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“I didn’t do anything!” the lying bitch screamed. “It was all her. She did this to take you away from me.” Now she was growing agitated, her grip on my hair harsh enough that I could feel some of the strands detaching from my scalp.
I better not end up with a bald spot.
“Oh yeah,” I snorted. “I’m the criminal mastermind here. You figured out my master plan. Oh no.”
I heard one of the twins snort a laugh. Seamus, most likely, but my current view only allowed me to see my father’s thunderous face. Oops. Not a fan of my nervous, under pressure comedic prowess, apparently.
“Not helping.” He shook his head and sighed. “Marianne, let her go and let’s talk about this.”
That wasn’t going to happen.
“Do you think I’m stupid, Liam?” she growled. “The minute I let go of her, I’m a dead woman.”
Maybe she wasn’t that stupid after all.
“Whatever is going on,” he held his hands out toward her, “we can figure it out.”
Scoff. Once she was buried in a deep, deep grave, we could.
Damn, I really needed to take some meditation classes or something. Shit was getting dark in my head.
“She did this,” Marianne screamed. “Why can’t you see it? All of this has been just an elaborate setup to take everything I have. To take what I love most in the world from me. Just like Katherine.”
“Keep her name out of your mouth, bitch,” I snarled at her. “The only thing you love in this world is yourself. Money and power are the two things you crave. That is it. Don’t drag my mother into this unless you want me to air your dirty secrets to the world.”
“I’m not the one with dirty secrets,” she hissed. “Tell them how you killed your mother, little Ava. It was all you. Everything was you.”
What the fuck was going on? Was this chick for real?
“They told me,” Marianne insisted, turning her gaze on Liam, her eyes pleading. “Sheila and Seamus have been looking into Katherine’s death, and everything points back to her.” She shook the hand she had clutching my hair, pulling it at the roots, and I couldn’t help the small cry that fell from my lips.
“Stop the lies, Mom,” Seamus hissed. “We know everything.”
Marianne scoffed. “You don’t know anything,” she dismissed him. “You can’t even do what you’re told. Look at everything now. Building alliances with motorcycle scum and putting a target on our backs because the two of you couldn’t keep it in your pants. You’re a disappointment.”
“Enough!” Liam roared. “You will not talk to my sons that way, Marianne.” Usually that tone of voice was enough to make the woman holding me in her grasp cower a bit. Or at least cow her. But this time, his warning didn’t work. Something else was at play here. There was no way in hell Marianne would be this brave if she was alone.
Suddenly, the whole scenario made more sense.
Marianne wasn’t trying to convince them I was guilty. She was biding her time. The question was, where were the people who were making her so bold?
“Why are you really here, Marianne?” I questioned through gritted teeth, the pain in my scalp becoming unbearable. It was more fun when it was Matthias pulling my hair. “What are you waiting for?”
“I want you to tell them the truth.” Her cold eyes turned to mine. “Tell them what you did.”
“Why should my daughter confess to your sins?”
All eyes turned toward my mother, who had maneuvered herself between Seamus and Kiernan. Marianne’s mouth fell open, her face paling and her eyes going wide as she gaped at the ghost before her.
“That’s…” Marianne stuttered, her hand loosening its hold on my hair. “You’re…”
“Dead?” my mother finished. “One would think so after the damage you did.” My mother flicked the cane in her hand, twirling it in a circle. “With this.”
Where the fuck had my mother gotten that? In her hand, she was holding a silver crossed cane. The lacquer on the wood was peeling, and the cross was bent at an odd angle.
“Jesus,” I whispered under my breath.
“I’ve never seen that before.” Her left eye twitched at the lie. My mother raised a brow in disbelief.
