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And even though I gained my prize wife out of the deal, my father forgave quite a bit of debt for that. More than Claire is worth on paper. Though I would have paid double for Claire. But none of us knew anything about her. She was offered and accepted with just a picture in a file.
“So enlighten me on what you fucking know and let this be done,” my father grinds out.
Aaron opens his mouth to speak, but it’s the wife whose voice comes out over everyone’s. She’s been quietly whimpering this whole time, not having said much of a word. She stands, and my gaze slides over to her.
She was beautiful once, but time and plastic surgery haven’t been good to her. I can see bits of Claire in her features, and I wonder what she looked like when she was young and not full of the greed and hate that are flowing from her now.
“I will do whatever it takes to keep my family alive and living in the lifestyle they are accustomed to,” she says, and she makes sure to add an inflection toanythingto make it clear she does mean anything.
“Right in front of me?” my mother asks. “Bold.”
She must forget my mother is standing behind her because her eyes widen and she dips her chin, almost as if she’s ashamed, but I already know this woman has no shame.
None.
So I know it cannot be that. What she’s upset about is that she was caught. There is no way she believes my father would do anything, especially with my mother right here, and even if she weren’t, my father can have whatever woman he wants. Do anything he wants. He doesn’t need her.
My father lifts his hand, his palm facing my mother’s face to keep her quiet. Her lips snap shut, but her face tells no lies. She is unhappy in so many ways in this moment. Not only because of this woman but also because my father shushed her without actually saying the wordshush.
“Will you tell me the truth first?” my father asks. “Before I tell you what I want from you.”
“You won’t kill me?” she asks.
My father’s lips twitch into a smirk. “I won’t kill you,” he replies.
He’s expressionless, and I want to believe him, but I also know he is not going to allow her to survive this. He is lying. Or rather omitting the truth of it all. He won’t kill her, but I will. This will be my initiation as an executive.
It’s clear to me now. He doesn’t have to order it done. It is going to be handled, and I am to be the one who does it. I’ll be the man who kills my in-laws, and I would like to think that I’ll be sad about it, but I won’t. I’m only upset that Bryson isn’t joining them.
“Keen promised Shelby would marry him. He said he had everything he needed to secure his spot as the one in charge. He would have full access to money. To power. To everything. And we would go in with him. He told me about the passport office. About the offshore accounts. I sucked his dick, and he sang like a bird.”
This is all we need. We were in the right to end Keen the way we did—the way my father did. However, it doesn’t feel right. This is family. Keen was family, and I loved him. Part of me didn’t believe that he truly betrayed us. But he did.
He told this greedy fucking cunt all of our personal, confidential information. There is no way she can walk out of here today, not that I imagined she would anyway.
“Mom, take Claire out,” I demand.
CLAIRE
“No.”My voice is firmer than I imagined.
Coleman’s gaze cuts to me. There is anger behind his eyes. He doesn’t hide it from me, or maybe he just can’t.
I don’t ask him any questions.
I don’t try to save my parents.
What my mother has just announced, I can’t imagine anyone would survive it, and at the same time, I can’t imagine them being killed either. But one dead body is already lying there and it hasn’t fazed me, and it seems as though the bodies will pile up tonight.
I’m not sure why I feel the need to see their lives end. Maybe because they so quickly and willingly sold me for profit, for their own personal gain, something they were just as willing to do with my sister, and I want to see them suffer for that.
I didn’t think I would be someone who could accept murder, illegal activities, and a husband who had offshore accounts. But here I am. Married to a bad man, a midnight stalker, a taker of virginities, a buyer of a wife, and yet, he’s the better one when it comes to my parents and him.
The thought causes my heart to slam against my chest. I knew that any man who chose a bride the way Coleman did, a man who essentially bought a woman by forgiving debts, would not be a good man. And he isn’t. Yet, at the same time, he is.
“Claire,” Coleman warns.
Jerking my chin upward, I look down my nose at him. Instead of staying where I am, I take a step forward, then another. I walk past my parents, who are still kneeling. I move through the thick, drying blood, ignoring the way it sticks to my shoes, to stand in front of my husband.
