Page 173 of Reckless Vengeance

He was in the Heights, not too far from our old house, and I floored it to make sure I got there before he could leave. This was my chance to confront him, the only way I didn’t lose him again.

I remembered to use my brain when I got close, slowing the car and being gentle with the gas to try and keep it as quiet as possible. The neighbors wouldn’t say shit, but if Max heard me coming, he could call the cops.

Did I use a gun? It would be too loud, I didn’t have a silencer, but a knife would require me getting close to him and it could make one hell of a mess. I’d have to ditch it too, and I really liked this one.

I went back and forth with myself for a while until I arrived near the street, turning the engine off, and walking the rest of the way to creep around the side of the house. It was quiet, but the tracker said his phone had pinged here three minutes ago, so surely I hadn’t missed him.

The door opened silently, and I couldn’t believe the stupid fucker hadn’t locked it considering he had so many people after him. It showed his arrogance, and that was what would get him killed.

I heard him talking on the phone to someone, staying hidden as I waited. Running in and killing him when someone was there to hear it wasn’t a great idea.

He almost saw me when he walked in after hanging up, making me jump when he tossed the phone on the counter with a snarl.

“You kill three hookers and all of a sudden, no one trusts you with their hookers.”

Like that wasn’t a good reason to cut him off.

I gripped my gun in hand, stepping out from behind the door that I’d been hiding behind, and I could tell when he turned that I’d surprised him.

“I wouldn’t trust you with hookers either,” I scoffed, and he rolled his eyes.

“They’re disposable. What are you doing, Aurora? Playing mafia princess?”

“Slash is dead because of you,” I bit out, pointing the gun right at him. “Hunter got shot because of you. I can’t go anywhere alone without someone sticking to me like glue because of you.”

“I heard you’d started jumping on Devil cock. You just can’t stop, can you?” he sneered.

“Tell me where Mom is and I won’t kill you.” That was a lie, but he didn’t know that.

“I already told you, she’s long gone. I will never help you find her because why should I? You took away the only woman I’ve ever cared for, so I’ll do the same to you. You will never find peace, always searching for her in a crowd and wondering if she’s thinking of you. She’s not, FYI.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“You do just a little bit. She never came back for you. You were expecting her to show up on your birthday, weren’t you? I bet it was disappointing to know she wasn’t even thinking of you. She’s only ever cared about your sister, and she doesn’t even know that the baby she lost isn’t even dead.”

My stomach dropped, and I glared at him. “You’re lying.”

“Am I? I never wanted you, I only agreed to a child because my wife wanted one so badly, and I would have given her anything she ever wanted. Marla becoming pregnant was never the plan, and when she refused to get an abortion, I made sure that baby didn’t come home with her from the hospital,” he snapped, curling his lip in disgust.

“Why did you take me home then? Why didn’t you give me up too?” I demanded, wishing he’d just let me go instead of tormenting me for years, blaming me for something I had no control over.

“At first, I figured you’d look like her and it would be a comfort, but I soon learned the more you took on her features, the more I grew to hate it. It was like a punch in the guts seeing so much of that angel in such a demonic little girl.”

“That’s right, I was a little girl!” I threw back. “You hit me, screamed at me, degraded me, and the second I grew tits, you used me to pay off debts!”

“You should be thanking me. Look at you now being all strong and sexually experienced.”

“You’re disgusting.”

“Says the girl who’s being used as a cum bucket,” he snorted. “Sometimes I think I kept the wrong child. Claire will become someone important one day, unlike you.”

The way he was looking at me made my stomach twist.

“Claire?”

“Yes, that Davidson girl from the academy. Her parents were more than happy to take her. Although, I heard your influence lately has been getting her into trouble with that gang. Feel free to sink yourself, but not her.”

There was no way in fucking hell that Claire was my sister. She was the complete opposite to me.