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Ugh, if that wasn’t the fakest bullshit on the planet, fuck it all.
Those dreams were squashed like pumpkins the day after Halloween.
Elias wasn’t really my father. My mother was a lying, whoring bitch. Libby was six feet under and not coming back any time soon, and well—who would want to marry someone who was damaged goods and could accidentally kill you at the drop of a wrong word?
Sighing, I set aside the depressive pity party thoughts in favor of watching my big sister have the moment she deserved. Life had never been fair to her, growing up in Elias’s home. I only wished I had known it sooner. Maybe some of the bloodshed and pain could have been stopped.
I sat on the bench for hours, watching the guests mill around. None of them came back here, though. It was late by the time everyone left and I packed up my camera. Ava had left me another message earlier before the ceremony. I’d listened to it like I had all the other ones.
But it was time to stop.
Taking out my new burner phone, I shot her a quick text, telling her how proud I was of her and that she needed to stop searching. Stop looking. It wasn’t worth the risk.
Two seconds later, I got a response, and for the second time in over two and a half years, I cried.
Never. Sisters always stick together. I love you.
EPILOGUE 2
My keys jangled as I shoved them in the lock. Turning the key, I gripped the handle and nudged the door open. Balancing groceries was not something I had ever been good at. Ava kept telling me about how I could order groceries to be delivered now, but the thought of some random stranger knowing where I lived didn’t sit well with me.
My daughter had also told me that I didn’t need an apartment of my own. There was plenty of room in the new home Matthias had bought for them. The man had not only purchased their home, but every home for several city blocks. He’d torn most of them down to build god knows what.
I respectfully declined the invitation. Living that close to my daughter and her new husband was not my idea of a good time. Not that I didn’t want to be near her, and her offer came from a good place, but I had spent the last thirteen plus years under constant watch, able to hear and feel everything without the ability to do shit about it.
Sighing, I set the groceries on the marble island. The apartment was small, but cozy, with floor-to-ceiling windows and a large balcony. It was enough to keep me from feeling stifled and closed in. Matthias had offered me a job at the attorney’s office, which I gratefully accepted. The money from the McDonough estate would be enough to tide me over for a decent amount of time. The bulk of my father’s fortune had been squandered by Sheila and Remus over the years and it looked as if whoever was behind their extracurricular activities of selling women had taken that money and run with it.
Not that I wanted it.
The McDonough mafia was done for. I’d flown back to Boston to hand over the seat of power to one of my father’s men who had been exiled for questioning Remus. He had been my father’s second for nearly thirty years and deserved to take it over. There wasn’t much left, but he had been confident that he could build it back up to what it once was.
I knew my family’s legacy was in good hands.
Pain pierced my heart when I thought about the darkness that had woven its way through my family for generations. I couldn’t fault Remus and Marianne for the pain they felt at being cast aside, or even my mother for harboring such hate toward my father and grandmother. It was how it all came about that disgusted me. That, and the fact that my mother so easily cast me aside for being the chosen twin. It was in no way my fault for being born a minute earlier than my sister.
“Hello, Kat.”
A cry of surprise erupted from my throat, and I turned to face who had spoken. He was sitting in one of the overly plush chairs I had stuffed into a corner, half covered in shadow. Hazel eyes shot icy daggers at me. His body was relaxed, one ankle thrown carelessly over the opposite knee, a gun in his hand, the barrel pointed straight at my chest.
His voice was all smoke and gravel, almost hoarse.
Why did it sound so familiar yet also so foreign?
I hadn’t turned any of the lights on, so the only source of light came from the windows, which made it hard to see his full form. As if sensing this, he reached a gloved hand out toward the standing lamp next to him, and with a soft click, a warm glow filled the darkened space.
My lips parted slightly, eyes widening in recognition and horror when his face was revealed. He looked different from when I had last seen him, then again, he had been burned to death after being shot.
At least he was supposed to have been.
Noah Kelly.
Fear surged through me unbidden, and goosebumps broke out over my skin, causing me to shiver slightly. The left side of his face was a scarred mess of skin. His lips on that side were missing, causing a permanent sneer, and his left eye was glassy and unmoving.
Clenching my jaw, I swallowed back the bile that threatened to rise in my throat. “Noah.”
The right side of his face lifted into what was no doubt supposed to be a smile but resembled more of a grimace.
“What a surprise to find you alive after all these years.” He waved his gun at me. “You’re as beautiful as I remember.”
