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“What are you talking about?” Sienna asked, the surprise on her face real. She knew that her father had occasional meetings with the old Remington, but as far as she was concerned, they hated each other and barely kept a fragile peace between their territories.
“I suppose now is as good a time as any to tell you,” Kyle said and mockingly looked around the destroyed gym in a clear sign that there was no way for her to get out of this situation.
A part of Sienna wished for him to kill her without telling her lies about her family, but a significantly bigger part wanted to know the truth before she would die. For a while now, she had known that her father wasn’t the man she had thought him to be. It was true that she couldn’t trust a word that came from Kyle’s disgusting mouth, but there was sure to be a grain of the truth behind whatever he was about to say.
“By now you’ve found out that Tina is a Ryder,” Kyle said, starting the story with what she knew was the truth. “I assume you’ve figured out the kidnapping system that ruled our society for centuries and kept us in check. Here’s the interesting part, usually it’s preferred for people not to know where their kidnapped kids end up, because they might want to take them back and so the other family loses the power they gained over them. Are you following me?”
With a start Sienna realized that he was waiting for her reaction, and she forced herself to nod, even though the slight movement hurt her head. Kyle gave her a satisfied smile, then continued with the story.
“My dad was a genius,” Kyle said with an obvious note of pride in his voice. “He figured out who Tina was and then he forced Lyle to marry her. He actually didn’t care which one of us would marry her, so my brother and I had to figure it out the usual way. We went to the ring, and I beat the shit out of him. I almost killed him too, but only because he was so damn stubborn and didn’t want to admit his defeat. He really didn’t want to marry that ugly wench, but in the end, he didn’t have a choice.”
Sienna remembered Tina’s story about how she and Lyle had met, and her heart hurt for her friend, her sister. Tina had thought that deep down, Lyle was a good guy, but it turned out that he was just as wicked and twisted as the rest of his family. Every single Remington was rotten to the core. A fucking plague that kept destroying everything and everyone around them.
“The moment that they were married, they moved home and her life was in our hands,” Kyle continued, unaware of Sienna’s inner turmoil. He was enjoying the story too much. “My dad contacted your dad and told him about Tina. You should’ve seen your old man’s reaction. At first, he got so angry and demanded her return, but when he realized that it wouldn’t happen, he cried and begged for her life. It was pathetic. He was pathetic.”
Sienna’s eyes teared up at the thought of her dad, who she had always seen as a proud and strong man, being brought to his knees and humiliated in ways she couldn’t even begin to fathom. Even though now she wished she would’ve known and could’ve helped him, she was also glad in a way that she would forever keep the image of an unshaken and unwavering fighter. She would listen to Kyle and his story, but she wouldn’t allow it to change her perception of the man that raised her and loved her when there was no one else around.
“That’s not true,” she breathed, the words slipping out before she could stop herself.
To her dismay, Kyle had heard her and chuckled. “Of course, it’s true, sweetie. Why would I lie to you? I’ve lost everything as it is, so there’s really no point in me keeping secrets.”
A lone tear slid down Sienna’s cheek as she realized that Kyle was right. She was also sure that once he was done talking, he’d kill her.
“Where was I?” Kyle asked, distracted because of Sienna’s interruption. He scratched his chin lost in thought, his brows furrowing in concentration. “Oh, right, I remember now. Your dad begged for Tina’s life and my dad, the genius that he was, may he rest in peace, he continued on with the plan that he came up with when he forced Lyle to marry her.”
Kyle lowered himself on one knee to get closer to Sienna, but he was still towering over her crumpled body on the floor. She suppressed a shudder of disgust as he reached forward and curled a strand of her hair around his finger.
“Your dad loved you and tried everything to change my dad’s mind about the engagement. In the end, my dad agreed to postpone it until you were thirty. That’s in less than two years, yeah?” Kyle asked with a small smile. “Your dad wanted you to have a little bit of life before you’d bear my children. I didn’t care whether you were a virgin or not, and I never found you worthy enough to be with me, but my dad insisted and I would respect his wishes until the very end. He wanted to bring together our families and merge the territories into one. That would be something, wouldn’t it? A never before seen historic event in our area. I really wish that it would end up differently, but you made your bed and now I’ll make you lay in it.”
“My dad wouldn’t go through with it,” Sienna insisted. “He’d find a way to get me out of it. He wouldn’t sell me to a bastard like you.”
Kyle’s lips curled up into an amused smile and he breathed out a low chuckle. “But he did, didn’t he? In the end, you’re married to me, although two years earlier than it was planned. But you know what has changed and not for your benefit? The Ryders have been overthrown and what little you had to offer me, you’ve given away, which means that you’re useless to me.”
“The Remingtons have lost their place as well,” Sienna snarled back, unable to keep herself from raising to his bait. “You think yourself so important and powerful but take a look around. You’re nothing. You’re just as alone and miserable as I am. You’ve lost everything.”
Sienna felt the burn on her cheek before her brain processed what had happened. Kyle’s movement was too fast for her to react, and he slapped her across the cheek, leaving the screaming red imprint of the palm of his hand on the side of her face. Sienna’s eyes teared up more with anger than pain, and she lifted her hand up to cup her cheek. She stared at Kyle, narrowing her eyes at him, willing him to see just how much she hated him.
Kyle ran a hand through his messy dark hair, combing his fingers through it. His breaths were fast and shallow, but he was visibly trying to slow them down as well as deepening them to call himself. It took him a short while, but when he was collected enough, he locked his eyes on Sienna’s again.
“I might’ve lost everything because of you, but you lost it all because of us first,” Kyle said, his voice low and full of hate. “My dad controlled yours as a puppet. He pulled the strings, and your dad danced the way we wanted him to. In a way, we controlled your territory the moment we had Tina. Life was good and our deal would be solidified with our marriage to come, but then the fucking Carringtons had to come and organize the uprising. They had to massacre the Ryders in their own home, catching everyone completely by surprise.”
Sienna’s eyes widened as the realization hit her. “My dad’s bad decisions were your fault. Your family is responsible for my dad not listening to his people and mistreating them. All of this happened because of you.”
“Yes and no,” Kyle said and waved his hand in a gesture of half agreement. “We were working on getting the people under control, but intimidation takes time and we had to be subtle so it couldn’t be connected directly to us. Mouth to mouth accusations are okay as long as they’re only rumors, but once the physical proofs are involved, then we have unnecessary problems. So as you see, we were working on it, but your dear Carringtons didn’t care for it. They smelled the blood in the water and decided to strike like the sharks that they believe themselves to be.”
Sienna’s mind was reeling with the unexpected revelations. It wasn’t completely her dad’s fault for doing what he did and for the people hating her family. He had only done what a good father would do. He had tried to protect his only biological daughter that was in the clutches of the true monsters. The Carringtons might’ve killed her family and friends, but they believed they were doing the right thing. They were saving their people and didn’t know better. They couldn’t have. Sienna decided a long time ago that the Carringtons weren’t to be blamed for what happened to her family and closest friends. Kyle’s words were only confirming what she had always known if only deep down. All her misery and bad luck was the fault of the Remingtons.
“It might be hard for you to believe it, but we actually tried to save you,” Kyle said and shook his head as if in disbelief. “Despite your worthlessness, my dad still felt that we should honor our agreement with your dad, which was why we tried to take you back from your kidnappers and your family’s assassins. I married you as a show of respect to your dad and the rest of the fallen members of your family and by that, I gave you my name and the protection that it comes with it. But you just had to ruin it all, didn’t you? You publicly rejected it and me, and you weren’t satisfied just with that. No, no, you helped orchestrate the death of my dad and my twin brother. They were innocent in all this. We all went out of our way to help you, support you and be there for you. Is that how you thank your saviors and your protectors?”
Sienna’s mouth fell open in shock. Kyle’s mind was even more twisted than she had thought. He had this whole fucked up narrative in his head about how the things had happened. He made himself and his family look like the heroes of the story, when in reality, they were the original villains.
The whites of Kyle’s eyes were red, and his pupils completely dilated. If she didn’t know better, she’d think them blown, but since he was moving and talking, there was a low chance of brain damage. At least not yet.
Sienna had heard enough, and she had a feeling that Kyle had come to the end of his tale. Her only chance of survival was to do something now because the moment that Kyle would decide to make a move, she’d be as good as dead.
Like Aiden.
Her eyes darted behind Kyle toward where Aiden lay. His body unmoving and broken, his clothes soaked through with his own blood. Sienna’s mind conjured up the memory of his smile, of him doing yoga, of his touch. There were so many things that she loved doing with him, but because of Kyle… would never get to do again.
