to laugh.

  “I should have known,” I say as she finally breaks a smile. “So did you see her?”

  “Who? Oh, Franky?” I nod impatiently. “Yeah, Nick introduced her to me when I came in. She seems nice.” I sit up and glare at her. “I mean… nice for an obviously evil, cum-guzzling, cheap, back- alley slut, and all other horrible things in the world that I am too much of a lady to mention.” She looks sideways at me until I back off my sinister glare. “Gees. She dated Nick in high school, so what? He married you.”

  “He asked her to marry him first.”

  “No! You don’t say. Well, it’s settled then. We must kill her,” she says sarcastically. “And… Nick is insanely in love with you, and I don’t think an old girlfriend is going to change that any,”

  “I know, but I get a bad feeling about her. Of all the things Nick told me about her, it seems like she fits them, but she fits them almost too well.” Exie rolls her eyes. “Don’t roll your eyes at me. The woman acts as if she is reading a script about a woman she has never known. I don’t trust her,” I snap.

  “Then pull out your Kayla investigation glasses and look into what she is telling your clearly vulnerable husband,” she huffs with a laugh. But she gives me an idea. I turn towards her and smile wide. “Oh no. No! No! Whatever it is, I am not helping you. I am busy that day and the next. No. No, Kayla!”

  Chapter 8

  Kayla

  Exie’s arms are still crossed, but I ignore her disapproval and continue to wait for the right moment to sneak into the medical facility where Nick’s mom stays. It may seem stupid and paranoid, but there is something about Franky I don’t trust. Exie begins shaking her head as soon as she realizes my determination to go through with this. “Stop shaking your head. You agreed to help me, and besides … you look absolutely amazing in that outfit. I bet Bo would be on his hands and knees drooling if he saw you right now,” I say with a smile.

  “Really, you think so?” Exie says, proudly looking down at herself. “Hey, don’t change the subject Kayla! I am not at all happy about being tricked into this. You said we were going to do something that was not going to cause us to get arrested. Breaking and entering is against the law I believe.”

  “We aren’t breaking anything. We are walking in and exploring. There is no law against exploring. Besides, Nick pays a lot of money for this place. We should be able to do whatever we want to, when we want to do it. Now, unfold your arms, and let’s go.” I don’t bother to continue trying to convince her, I just go, knowing Exie will never let me go alone. I wait to sneak in through one of the side doors, and just as expected, one of the orderlies steps out for a smoke break which isn’t allowed on the premises. He is so determined to hide his habit that he doesn’t notice us going into the door he conveniently left propped open.

  Once we are in, I take a moment to look around and verify where any possible staff members might be, but the place is nearly empty at this late hour. I can find only one orderly who is too busy playing a game on his iPad to notice us. No matter the skeleton crew, I am still cautious about rounding corners and leading Exie down long halls.

  “Do you know where you’re going?” Exie whispers to me. She has no faith in me, as if I would come here without knowing exactly where I am going. Eddie was able to provide me with everything I need and was happy to do it for me, although I had to swear that I would never tell Nick. I find the door I am looking for and smile wide to the immediate roll of her eyes. “Just hurry up,” she barks.

  I go through the keys I had one of our men steal for me earlier in the day until one finally works. We hurry in, and I instantly begin searching through the computer to try and find the information I am looking for. Unfortunately, the woman we stole the keys from was smart enough to put a lock on her computer. I quickly take out my phone and dial, “Hi Eddie. Yeah I’m here, but she put a lock on it.” Eddie, gave me a gadget to attach via the USB, and once I do, he immediately takes over and breaks in within seconds. I watch proudly as Eddie downloads all the information about this facility for me.

  “Kayla, hurry up! I think someone is coming.” Exie says in a loud whisper as she peeks through a window in the door.

  “Okay Kayla. I got it all. Shut it down and get out of there.”

  “Thanks Eddie, see you soon. We got what we need Exie let’s get out of here,” I say, making sure to put everything back the way I found it.

  “I think we are too late,” Exie replies, and I glance out to see several orderlies gathering around. A quick look around and I decide our best bet is to use the skills we both know well. I mess up our clothes and dishevel our hair before we both nod towards each other, understanding exactly what we are going to do. We sneak out the door and lock it back before I toss the keys into a nearby laundry chute. We walk towards the men, giggling
and holding onto each other in a drunken performance.

  “Hey! What are you girls doing out of your room?” One yells at us as we just giggle and smile, allowing them near before we rub against them and sigh an erotic need. They don’t complain and, as expected, they immediately forget about their jobs. We have two apiece to deal with, but we both manage to hypnotize them with a sway of our hips, a lick of our lips, and an alluring hum that draws them even closer to our admiring hands. We tempt them this way and that, watching as the four men begin to laugh nervously.

  “Can I have some water? I am so very hot,” I say as Exie twists her fingers into the cleavage of her shirt. They quickly show us to the employee lounge and rush to get us whatever we want while we sneak their keys from their pockets and lock them into the lounge. We wave goodbye, make a quick stop to delete the camera footage at the reception desk, and walk out, tossing their keys near the back door where their chain-smoking friend can eventually find them. We leave out the front door, jump in my car, and are gone within a breath, although our adrenaline high remains long after we escape.

  “Damn Kayla. I swear, a few more years of being your friend and I am surely going to have a heart attack,” Exie says harshly but eventually smiling when I laugh. “Alright, alright. I will admit, you keep my life interesting, and at times, it’s worth being your friend.” She smiles, and I know she feels good about her skills for the night.

  By the time we get to Eddie, he is already going through the files with Terrence. “Have you found anything?” I ask them.

  “Yes and no.” Terrence says. “There is actually nothing at all on a Francesca or Franky with any last name anywhere in the files. No work information, no education file, no medical. Nothing. However, they have records of every other worker and patient in the place. Every doctor that works there has a complete career chart, where they worked previously, every school they attended, and all their medical certification numbers. Yet, there isn’t one thing about this woman. There doesn’t even seem to be anyone that would resemble her under another name. It’s strange, Kayla. When we look up Nick’s mom’s file, it says her doctor is Francesca Conti. She’s the only one in the facility with that doctor.”