Page 48 of Kylie

He seemed surprised by my outburst, but a smile tipped the corners of his mouth when he said, “That she was. The good thing is, I have a way of dealing with people like her.”

“You killed her?” The thought shouldn’t have hurt considering how much I despised my mother, but there was a crack in the center of my chest that started throbbing at the thought.

“If only,” Martin said, glancing at his fingernails. “She disappeared before I could eliminate her. Did you even know that’s why she left? To avoid dying at my hands?”

I didn’t answer, but for some reason, I didn’t hate her quite as much.

“I searched for years,” Martin continued. “I scoured high and low, but I still haven’t figured out where she’s hiding.” He huffed. “God, I even put her at the top of Censorious’s most wanted list and still nothing.”

I didn’t know what Censorious was, nor did I care.

“She’s good, I’ll give her that much.”

I noticed he flipped to the present tense, meaning he was still searching for her.

“What did she volunteer to do?”

“The one thing she was really good at.”

I suffered through his dramatic pause.

He finally said, “Lie, of course.”

I didn’t ask him about what. It didn’t really matter.

His gaze snapped to my face. “Then another opportunity dropped right into my lap.”

I knew his pause was for effect, but I couldn’t help myself. “What opportunity was that?”

“A young woman on death’s door…”

I frowned as a clearer picture came to mind.

“There you were, hovering on that little ledge between heaven and earth. One little tip and you would’ve soared painlessly to your final destination.”

I had to give him credit; he had a way of painting the picture.

“Dr. Weaver was about ready to call it, but I made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. In a way, I guess you could say I saved your life.”

Somehow, I doubted that.

“It’s amazing what people will do when they’re drowning in debt, and someone throws them a financial lifeline. He didn’t even flinch when I told him to falsify the death certificate.” He chuckled. “Of course, he thought you were a terrorist, and I was working with Homeland Security…” He shrugged. “You should be proud of the sheer number of people who came to the funeral. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the place.” He frowned dramatically. “Those kids … especially the oldest one. She was devastated.”

I ground my teeth together, refusing to take the bait.

“And that husband of yours … dedicated right to the very end. I thought Travis was going to go into the hole with the casket. He didn’t want to leave your side.” He flashed a smile. “I won’t lie. It felt good to see him in so much pain.”

My swallow reflex kicked into high gear, battling against my urge to throw up. This man got off on other people’s pain, and it was disturbing to say the least.

However, the one thing I did notice was that he referred to Travis as my husband. Legally, that was true. In the eyes of the law, I was married to him. But those who knew me knew that I was married to Travis and Gage. At least that was the way we chose to explain our relationship. Martin didn’t seem to realize that. Which meant the information he had on me was what he’d dug up in court records.

“But I was disappointed in the turnout,” Martin continued. “The one person I thought for sure would be there never showed up.”

I frowned, trying to figure out what he meant.

“Your mother?” he said as though I were an imbecile.

“You thought by fakin’ my death you would draw her out?” I snorted.