Cutthroat Carmine (Book 1)(COMPLETE) (Wattpad Featured Novel)

31: [kwes-chuh nz]

Mason stumbles out of the master bedroom with a sheepish expression on his face. His hair is tousled and he is clad in a burgundy coloured terry robe. "What's troubling you, Carmine?" he asks, rubbing his eyes. "I'm not supposed to get up for another two hours. You know I can't stand the light...not even sunset."

Red stumbles out of the bedroom seconds later, clumsily tying up her robe. "Honey, what's going on?"

"I just saw Liam," Carmine seethes, "You better have a good explanation for this."

"Who's Liam?" Red asks, eyebrows raised.

"Liam is not important," Mason states, looking straight in Red eyes. His eyes briefly flash purple. Carmine can tell he's glamouring her again. How many times has he done this to her? Should she tell her mother that he's manipulating her? If mother ever finds out...she will be heartbroken.

Mason continues without breaking eye contact, "Go back inside the bedroom. I need to speak with Carmine and I will join you later."

Red does as she is told and disappears back into the shadows.

Mason leads Carmine to his study and opens the door with a snap of his fingers. "Sit," he commands.

Carmine refuses. "I'll stand, thank you. Now, tell me the truth before I lose it." Her hands are tightly balled up into fists and she feels insurmountable rage pounding through every fibre of her being.

Mason sighs deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Are you sure it wasn't someone else you saw?"

Carmine knows she has no evidence to prove that it's Liam. All she's relying on is her gut instinct. Hopefully it's enough. "I know it's him," she grinds out, assaulting Mason with a malevolent glare.

"And how do you know?" Mason asks, sitting in his chair and leaning back.

"His voice. His smell. The way he talks. And he has scars from when we used to-"

"-Perhaps your guilt is colouring what you see...Inspiring your imagination to come up with impossible things," Mason says slowly. "Did he recognize you? Did he mention anything to you?"

"No..." Carmine admits. "But he could've been glamoured." The unspoken accusation hangs thick in the air. "He's exactly the same as he was two years ago. And it can't be pure coincidence that he's back in Richmont."

"Where did you see him?" Mason continues, sitting up straighter. He seems more interested now. He picks up his fountain pen and twirls it around and around between two fingers.

"Outside the hotel once and then earlier, at the carnival by the beach," Carmine replies. "Father. Please. I beg you. Tell me the truth. I need to know."

"The truth..." Mason mumbles, lost in thought. "You would never understand the truth."

"Try me."

"I don't think you want to know, Carmine. Some things are better left unsaid. Some feelings, left buried forever. Don't go looking for trouble. You won't like what you discover." Mason turns toward the window, his expression ominous at best.

"Tell me. Right now Father," Carmine hisses, slithering closer to her father like a venomous cobra ready to attack. "You didn't kill him did you? You just glamoured him into leaving. Now that he's back, you're scared as fuck. Tell me everything Father. Tell me!!" Carmine's voice is so loud the tall cabinet against the wall shakes, its glass panes threatening to crack. Carmine feels anger stampede through her twin souls; mayhem on the verge of bursting out of her like water gushing from a broken dam.

After a few moments, Mason calmly relents to Carmine's interrogation. He whispers, "You're right, I didn't kill him."

Carmine slams her fist down on Mason's desk, sending a hairline crack shooting through the wood. "How could you? You led me to feel guilty for years over his death! I hated you for being a monster. A killer! Now you're telling me you did it all for what? Just to stop me from fooling around with some boy?" Carmine feels tension building in her fists. She badly wants to punch her father right between the nose. She needs to let out fumes before she combusts and brings down the whole house with her.