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Once we arrived home, I stepped into the main foyer and saw my mother at the bottom of the stairs. She offered my dad a smile, but he didn’t return it.
I frowned as I watched them.
My parents’ troubled marriage wasn’t news to me. I was very much aware they had troubles but I knew my mother loved my dad. I didn’t understand why. He was a total bastard to her, and without remorse.
I didn’t linger. There was no point. As I step toward the stairs, my mother, Molly, smiled at me.
“Are you okay, sweetheart?” she asked. She went to touch my face but hesitated.
“I’m fine.”
I made my way upstairs to my bedroom, closing the door. I removed my jacket, kicked off my boots, and went to my knife and the target in the corner. Ever since River had started practicing two years ago, I’d made it my mission to be better than him.
All four of us would one day be in charge, but to the outside world, my dad, like me, would be the leaders. I was older than my friends by a day, if that. It was how we always were. United. Never divided.
There were times we didn’t know if we were really friends, or we just didn’t know any other way.
I’d die for all of them.
I picked up the knife, stepped away from the target, lined up, and threw. I had three knives that I practiced with. One after the other, I impaled them into my target.
The satisfaction of training didn’t even help me to clear my troubled thoughts.
I put the knives down and instead, went to my bed, lying down to stare up at the ceiling. If my dad knew what we were planning and how it would end, did it mean all of our dads at one point had fallen for one woman?
No, it wasn’t possible.
If there was going to be any evidence of our dads falling for one woman, it would be in the albums my dad kept in the library. I rarely looked through old pictures of myself or my friends as babies or into teenagers. There was no point. I didn’t believe in looking back.
My interest was piqued, though, and even as I hated myself, I got to my feet and padded down to the library.
It was dark, so I went to the table lamp and turned it on. The albums were lined up on the far wall. The scent of musty old books never appealed to me. I didn’t understand Emily’s fascination with the library.
Crouching down, I ran my finger down the spine of each book, finding the one dated the year I was born.
I pulled the book out, sat on my ass, and flicked the file open. There weren’t many pictures here. Barely any.
I frowned as I looked, though. The pictures I looked at were ones I’d seen a few times. When the guys come over and get all nostalgic, they get the books out. I stared at the picture of us in the crib. I’d been referred to as a fat baby. I was bigger than my friends. I got to my feet and moved over to the lamp, putting the picture beneath so I could get a good, proper look at it.
There was no fucking way I was a fat baby. I didn’t know a lot about newborns, but I did know for a fact they weren’t able to sit up straight. If that was me, then it was really fucking clear to me that I was older than a newborn.
Rather than put the picture away, I slid it into my pocket. My dad may have made a passing comment, but I wanted to know the truth, and there was no way I was letting him get away with keeping me in the dark.
Chapter Ten
River
I’d never considered myself the kind of person who would stalk someone. Yet, here I stood in Emily’s room like one. It wasn’t too hard getting into her bedroom. I’d seen her looking out the window a few nights ago, and there was a kitchen around back that the cook liked to keep the door open while she worked. There was also a guard who liked to get the extra food.
I’d stood in the garden and watched for the past couple of evenings in the same routine. Tonight, I decided to play a game of chance and take one. Now, I stood in her bedroom. The scent of her was everywhere.
Sitting on the edge of her bed, I checked the level of bounce. A rather nice bed. I was pleased to know her parents took care of her.
Her bedroom screamed her, which was odd. Her desk had her back to the wall, facing the main door but also keeping the window in view.
Getting to my feet, I pulled her curtains closed and switched on her bedside lamp.
