Page 156 of XO Karma

My veins turn to lava, panic rising. He knows about Lily. Of course he knows about her. Because anything that I could ever possibly have that’s good in my life, he would want to taint or take or destroy. I’ve felt like I had a black cloud following me around all these years, and it turns out I was right.

It was my fucking father.

“You’ve been manipulating me,” I say to him, eyes brimming with moisture I force back. “Just like you did to Oliver.”

He scoffs. “Oliver never had what it took.” He steps closer to me, and I retreat, incapable of allowing the distance between us to lessen. “I expected great things from you.” He smiles half-heartedly. “Guess Annabelle is my only choice.”

Alarm sirens blare. “Leave her be. She’s happy in California.”

Another laugh that brings flame to fury. “She hasn’t lived in California in two years.”

“You’re lying.”

“She works for Hephaestus.”

I shake my head.

“Did you really think she just flew out here without telling me?”

“She would never work for you if she knew what you did.”

His smile is patronizing. “What makes you think she doesn’t?”

My heart stops. “She wouldn’t… she couldn’t…”

Years of phone calls flood my mind. All the half-answered questions. Her insistence that I give my dad another chance. Why wouldn’t she have mentioned it? I suppose I never did either… but I was protecting her.

Panic courses through me. She can’t be a part of this. I distanced myself to keep her safe, and all it did was let Dad get his claws in her completely unbeknownst to me.

“I know it’s hard for you to understand. Hell, I was surprised too. But one of my children does actually care about our family’s legacy.”

“Your legacy is a poison on this planet! How the hell you haven’t been locked up or gunned down is beyond me.”

His eyes flicker with disdain, nostrils flaring. “You want to do the honors?”

My jaw grits. “I’ve thought about it every damn day of my life.”

“Boys, boys,” Annabelle says, pulling our attention towards the door. What is she doing here? “Can we calm down with the murdering our own talk?”

“Annie, I told you to wait in the car.”

“Belle?” I scoff, my chest tightening. “How could you? After everything he did? Now you’re helping him?!”

“We have a lot to catch up on, big bro,” she says, patting my shoulder far too calmly.

“He killed Oliver.” I gesture towards my father. “And you’re just okay with that?”

“I didn’t kill anyone,” he says, as if the technicality makes a difference. “And you always seem to forget the pesky little detail that it was your fault.” Belle’s eyes flick to mine, then towards our father. I’m struggling to make sense of her part in all this. “You sent those docs to the FBI.”

I rear back, choking out, “You knew it was me?” I suppress tears threatening to break through. I refuse to look weak in front of him. “But you took Ollie out anyways? Why?”

His eyes turn sympathetic. “It was a necessary evil.”

“Really?” Annabelle deadpans. “Killing Oliver, your own flesh and blood, was a necessary evil?” Is she on my side? I am so goddamn confused.

“Annie, you know this business requires some tough calls. You’ve made your fair share of them.”

My eyes find my sister beside me, and in a blink, I don’t recognize her at all. She has a stoicism about her I didn’t notice earlier. There are small scars on her arms that were hidden by her blouse this morning. What has he gotten you into, baby sister?