Stalker - Clarissa Wild Page 0,46
thing on this earth I’ll ever do. Especially when it comes to you because I want to make you see the truth in your own lies.” I take out my phone and scroll through my messages. “Prepare for the blow, Princess.”
“For what blow? You want me to believe that Arthur was just after my money?”
“It’s the only reason he wanted to be close to you. After his brother, Phillip, died, there was nothing in his way.”
She continues to shake her head, trembling from top to bottom as I hold out my phone for her to look at. The message is clear. There’s a bounty on her head, sent directly from one of my employers.
“I’m a hired killer. Guess who asked to get you killed?”
“No … it can’t be,” she says, her face darkening by the second.
“Yes, sweet cheeks. That request came from Arthur. He didn’t just want your money. He wanted you dead.”
CHAPTER 14
VANESSA
My mind and my heart feel like they’re exploding. My lip quivers and a yowling sound emanates from my mouth, a sound so vile that it’s unfamiliar to me, and it makes me want to lash out at Phoenix.
“This is the truth, Princess. The cold, hard truth.”
“How … How could he?” I mumble, still in shock from what I’m seeing.
A text on Phoenix’s cell phone clearly shows a new assignment from someone who hires him. Someone who wants me dead. And that someone is named Arthur Starr.
“Because of the money, Vanessa. It’s all around you. Can’t you smell it? This place reeks of blood money. You know what it can do to people. Look at you. You’re a prime example.”
I sniff, pushing away the impending tears. “I am not like that.”
“Oh, really?” He glances at his cell phone and then back at me. “So that’s why someone wants you dead. Because you’re such a nuisance.”
“Arthur was … different.”
“No, he just pretended to be so he could try and get you to go down easily. It was always about the money. You married into fortune, he wanted it, and he couldn’t wait any longer.”
“Is that why you’re here?” I ask.
“No, I got this text after I arrived at your place. Rather convenient, don’t you think? I guess they knew where I was headed.”
“Who is they?”
“The people I work for,” he muses. “Not that it matters to you.”
“But why would he want me dead? He’s part of the Starr family. It was their money, not mine.”
“And you got it because you married Phillip,” he says. “And then I killed him, so his fortune became yours.”
“So Arthur actually wanted Phillip’s life … the company … he wanted to marry me,” I mutter. Everything is clicking into place.
“Except you didn’t.”
“I had no choice,” I say looking directly into Phoenix’s eyes. “You think I even had the right to make a decision? I wasn’t allowed to pick who I married, Phoenix. Open your eyes. I’m not the only one blind to the fucking truth!”
His lips part, but nothing comes out. He just stands there motionless. I wonder what he’s thinking. Maybe he finally realizes that, even though I married into wealth, it was not my choice.
“You could have said no,” he says. His resolve is cracking. His true emotions are flowing through.
“And then what? Do you think my mother would’ve let me?” I say. His emotions are like the notes of a piano, and I am an expert at playing.
“Who gives a shit about your mother!” Phoenix yells, almost crushing his cell phone.
“I do! And she threatened you!” I yell back.
This shuts him up completely.
The cell phone drops from his hand, and he blinks a couple of time, before picking it up again.
He clears his throat and licks his lips. I guess the cat’s out of the bag now. I didn’t want to tell him, but my circumstances now require that I do. Telling him means he’ll know why I gave him up and why I chose someone else over him. Now that he knows, it’s much easier for him to accept me as I’ve become. Yes, I am a lying, conniving bitch, but I didn’t choose to be this way.
And now he knows the truth.
Good. It makes it that much easier to play with his emotions until he finally admits that even though he says he hates me to death, he still has feelings for me. I know he does, I can see it. I could feel it in the way he kissed me.
It was just like how I remember.
How we