In Love With My Stepbrother

Chapter 20: The Stepmother’s Poison

The subterranean holding cells beneath the King Estate were carved from solid granite, cold, damp, and isolated from the rest of the world.

Victoria King sat on a plain iron bench inside the center cell. Her pristine tweed suit was rumpled, her manicured nails chipped, but her blue eyes still gleamed with pure, unadulterated venom as the heavy steel door hissed open.

Kai stepped into the dim corridor, his towering frame blocking out the overhead fluorescent light. I walked beside him, my hand locked firmly in his, the crescent birthmark beneath my collarbone giving off a faint, rhythmic pulse against my skin.

Victoria looked up, letting out a sharp, mocking laugh that echoed off the stone walls.

"Look at the happy couple," Victoria sneered, leaning back against the cold wall. "The Don and his stolen little pet. Have you come to execute me, Kai? Or did you come to thank me for trying to save this family from that bloodline curse?"

Kai didn't answer right away. He walked up to the reinforced glass, looking down at his stepmother with absolute, ice-cold detachment.

"The colorless poison you put in my scotch," Kai said, his voice dropping into a low, terrifying register. "It didn't come from Archer West. His family was far too sloppy to source a military-grade neurotoxin. Where did you get it, Victoria?"

Victoria’s cruel smirk faltered for a fraction of a second. She turned her head away, crossing her arms defensively. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"My father died ten years ago," I said, stepping closer to the glass frame. "The journal we found in the vault proved he was poisoned with the exact same chemical substance before his execution. You didn't just try to kill Kai tonight, Victoria... you helped kill my father."

Victoria whipped her head around, her eyes wide with frantic rage. "Your father was a fool! Arthur Vance thought he could stand against the Northern Sovereign! He thought he could hide you—a child born from Malakor’s dark bloodline—in my home!"

"You've been working for Malakor all along," Kai realized smoothly, his golden-amber eyes narrowing into deadly slits. "The West family was just a shield. You were Malakor’s inside agent within the King Syndicate."

Victoria let out a bitter, desperate laugh. "Malakor built the Northern underworld! Your father, Donald King, made a deal with him thirty years ago to secure Bel-Air! When your father died, I kept the agreement alive to protect Bella and myself! Malakor promised me total control of the estate once Sienna was delivered to him!"

"And what did he promise you for my life?" Kai asked, his tone deathly quiet.

"He promised to make me the matriarch of the Northern Council!" Victoria screamed, slamming her hands against the glass. "You took everything from me, Kai! You stripped my authority, you ruined my alliances, and you gave our empire to her!"

She pointed a trembling finger at me, her face contorted in madness. "She carries Malakor’s blood! The moment he unlocks the Northern vault using her skin, he will wipe the King Syndicate off the map! You're walking straight into your own execution, Kai!"

"No," Kai growled darkly, stepping right up to the glass frame, his shadow completely swallowing her. "I am walking into his."

Kai turned to Marcus, who stood at the end of the corridor with two armed enforcers.

"Keep her locked in this cell," Kai commanded coldly. "If Malakor’s forces breach the outer perimeter tomorrow... put a bullet in her head."

"No! Kai! You can't leave me here!" Victoria shrieked, throwing herself against the glass as Marcus locked the heavy outer iron doors shut, drowning out her desperate screams.

We walked back up the stone stairwell toward the main armory, the heavy silence between us charged with unspoken tension.

The realization that Victoria had been feeding information to Lord Malakor for a decade meant our entire security grid had been compromised. Every trade route, every safehouse, and every vault code was exposed.

"She was the rat inside our walls," I whispered as we reached the soundproofed armory. "My father, your father... she betrayed both of them."

Kai stopped walking, turning around to pull me firmly into his arms. His broad hands rested on the small of my back, lifting me slightly until my eyes were level with his. The heat radiating off his broad chest wrapped around me like a protective cloak, instantly banishing the cold chill of the basement.

"It ends tomorrow, Sienna," Kai murmured, his long fingers reaching up to cup my cheek, his thumb lightly stroking my cheekbone. "Malakor thinks he bought Victoria's loyalty and backed us into a corner. He thinks sending that letter with the raven mark will make me hand you over."

"He doesn't know you," I said softly, reaching up to wrap my hands over his wrists, looking deep into the molten gold of his eyes.

"He doesn't know us," Kai corrected growlingly, leaning down to press a deep, possessive kiss against my lips that made my soul shiver with dark exhilaration.

When he pulled back, his dark eyes burned with an unyielding, murderous fire.

"Marcus!" Kai roared across the armory.

Marcus hurried over, holding an encrypted tactical tablet. "Yes, Don?"

"Deploy the entire frontline syndicate," Kai commanded, his voice ringing with absolute, undisputed authority. "We aren't waiting for Malakor to hit the Northern Ridge tomorrow night. We move out in two hours. We take the mountain pass, breach the ancient vault, and destroy every man carrying his crest."

"And if Malakor brings his full elite vanguard?" Marcus asked grimly.

Kai reached to the weapon rack behind him, drawing a sleek matte-black assault rifle and handing me my silver-hilted blade and sidearm.

"Then the Northern Sovereign dies in his own vault," Kai declared softly, a lethal smirk touching his lips as he wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me flush against his side. "Let's go claim our kingdom."