Page 84 of Secrets of the Six

The staff ushers Señora Montenegro back toward the house, but as she ascends the steps, she turns back to look at the horrific scene, and a small smile plays on her lips. She's free. And I've had my revenge.

"How does it taste?" A male voice sounds to my left.

I cock and aim my pistol in the voice's direction only to see Remus sitting on top of the chimney. He got the drop on me. If he had sinister motives, I would not have heard him coming.

"What?" I slide my gun back into its holster.

"Revenge," he says simply. "How does it feel?"

I glance across the street once more as they pull Montenegro's lifeless body out and drape a white sheet over his corpse. "I would have preferred if both men were forced to stand public trial and have their atrocities made known to everyone, but I suppose this is satisfactory. They certainly won't harm another person again."

When I'm met with silence, I turn to meet his gaze and fear claws at my heart. Ordo Vulpe does not kill. And here I am, covered in another human's blood. I don't know what that means for me – or us – but I wish he'd say something.

"Remus – "

"This isn't the first time you've killed, is it?" His tone is clipped but not laced in anger.

I could lie, but I'm growing exhausted by living falsely. My shoulders droop and I exhale. "No." I come clean. "I've killed before."

Silence stretches for several seconds before he asks, "Who was it?"

I bite my bottom lip, debating how forthcoming I should be. Knowledge is power and secrets can be used as blackmail. When I meet Remus' awaiting face, flashes of last night pop into my head. At my most vulnerable, he made me feel safe. It's time I allowed myself to trust him.

"His name was Marco Salinas."

Remus stills and his eyes widen. "Don Ricardo Salinas' son?"

"I thought he loved me, but I was only flesh and a good time to him." I rub the back of my neck and hop up from my seated position and tiptoe on the top of the roof toward him. "When he told me he was going to marry someone more suitable, I was confused. He promised we'd be together and when I reminded him, he laughed at me. He said I was nothing. I was no one. And I was a fool for believing he actually wanted a future with me." I perch next to Remus on the chimney, our thighs brushing. "I was hurt and very angry. I threatened to tell his family about our secret affair. I threatened to ruin his engagement if he denied me." I stop.

This next part is hard to relive. Hard to share with the man I'm… the man I'm falling for. He rests his hand on top of my bouncing knee, and it propels me to finish telling him the whole truth.

I swallow hard and continue, "I don't remember him attacking me. I only remember waking up hours later bloody, bruised, and broken. It took me months to heal. It took me just as long to muster the courage to leave my apartment. But it was then I decided I no longer wanted to be seen or treated as lesser because I was from the Brogratto. So, I tracked Marco down and in the dead of night, masked by shadows and fog, I killed him."

"And the body?" His voice sends a chill down my spine.

I stare across the expanse of the sleeping city and whisper, "I wrapped him in a blanket and tied weights around him in three places before I dumped his corpse in the canal."

Admitting my crime out loud gives me a sense of relief. I've never told another living breathing soul of my sin. Now, I wait to see if Remus will say anything. Will he condemn me or dispose of me since I don't align with the Ordo Vulpe code of conduct?

He removes his hand from my knee and my throat constricts. "Remus – "

Reaching for my chin, he turns me to look at him and runs his thumb across my bottom lip. "If he wasn't already resting at the bottom of the river, he would be tonight."

My chest aches, my heart races. "Why?"

"He laid his hands on you." His eyes darken. "No one touches what is mine."

"I'm not yours, Remus." I remind him, though my heart flutters at the thought of him claiming me.

He smirks and his eyes soften. "You are, and one day you'll admit it." He wraps his hand in mine but stills, the color drains from his face. Slowly, he lifts my hand and spots the ruby engagement ring I forgot to discard when I went hunting. "He asked you to marry him?"

"Why do you sound disappointed?" I retrieve my hand from his, suddenly uncomfortable. "Was that not what I was hired to do? I think a good job, Ines, is in order."

"You're right," he says solemnly. "Good job, Ines."

I did what was asked of me in record time. So, why do I feel like absolute shit?

A silence stretches between us as we look out over the starry night sky. In the distance the gold dome of the Teatro Castillo reflects the moonlight. Further across the city, Iglesia de los Santos is visible and if I squint, I can see the castle in the Royal District beyond the opera house.