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I don’t dare tell Andrei there’s a problem because I can guess how bloody his solution will be.
I walk through the mansion like a sleepwalker doing laps, unable to get a grip on my emotions. In the main hall, I see a small package on the console. A small brown box wrapped with packing tape and my name on the label. It couldn’t have been delivered. A delivery truck wouldn’t get past the gate with it, and I didn’t order anything online. Someone had to have dropped it off.
I debate opening it, wondering if cutting the tape will set off a detonator and blast half the house to the moon. I’m being stupid. I use my nails to tear off the tape, and inside is an old-fashioned Nokia cell phone with a charger.
There’s no return address, but I’m certain of who sent it. I scroll through the contacts and there’s only one number. I don’t recognize it, but I call it, and Kenney answers with a cool hello.
“You’re an asshole,” I hiss as he laughs at my heartfelt greeting.
“Paige, I’ve been worried about you and Emma.”
“Don’t you dare lie,” I tell him. “Don’t say you’re working undercover or some worthless shit like that. What the fuck are you thinking?” My voice echoes down the hallway and back again. I hurry toward the terrace so I can talk outside. “Where is the money, Kenney?”
“Paige, you may not know this, but the will has to go through probate first …”
“I’ll probate your scrawny ass,” I practically shout. “Don’t you dare speak to me as if I’m a child. Do you think I would trust you over my lawyer? You better not steal from me.”
“Or what?” he asks smugly. “You’ll sic that big guard dog on me? I should be afraid. But seeing what he did to his own mother, I thinkyoushould be afraid.”
“What did you say?” I ask.
The phone is silent, but I can hear Kenney breathing on the other end. He fucked up by letting me know that he knows about Eva. No one reported her death, much less how she died. So how the hell does he know?
“You kidnapped my sister, you scum,” I snarl into the phone. “Don’t mess with me.”
“Paige, I had to prove myself by taking Emma. I’m on the inside, gathering intelligence. You don’t know how the Bratva works.”
I scoff but catch myself before I give myself away in anger. “You crossed a line when you messed with my sister. I don’t believe you for one second.”
“Paige, you’re in trouble.” The smug humor is gone from his voice, but his newfound sincerity isn’t enough to change my mind.
“Where’s the money, Kenney?”
“In time, Paige,” he replies.
“Something happened to Emma that she won’t talk about, Kenney. She’s not the same person. I know Talia personally. What did that bitch do to my sister?”
“Paige, you’re being paranoid.” He forces a laugh. “I know Talia too. Very well, and we have an agreement. She won’t do anything without my approval.”
I almost drop the phone as I have a touch of vertigo. My head spins with each new lie. “Are you out of your goddamn mind?” I ask him. “You have no idea what she is capable of. Kenney, she is dangerous.”
His conceit drips off his tongue. “I’ve got her under my control.”
My frame shudders as a thought assaults my mind. “Wait, you aren’t suggesting that you’re sleeping with her?”
Kenney doesn’t answer, and I know it’s true. “Paige, don’t worry about me. Worry about yourself. Your husband is using you. I’m looking out for you from the inside.”
“By doing what?” I scoff. “By stealing my inheritance?”
“Paige, we both know how Gerald got it. I’m trying to handle this fairly. Cleanly.”
I feel sick as I sit down heavily behind the garage. I rub my eyes, not believing any of this twisted fairy tale. Kenney sounds as if he believes his own bullshit. Or someone has convinced him into believing theirs.
I try one more time. “Kenney, please listen to me. Talia is dangerous. No one controls her.”
Kenney chuckles as if I’m making a joke. “Funny, she says that about your husband. Call me when you realize you need me.”
I hang up on him and head back toward the house, fuming. How dare Kenney think up that bullshit and tell me as if he’s serious? He knows he’s lying. Kenney better be careful because he’s gone too far.
