Page 18 of Rock the Boat
“And now we have reached the part of the evening where I ask a question, and you answer it. For every wrong answer, I’ll make you bleed,” I threatened.
“You’re crazy,” Helena said, her body trembling.
“You made me this way!” I seethed.
Matthew groaned and rolled over onto his back. “Nell…ahem. Nell is back.”
Clod took off his blazer and covered Matthew’s waist. “Thank you for the head’s up, asshole.”
“Why try and kill me?” I demanded, pulling my knife out once more.
“No one tried to kill you. You probably did all that to yourself because you wanted Matthew back,” Helena snapped.
I moved quickly and grabbed her hair, yanking it back to expose her neck. “Wrong answer.”
“Stop!” Steven yelled. His eyes were darting back and forth, and his hands were in the air. He looked like a caged animal, searching for a way out of a trap. “I didn’t know they were going to do that to you. I didn’t know you were the girl they were going to use until Matthew had already gotten you to agree to go on a date. I promise!”
“Shut up!” Leon ordered. Out of everyone, he remained the most composed. He glared at me, his eyes narrowing to slits. “She isn’t going to do anything to anyone. There are too many witnesses. She would have to kill everyone, and that would be a one-way ticket to life in prison.”
I tilted my chin toward him, and Emil hit him on the back of the head. Leon went down, but he was not out. “You’re right to a point, but you forget one important detail. I have nothing to lose. You took everything away that night you tried to kill me. For what? Why?” I didn’t know why it was so important to me, but it was, and I could not drop it.
Holding his hand against the wound, Leon said, “You were the one who showed up at his apartment unannounced, which wasn’t actually his. You almost blew everything. Matthew should have never taken you there in the first place. But then you just decided on a whim to come over and seduce him. The only reason nothing happened is because the guy who lived there was on vacation, and Steven was watching the place. He told me what you were doing. You want to act like you are innocent, but you are really just a bitch in heat like the rest of them.”
“And the box?” I forced out.
“I couldn’t care less. You saw cheap stuffed toys. Yes, the drugs were in those. I organized a supply chain between Michigan and Boston. You have no idea how easy it is to get the drugs made in Canada and smuggled into the U.S. We just drive them over the border, and my employees in Michigan mail them to Boston, New York, and Los Angeles.” He struggled to get to his feet, but he finally did it. “It’s not like you can prove anything. It will be my word against yours. Who will they believe? Someone who was dumped by my future nephew and showed up at his wedding talking like a crazy woman, or an alderman for the city of Boston?”
I tucked my knife into my cleavage and smiled prettily. “Me. Did you really think the only cameras I had on this boat were the ones in my cabin? I have the whole yacht wired, but that only matters if I let you live. All of you deserve to die.” I turned to Steven. “How did they choose me? You said there had been other girls. Did you kill them too?”
“No, I swear we haven’t.” He glanced around, moving closer to Marcos, farther away from Leon. “Clod and Frank scope out possible candidates, and Matthew has the final say.”
I stared down at Matthew. He was more alert and struggling to free his arms. “You won’t get them off. They aren’t some cheap sex toy that can easily be broken. Why me, Matthew?”
“I’m not some weak bitch like Steven. Go fuck yourself,” he snarled.
“Really?” I marched over to him and pressed the heel of my stiletto into his dick. “Crushing your balls would be the highlight of my evening. Answer me,” I demanded.
Hissing in pain, he tried to press his ass into the floor. Maybe he wasn’t the masochist I thought he was. “Because you were the homeliest. You had no friends, no one ever talked to you, and you practically threw yourself at me when I asked you out on a date.”
“Why use me? Why not get a P.O. Box or something?” When he didn’t answer, I applied more pressure and could feel my heel slip slightly thanks to the cinch. “I’m done being meek and mild, done letting you walk all over me. Done with you. Tell me what I want to know!”
“Matthew, shut up,” Leon sneered.
I grabbed the gun from Sergio and pointed it at the older man. “I am a perfect shot. One more outburst and I’ll make sure you die before anyone else. But it won’t be a quick and painless death. I’ll take a page out of the movies. First, the knees. Then the hands. Maybe your shoulder or ear. I will cut you down piece by piece using every single bullet on this boat if I have to. And when I’m down to the last bullet, only then will I put one through your black heart. Now, shut the fuck up. This is my interrogation.” Shifting my arm, I aimed the gun at Matthew’s forehead. “Start talking.”
“There were more chances something could happen. If we had it delivered to you, even if the package was damaged, it was less likely someone would see the contents, and if the police tried to investigate, all roads would lead back to you. You would be the one to take the fall. We would move our operations and find someone else to help us. You didn’t have a picture of me, and I gave you a fake name. There was no way you were supposed to be able to find us.”
“Why kill me?”
“Uncle Leon said it had to be done. Helena volunteered to be the one to do it. We made sure the light wasn’t working earlier in the day. Then we pretended it was a mugging gone wrong?”
“Why the ruse?”
“In case there were witnesses. If someone happened to see what happened or called the cops, I would have a story for what happened. I didn’t drive my own car because I didn’t want anyone to be able to identify it.”
“And after my neck had been cut?” I was a little surprised that Matthew was so forthcoming, but when a guy’s dick was a stake, I guessed they were willing to turn on anyone.
“Helena left, and Uncle Leon brought Steven, Frank, and Clod. We wrapped you up in a blanket and threw you in your trunk. We dumped you on the rocks and then drove your car to the airport. If someone came looking for you, they would assume you went on a trip. Steven texted your parents and told them we had broken up and the wedding was over.”
