That doesn’t mean I’m above putting someone in the ground if they’ve earned it.
I start the engine, paying no attention whatsoever to the blood covering my knuckles, and I tear through the city, straight to my father’s house.
I need answers.
And tonight, I’m getting them.
Why would a man marry a woman who could be his daughter?
Why keep it secret?
And why keep it from me?
I fucking hope he never laid a finger on her because it seems the thought of him hurting her is enough to make me consider killing my own father.
So I hope he doesn’t force my hand.
And all of this, for a woman who lied to me, one who deceived me from the very beginning.
But did she really?
Fuck if I know anymore.
I find myself here, caught between the only family I’ve ever had and my woman.
Or is she his?
Fuck it.
He. Can’t. Have. Her.
No one can.
I pull into the estate and the moment the car comes to a stop, I’m out and taking the stairs two at a time.
The instant I step inside, the silence envelops me, the house is dead quiet, with no voices from the staff, no footsteps carrying through the halls and no sign of movement anywhere.
My heart kicks against my ribs as though it’s afraid, which is absurd because I don’t get scared.
At least I didn’t before Piper.
She has a remarkable talent for turning my entire world upside down.
I head for the living room, and the moment I step inside, I stop dead in my tracks, unable to move or, for a second, even breathe.
That thing in my chest I’ve spent years insisting I don’t possess?
It’s trying to beat its way out.
If my ribs weren’t there to keep it contained, the bloody thing might succeed.
Piper is lying unconscious on the pristine marble floor. The white stone beneath her is stained red.
With herblood.
I cross the distance in seconds and drop to my knees beside her. My hand shakes as I brush the hair away from her face.
She’s covered in blood, and bruises and…
