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"You don't know any better." I say curtly. "Claire..."
She pulls away enough to look at me, and I see her cheeks shining with fresh tears. "Go wait in the car. And lock the door." Her lip twitches like she’s going to say something, but she bites it back and takes the gun I offer her.
I don't turn to watch her go, keeping my eyes trained on Wes, but I hear the car door shut after a moment. "What's the deal, Boudreaux? We gonna dance or something?"
"No." I laugh. "Not quite." His eyes flicker to the knife between us. Grinning, I kick it at him. "Go ahead."
But he doesn't move for it. He recognizes the threat in front of him. He isn't going to take his eyes off of me. "The answer to this next question determines if you live. So, you may want to think it through a minute. Take your time before you answer."
"You gonna ask me who killed your father? You think I'll tell you so you can avenge him?"
"No." I laugh. "I already know the answer to that question. What I want to know is, who killed my mother?"
His eyes—my mother's eyes—change with surprise. "Your mother? Why would I know that?"
"You've already told me you're my brother. That means she was your mother too. And I don't know the story there, yet, but I don't think you do either. So, again... who killed my mother?"
"She was sick." He shrugs. "Cancer. You know that."
"Mmm." I nod. "I do know that. I also know that cancer doesn't slit your throat. Any guesses who did that?"
"What's it matter? She was a whore, and now she's dead."
His words don't provoke me. I can't be any more provoked than I already am.
Except now, I know who the enemy really is.
And I know exactly how to destroy him.
Chapter thirty-two
Remy
I have never stopped to consider why a woman like Elaine, who so clearly loves taking care of people, had never had children of her own. But now, I can't help wondering why she’s being so fiercely protective of Claire. She all but accused me of murdering my sister's best friend, and now that she knows I didn’t, she’s still acting as though she can’t trust me with her.
She insisted that a hospital couldn’t do anything more for Claire than we could, so I allowed her to get Claire patched up and make sure that nothing was broken. But that’s as close as I’m letting her get. That’s as close as I’m letting anyone get.
The drugs, the pain, and the exhaustion all took its toll on Claire, and once she collapsed from all of it, I refused to let her out of my sight. I can tell that Rhea isn't happy about it, but I’ve already failed once by trusting someone who only hurt her. There’s no chance I’m going to let it happen again, so until she wakes and pushes me away, I’m going to be her shadow.
If Jovich was ever loyal to anyone, it would have been my father. After my father appointed me to the family business, he appointed Jovich to me. I kept my fair share of secrets from him, and clearly, he kept his fair share of secrets from me. But he had been a family friend for years... I never considered that he would be a threat under my own roof. And maybe he didn't mean to be. He had insisted that what he did would protect Rhea. In his own way, maybe he truly thought he was helping. But he didn't understand that Rhea would never forgive him for what he did. And now he never will understand it because he’s gone.
Dimitri called me as soon as he secured his mark, and when I filled him in on all that he’d missed, it only took a matter of phone calls before the mess was cleaned up and Jovich’s body was taken care of. Explaining it to Rhea, who only heard the gunshot and didn’t see any of it unfold, was the hardest part. She didn't understand why he would have done something so cruel, and she doesn't even know the half of it. I told her that Jovich had taken Claire to Davos' men for money and nothing more. There was no love lost between myself and my father, particularly now that I know about Wes, but I can't ruin Rhea's perception of him. She doesn't need to know that she'd grown up in a house with a monster who was so obsessed with power and money that he sold his own family for just a little more.
Claire wakes with a start, sitting bolt upright in my bed and gasping as she does. She searches the room a moment, not recognizing her surroundings, and then relaxes when she finds me sitting in the chair beside the window. "You're safe." I promise her.
She nods and draws her knees into her chest, resting her head on them as she recovers from the same nightmare that she's already suffered countless times. I've watched her float in and out of sleep for the last day, and we've barely talked in that time. All that matters is that she knows she is safe when she wakes, and I know she is safe while she sleeps.
But this time, she looks more lucid than she’s been any of the other times.
I stand and walk slowly to the bed, sitting at the end where her feet had just been. I’m quiet as I allow her a moment, and when she looks up, her lips are pressed together while she contemplates her words. "I don't know where to go from here." She says. "That’s the hardest part. Maybe that sounds silly, but am I really supposed to just go back to classes and act like I'm okay?"
"No." I assure her. "You don't have to act like you're okay. You don't have to be okay. What you've been through... that's not okay."
She laughs and runs a hand through her hair, letting out a frustrated sigh. "I still don't understand what happened. I know that Jovich wanted to get rid of me, but why did they think that I was Rhea? And why were they going to take her?"
It’s a question I’ve prepared for. But that doesn't mean it’s any easier to say out loud. So, I meet her question with one of my own. "Do you remember the other night when you asked me to tell you the truth about the family business?"
"Yes." Her voice is a whisper devoid of surprise or confusion. Somehow, I think she sensed that her kidnapping had more to do with business than opportunity. I don’t think she knew it when she asked me on the rooftop what I really do for a living—if she did, she’d have run from me instead of allowing herself to be trapped under me. But somewhere between then and the horrors she lived through the last couple of days, she seems to have pieced it together.
