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“Have you all gone through a test?” My gaze moves across each of them. Not one of them will meet my eyes. “Oh hell.”
“Don’t worry about us,” Harlow says. “We grew up knee-deep in blood ties.”
“Just because we live here now doesn’t mean we know peace,” Autumn whispers. “Some dick broke my mom in ways she will never recover from. We stay because we believe in Brooklyn and her plans, and we are loyal to her because she has the power to see it through.”
“She’s also terrifying,” Jani whispers, staring at the door she disappeared through.
“So she wants to take down the men.” I rub my temples. “Her father.”
“She’s been planning this for thirty years.” Harlow glances at the door, then back to us. “My mom died while on a mission.” She clears her throat. “Her father killed her. My grandfather. We all want to see the five heads fall.”
I swallow, feeling as though someone dragged me into this world kicking and screaming. I grew up loved and cared for, not hated and despised. I never had blood on my hands until recently, and even then, it was indirect.
“There is another reason we are here,” Harlow says, refilling her glass.
I haven’t yet sipped the drink she gave me, so I take a sip, letting the blackberry flavor explode on my tongue. “Okay, I’m ready.”
Harlow looks at me, her violet eyes standing out in the light of the kitchen, ethereal and beautiful, just like her. She looks away and bends over, digging in the bag at her feet. Standing up, she holds a manila envelope in her hands, thick with papers spilling over.
A slice of warning slides up my spine, and shivers follow in its wake. I already know that I don’t want to see whatever is in that folder.
“It’s everything we have on your biological father,” Harlow whispers, looking at the door and then back to me. “I’m not supposed to have this.”
“Why do you?”
“Because in Brooklyn’s head, she already married you off to Desmond,” she says, but her words spark a grunt from Jani, “and I personally believe in transparency.”
I turn to Jani. She’s standing at the island, pouring yet another shot. At the rate she’s going, she will black out before dinner.
What demon is she chasing?
Tatum doesn’t let me wonder for long. “Oh, come off it, Jani,” she snaps at the other woman. “Desmond never would have chosen you.”
“It wasn’t even about choice,” Jani snaps back. “They arranged it the moment we were born.”
“And you knew Brooklyn wasn’t sold on you. Your father did everything he could to convince her, and he failed,” Tatum snarls at her cousin. “Brooklyn never trusted you.”
“You bitch,” Jani snaps, slamming the shot glass down, then she turns to me. At that moment, her mask falls. All the animosity I felt between us over the years bubbles to this boiling point. “Desmond was my fiancé.”
Harlow groans, and Autumn casually steps around the island. Both women go on full alert, their bodies shifting.
“Oh.” My jaw drops. “I didn’t know.” Neither of them told me, and there isn’t even a ring.
“She’s lying.” Tatum steps up beside me.
“I’m not fucking lying.” Jani lets out a humorless laugh. “We were supposed to get married. They arranged it.”
“And that was subject to change,” Tatum spits back. “Brooklyn never signed that agreement. You damn well know that.”
“Just like she never signed the agreement for anyone,” Jani snaps.
I watch in disbelief as Jani drops this bombshell, the words settling heavily in the air. My eyebrows shoot up, and my shock is apparent. “Wait, wait, wait,” I interject, needing to clarify. “The Black brothers…”
“Yep,” Jani confirms, pouring herself another shot. “We are all supposed to be their wives.” Autumn swiftly snatches the shot from Jani’s grasp before she can down it.
“I think you’ve had enough. You should eat,” Autumn suggests, placing the shot aside and pushing a banana toward Jani.
“I haven’t had nearly enough,” Jani retorts, her voice dripping with anger and condescension.
