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“Everyone lied to me,” I murmured.
Ty stirred and looked over at me. “I think that’s what hurts the most, Lia.” The harshness in his tone made me flinch back. “I may be many things but I’m not a goddamn liar. I thought you knew that.”
“What else was I to believe?” I shoved my hands into my hair, and a sob escaped me. “I watched you almost kill a police officer in front of me for my mother’s work. It made sense.” I made myself look up and meet his eyes. “Why not her, too?”
Ty’s jaw clenched. “We don’t kill women. That is one of my absolute rules as head of the Michaelson organization. Even my father exercised restraint in that regard. Sicilians tend to be protective of women.”
“I didn’t know that,” I murmured.
“Of course not.” Ty huffed a dark laugh. “You never thought to ask, never questioned why I didn’t just kill you, Lia.”
“I thought it was a fluke,” I admitted. “Somehow.”
“There's also the fact that I didn't know about your mother,” he said. “I didn't know about any of that evidence until I heard about Mickey Weiss. Did you think of that? And even if I did know about your mother, I wouldn't have gone after her like that. I'd figure out something else. That's why she probably kept things on the downlow. She knew that I could have my cousin hack her shit and steal it.” Tyler rubbed his forehead. “I warned you, Lia. I told you that my enemies would come after you.”
“I didn’t think they’d do this,” I said in a small voice and hugged myself.
Something flickered in Ty’s face, and he crossed the room, grabbing up his robe and tossing it to me. “Put that on.” Then, to my surprise, he dragged over a chair and sat in front of me, not close enough to touch, but closer than he had been before. “Lia, you knew that Hendrix’s cousin broke in and came after us. How could you trusthimoverme, especially when you knew nothing about how my world operates?”
I finished tying his robe and blew a breath, not wanting to admit he had me there, but Ty made a wry face.
“If I had to guess, Hendrix was the one to hire you through Ryan White,” Ty said, and I nodded. “Mhm, I knew it. Hendrix knew about all of this before I did — which means that he probably knew about your mother.” Ty suddenly swallowed hard, and a stark look came into his eyes. “I only threatened Weiss with that because I’d heard rumors about Hendrix killing a cop and staging it as a suicide.” His dark head bowed. “Shit. I should’ve warned you. How could I not see this coming?”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“You should be,” Ty snarled as his head flew up. “You’re lucky that Hendrix didn’t decide to take you back to his club and torture you to get to me. He read you like a goddamn book, Lia. He used your vulnerability against you.” Ty slumped in the chair. “And mine.”
“Yours?” Ty’s eyes opened, and he gave me a twisted smile. “You mean me?”
“Yes,” Ty said as he gazed at me. “Haven’t I proven to you yet what you mean to me? You think just anyone can make me lose my shit like that?”
I shivered and shook my head. “I don’t know.”
“What now?” Ty muttered and pulled out his phone. He frowned and his eyes darted over the screen. Then he held out the phone and suddenly, Mickey’s ragged, harsh voice filled the room.
“I’m so sorry. God, I wish I could take it all back. But goddamn Hendrix, he had me pinned and slapped me around. He said he’d go after friends on the force, my family, and Lia, and that this was her only way out, the only way he’d leave us alone. I thought I was doing the right thing. I didn’t know Michaelson was protecting her. Oh, God. What have I done? Is she okay? Did Hendrix hurt her?”
“No,” answered Daniel. “But it was a close call. Okay, now repeat what you told me before.”
Mickey heaved a sigh. “Hendrix has to be the one who killed Marina Fioreno, Lia’s mom. It’s his MO. I think he even sent the Sons of Celt to fuck with her ex-husband and that’s why Lou skipped town. But I don’t think any of us thought he’d go after herkid.”
“I would,” Daniel replied. “And so would Ty.”
The recording ended there, and Ty tucked his phone into his jacket. “Is that enough proof? Hendrix blackmailed Weiss to lie to you.”
“So many lies,” I whispered and shut my eyes. Nausea swamped me, and I pressed a hand to my mouth. Then, I remembered the bruise around Mickey’s mouth, the bandages on his hands, and the splints on his fingers. “Wait, I’m so stupid.” I hit my hands on the bed as my eyes flew open. “Those injuries werenew.The bruises, his broken fingers, and the bandages…”
“Yeah, Hendrix burned his fingers with a lighter,” Ty said, and I sat up. “What did I tell you when you first got here? You weren’t scared enough. Now, you should be.”
I made a scramble for the edge of the bed and ran to the bathroom, throwing up again. There wasn’t much in my stomach and I felt a little better after, though I took my time brushing my teeth and trying to calm down.
The recording from Mickey, the realization of what Hendrix had done to him and what he’d done to my mother, this world that I’d fallen into…
The man whose eyes saidminewhen he looked at me, who said he loved me and yet could talk about his enemies torturing a cop like it was nothing…
“I can’t do this anymore,” I said to my reflection.
CHAPTER FORTY
