Venomous King (Venom #2)

33. Diego

Chapter thirty-three

Diego

“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.”

Leo Tolstoy

“ D on’t do this, Stella, please. You know something is wrong with her,” Kai pleads with Stella, but I don’t even bother. I can see the sadistic gleam of pleasure on her face at the turn of events. Clark, and a group of twenty or more of her armed soldiers, point guns at the both of us, as they attempt to force us to leave Stella’s residence, per my broken doll’s instructions.

When she stood there defiantly and declared, with a blade in her hand, that we were over, I thought conceivably it was all the adrenaline and emotions of the situation getting to her. Perhaps her actions shocked her, and that was what she was doing to cope. Never did I fucking think that I would be forced from the premises at gunpoint. Surprise fucking surprise , here we are now, and I am ready to murder everyone before me, for daring to think they can take my Princesa from me.

“I warned you that one day I would see the back of you both. My only wish was that I’d be able to put a bullet in both of your skulls as you leave her life, but alas, I was refused that pleasure by Isabella. My granddaughter has finally come to her senses, and realized the error of her ways.” Stella motions to Clark with a tilt of her chin, and the men move forward, forcing Kai and I to take steps further down the driveway, right outside the front of Stella’s house. “If I ever see you near her again, if either of you attempts to forcibly change her decision, I will not hesitate to have you murdered.”

“I’m going to kill you, Stella. My face will be the last you see on this goddamn earth,” I growl out through clenched teeth.

She laughs haughtily at me. “Better men than you have tried, demon, and yet here I am.” She turns her attention to Kai. “You had better select more suitable company, young man. The one you are currently keeping will get you slain.” She turns her back on us, and walks back into the house as if we mean nothing, as if neither of us is a threat to her. Fuck that shit, I am a fucking threat. I am going to prove to that old conniving cunt just how much of a danger I am to her.

“Don’t do anything stupid, asshole. Isabella will come to her senses, she’s just angry right now.” Kai grabs my arm and pulls me backward with him. It’s as if the cunt can now read my thoughts. That alone is worrisome, because pretty boy shouldn’t be trying to talk some sense into me. He should be helping me break through these men to get to Issy.

“You mean like kill all of her men and snap Stella’s fucking neck?” I shrug off his hold and take a step forward, challenging one of Stella’s toy soldiers, and throwing a punch at his face, which he takes with a stoic and menacing expression. Fuck, did she hire robots? Where’s a fucking rocket launcher when I need one? Oh, right , I can’t use one of those because my Princesa and daughter are still in that fucking house!

“Leave, gentlemen. Mrs. Stratford has made it very clear that neither of you are welcome here again. Please don’t force me to kill both of you, I would hate to leave Miss Julia fatherless.” Clark’s angry expression is just fucking icing on the cake of this shit experience.

A pitch-black SUV racing up the driveway at rapid speed gets my attention, and has me turning so that I can keep both it, and Stella’s men, in my sightline. What the fuck, has she sent more men to massacre us? Clark’s fuckers took away all of my remaining weapons, so other than my hands and feet, I am shit out of luck. The SUV comes to a screeching halt, and the doors slam open, and the last two people I expect to see pop out of the front seats. Carter Pemberton and Theo Saint-Lambert. What fresh batch of hell is this shit? “Get in the fucking car, Diego, before Clark shoots you,” Carter yells at me.

“Fuck that, puto (asshole) , I am not leaving without my Princesa !“ I shout back, and try taunting one of Stella’s other men. The fucker responds by pointing his gun straight at my head and winking at me. Asshole.

“I say we allow him to get shot. The world would be a better fucking place if he was gone. I don’t even know how you talked me into coming here to rescue the cunt,” Theo replies, his arms crossed over his large chest, as he leans nonchalantly against the SUV. “I don’t need rescuing, prissy rich boy . I’ll fucking take all of you on,“ I roar.

“Let’s get in the car and go somewhere to regroup, Diego. We can’t fight them all, we don’t even have any fucking weapons. Have some sense, man,” Kai implores me, his light blue eyes filled with a mixture of fear, confusion, and anger. This can’t be fucking happening. He can’t be suggesting we leave Issy here, because I am not retreating. I refuse to give up ground; she belongs to me.

“Do what the boy scout says, Diego. Regroup, bitch . Lose the fight, but not the war,“ Carter shouts at me and then gets back in the vehicle, that cunt Theo doing the same. This is some sadistic level of fucking hell I’ve landed in, where two of the useless Kings of Casbury come to my rescue.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. With one last look back at the house that is hiding my Issy from me, I get into the car with a grunt. I’m not fucking running away, I tell myself. I’m just regrouping and getting weapons, so I can end Stella Stratford for good. I’ll be back shortly to reclaim what’s mine.

Three months later

“Hey, where the fuck have you been, Diego? I’ve been blowing up your phone for hours trying to reach you,” Kai demands, as I walk into the kitchen of the loft where we are currently cohabiting. The prick looks even worse than yesterday, if that’s even possible, and I can smell the bourbon on him from where I’m standing. Shit, is he bathing in the stuff? One look at him, and his ragged appearance, tells me he’s not even fucking bathing. Fucking gross, he’s a mess.

His face is covered in a thick, matted, blond beard, his hair unruly and tangled, and he’s got some fucked up attempt at a man bun happening. I’m pretty sure the fucker has been wearing the same ratty, stained clothes for the last week. They hang off his over six-foot frame, and he looks like he’s swimming in them, with as much weight as he’s lost. Jesus fuck, how did I end up responsible for this fucker? I should have used the last three months as a way to get rid of the fucker, but instead, here I am, living with him and making sure he doesn’t drink his pathetic ass to death.

“What did you need, cunt, and if you say more fuckin bourbon, I will consider fucking shooting you.” I reach into the fridge, pull out a bottle of water, and plop it down in front of him. “Drink that, your liver will thank me.” He rolls his eyes at me, but opens the cap and chugs the water down. When he’s done, the prick throws the empty water bottle at me, in an act of complete immaturity. I force myself to count to ten in my head, to stop me from wrapping my hands around his neck and throttling him.

“Isabella was on the news again. She was at some pricey charitable event with Stella. She looked so beautiful.” His lips tremble, and his face scrunches, and ah shit, here we go again, the fucker is going to start the water theatrics again. God, give me strength not to put a bullet in his brain, and end his suffering.

“I know, prick, I was there watching from the shadows.” A frustrated sigh leaves me. Am I really any better than he is at the moment? Yeah, I get up and shower and leave this place, but what fuels me to do that is stalking Issy everywhere she goes, in an attempt to find an opening to speak with her or, even better, kidnap her and take her back to my jungle. So far, in the three months since we were forced to leave Stella’s mansion, there hasn’t been a single opportunity, thanks to Stella’s hypervigilance.

Even when we get time with Julia, it’s always in a public park, and we are surrounded by Stella’s army, and they ensure we are weaponless. Issy never joins us, it’s always Clark and Issy’s bitchy friend, Rachel, who brings her. The latter spends all her time imagining my death, as she fingers some Japanese fighting sword strapped to her chest, and glares at me. Unfucking real, the shit I have to put up with.

“Was she with anyone this time... a date ?“ He looks like he would rather eat glass than ask me, but we both know it’s driving us insane. Fucking Stella, the dragon bitch has reintroduced the world to Issy, making it seem like she went away to have her daughter away from the spotlight, instead of spending years hiding from me, and changing her identity. Now, she has her out and about, so the whole world can see she’s back and one of her heirs. The bitch even has the audacity to have various well-to-do men escorting her to events.

“No, she was all alone this time, with just Stella for company,” I smirk. I’m sure my message got across with the last one that she had escort Issy to the ballet. I sent that fucker back to her, missing all of his fingers that I was forced to watch touch my Issy, and stabbed and beat him ’til he was almost unrecognizable. I’m sure the note I pinned to his shoulder with my blade, telling her to ‘keep fucking trying me’ made an impact on her decision on whether to continue pushing my buttons. There won’t be any rich bachelors left in the United States if I go on a killing spree.

“Good.” His hand trembles on the counter, and I avert my eyes. Fuck, if this continues much longer, I won’t have to worry about killing this fucker. He’ll have drunk himself to death. “What are we going to do, Diego? She’s not backing down. She really did leave us.”

I want to reject his words immediately. Issy didn’t leave me, no one fucking leaves me. But even my own bravado can’t hide the truth; she’s gone, and she’s making no attempt to change that. She’s hiding behind Stella, and we can’t reach her, so we can change her mind. My daughter is miserable, and asks me questions I can’t answer. When I try subtly to pry information about her mother, Rachel, the bitch, glares at me and pulls her blade out to clean it. It’s almost hopeless, not that I will ever utter those words out loud. Fuck that shit.

There has to be a way to reach Issy. A way we haven’t tried yet. “Did Carter get back to you about Mia?” I question. The one hope I’m holding onto is Issy’s sister, Mia. She’s made it abundantly clear she doesn’t care for me, but she does like Kai, and she let it slip that Issy seems miserable with her decision. If we could somehow manage to convince her to get Issy somewhere alone where we could get to her, I could grab her and run with her, and that way, I could talk some sense into her.

“Carter said, and I quote, ‘Stay the fuck away from my girl, or I’ll end you, bitch’, as his reply to our demand to get Mia to help us.“ So there’s hope, then. If he really wanted me to stay away from Mia, he would have either shown up to beat my ass, or he would have put a bullet in my brain. He’s done neither and just threatened me like a weak bitch.

“Get in the fucking shower and get dressed, we leave in twenty.” I turn away from him, pulling out my phone, and rapidly making a list in my mind of everything that I am going to need. “Where are we going?” He demands as he pushes away from the counter, and staggers unsteadily in the direction of the bathroom.

“To steal a different Stratford princess, and Kai, stop fucking drinking. I need you sober to help me with this shit.”