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“What did you do?!” Holt rages, taking one step forward and dragging Morrigan with him, as he gapes at the body of the man who was helping him build an empire to get his fortune back.
“You should understand. After all, you did the same to your father, and you plan for another.” I step over the corpse and stop next to the pew before the one the O’Rourke’s are sitting in, and give him a suggestive, fleeting look.
“None of this concerned you! None of it! My wedding, my goddamn business, none of this had anything to do with you! You gave me what I asked for and I did the same for you, no matter who Boseman is… was to me or anyone else. You wanted him, and I gave him to you. Anything else didn’t affect you! Now get the fuck out!” The man is in stitches, and I understand in a way. He doesn’t see the whole board, and there’s a whole game being played on the rest of it.
“Who said that I’m actually here for you?” I cock my head and let those words sink in as both Holt and O’Rourke look between each other, confused.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-FOUR
MORRIGAN
Ishould have screamed, reacted in some way when Boseman hit the floor—but I didn’t even flinch. Instead… I can’t help the smile that spreads over my lips and the shiver that runs down my spine.
Me, The Serpent is here forme!
I’m not sure why, but I feel like that teenager from years ago, the one that turned into a puddle and got butterflies in her stomach when Vincent Sinclair swiped a lock of hair from her cheek and tucked it behind her ear, before he even spoke two words to her. I want to run to him, jump into his arms, and claim him in the middle of this goddamn church! He locks his eyes with mine and I swear he looks as if he wants to do the exact same thing.
I’m enjoying this show though, all these revelations, all these confessions. It’s like watching a fucked up reality show on TV, only I’m in the center of the action. Might as well add some fuel to the fire.
“So many people in this room had… or have”—I grin at my father, looking him dead in the eyes, as everyone turns to me—“a pitiful excuse for a father. Two of them are dead. I wonder what will happen with the third. Tsk tsk tsk…”
“So, areyougoing to do it?! You’re going to get rid of me, girl?!” He laughs loudly, mocking me in an attempt to put me down as he always does. Only it’s the first time he’s done it with an audience larger than my mother, and I stand my ground.
“You stupid, ignorant old man. You always act as if you’re the most knowledgeable in the room, yet you missed the fact that the sociopath you’re forcing me to marry played you! You’re his damn piggybank! Our whole family is!” Ryan forces me in front of him, violently attempting to cover my mouth as I push him away. “And you stooped so fucking low for him. I mean, you were already scum in my eyes, but now… you’re child trafficking scum!” With every word, my voice rises to a loud, gravelly note, and I bite Ryan’s hand away when he tries to cover my mouth again. He grips my throat instead, holding me tight enough that he can keep me from moving away from him.
I don’t miss Vincent’s eyes moving between his hand and face with such a vicious look in them,I’mfucking shaking.
“Oh, you ungrateful little bitch!” My father pushes my mother against the pew, trying to make his way out, toward me, when suddenly, he stops dead in his tracks.
“I think not.” Only three little words my brother speaks as he presses a gun against the back of father’s head.
“Cillian? What are you doing, son?” His voice shakes ever so slightly.
He doesn’t reply right away. He looks between Vincent and I, then cocks the gun, our father flinching against it.
“I believe asking for gratitude from the daughter you are selling to a man that plans to wipe your entire family off the face of the fucking earth, starting with you, feels a tad idiotic. Don’t you think?” Father shakes with fury at those words, but he’s flinching because the betrayal is so thick… his daughter, his son, his business partner.
He has no one else to trust. Yes, he has his wife, but she doesn’t mean anything to him. She’s not a bargaining chip or a business deal.
“You’ve done some really terrible things, Father, and I’m tempted to let Ryan put the beginning of his plan in action, so it saves me from doing it.”
“Cillian!” mother gasps and covers her mouth.
“It’s true, you know,” he continues and I can’t help but smile, “the business partner you’re selling your daughter to plans to kill you, then mother, then me, to ensure everything the family owns goes to her. Then he plans to kill her too, wiping our name off the face of the earth and taking all that we own for himself, to regain the fortune his father lost.”
“That’s enough! Stop getting your nose in business you don’t understand. Fucking paranoid woman…” Ryan’s hand wraps just a bit tighter around my throat, and I catch Vincent take a short step forward. But I quirk my lip at him. I want to be here next to Ryan, because when the time comes, when the ball drops… the motherfucker is mine!
“Is it all true?” After an awkward pause, my father asks Ryan. “Was that your end goal? To kill me for my money?”
“Isn’t it obvious?! They’re working with each other, inventing insane scenarios so they can get Morrigan out of this wedding. We made a deal; your daughter is mine, and our business is ours. It can’t be undone. Not now, not when my other business partner is… out. Not when I know what I know about you, and your involvements in such… heinous activities.” I can feel Ryan fidgeting behind me, switching his weight from one leg to the other, yet he still manages a maniacal laugh that shakes his chest.
“You son of a bitch!” my father snaps, truly snaps, raging at the man whose hand is now tightening a bit too much around my throat. “I’m fucking saving you from bankruptcy. I let you into my fucking house, gave you my fucking daughter, and blackmail is my thanks?! You ungrateful, entitled piece of crap, I’m going to end you!”
“Oh no, Father.Youdon’t get to end him. Nor do you get to judge him, not after all you’ve done.” I ignore his comment aboutgiving meaway. He stops his rant and looks at me with such disgust.
“And you do? Your dear father might not know what you’ve done, but I do.” Ryan pulls me to his right, by the throat, turning me so I can look at him when he throws his threats at me.
“You dare threaten me too? Don’t worry,darling, after tonight, none of it will matter.” I smirk at him, no fucking tinge of pain when he squeezes me a little tighter as he grits his exposed teeth. “My sins are nothing in comparison, and tonight, you will both pay for yours.”
