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My breaths came in rapid pants. “What are you talking about?! What did you do?!”
“Me?” she said, shrugging. “Absolutely nothing. I didn’t know or even care who she was when it all started. No Dreg has the power to take down a Burkhardt, but she did stumble into a secret that would’ve taken down”—her finger swirled over the scroll—“a family on this page. A secret, Sinclair. The only tie stronger than money.
“Winter wasn’t smart enough to keep what she discovered to herself. She wanted to play their little game of truth or dare, but when the stakes got too high, she couldn’t handle the penalty.”
“She... No, Winter—”
“Look at the tree,” Saylor snapped. “Messing with one family doesn’t affect just them. Winter thought she was picking a fight with one person and ended up in a war. It seemed like the entire school was after her, but it wasn’t. It was the families and allies she pissed off by threatening to take them down. Along with the Dregs who saw an opportunity to curry favor by driving Winter out.
“I don’t think anyone intended for her to kill herself, but...” Saylor shrugged. “You shouldn’t start fights you can’t win. Which brings us back to you, another Sinclair-Bowen pain-in-the-ass.”
Her voice came from far away. I was small in my mind—hidden in the dark place that was spreading deeper, overcoming my soul. That’s why they chose her. This stupid game of pretend royalty... is what took my sister’s life.
“You would think the Wilsons’ power play proves that you’re untouchable, but it’s just the opposite.” Closing the distance, Saylor’s forehead pressed on mine. “Owen, Levi, and the guys have nothing to lose now. The next time they come for you, they won’t hold back. As for the other families of Regalia, you’re not another Dreg sleeping your way to the top of the tree anymore. The Wilsons are willing to destroy families for you. You’re an even bigger threat than Winter was.
“They’ll do whatever it takes to get rid of you,” she said. “They’ll simply be smarter about it. The Wilsons can’t take them out of they don’t know who pulled the trigger—”
“You know, don’t you?” The rasp ripped from my throat. “You know the secret. You know the person who basically took a hit out on my sister to keep it quiet.”
“Well, yes,” Saylor said, whipping her hair across my face as she spun away.
“Tell me.”
She laughed. “Oh, please.”
Slowly, I reached in my purse, closing over a single small object.
“I said I’d tell you the truth, but I’m not getting that honest. It’s in the past. It’s over. We’re talking about you now.” Saylor got something out of her pocket and tossed it to me. I caught it and turned my palm up. My engagement ring glittered in the firelight. “Dump him, Sinclair. Make it brutal and public to call off the families who think you’re a threat, then pack up your shit and get out of town to get away from the ones who just want you dead.”
I crossed to the end table, picking up the whiskey from where she left it.
“Despite your many digs,” Saylor commented, “I’m not a callous person. I do feel for the maid who’s about to lose both her daughters. That’s why I’m still willing to offer you a deal. Jack Bowden can own his house and the land free and clear. You’ll receive money to relocate to the other side of the world and agree to never come back here. Obviously, I don’t trust your word and you don’t trust mine, so we’ll have a contract drawn up. The sooner, the better so—”
I tipped the glass over, spilling whiskey on the scroll.
“What the—!”
I flipped open Cato’s lighter, the single weapon the guard didn’t take from me, and tossed it on the table. The scroll went up in a flash—flames greedily devouring its whiskey-soaked prize.
Saylor’s scream echoed through the manor.
Snatching the wooden handles, I lifted the scroll free and threw it in the fireplace, sensing that dark spot grow as it was consumed.
Saylor shoved me aside racing to save it. Falling to her knees, she clawed the remains out—the poker flinging embers and charred wood along with them.
“I want to thank you for inviting me tonight, Saylor.” The voice that came from my lips wasn’t my own. “I appreciate you telling me the truth, even though it was only as much truth that suited you.”
“You stupid bitch!” Saylor flung the poker at my head. It went wide, clanging off the door. “That was the only copy!”
“I wouldn’t worry about that. Since you refuse to give me a name, I have no choice.” I got in her face, bonking our foreheads. “I’ll bring the whole fucking system down—every family, every deal, every arrangement, every secret. If I get you all, the bastard who killed my sister will end up among the wreckage.”
