“You’re aware your mother was my father’s cousin?”
“What?”
“Oh, yes. Sweet Tessa Saoirse Horan.” Rhys jeers. “According to my father, he and her were incredibly close growing up in Southern Ireland. Practically brother and sister.” He frowns as anger flashes in his eyes. “That was until she escaped to New York City and betrayed our family by marrying that fucking asshole Italian father of yours.”
I flash, jerking back, confusion building inside me. I try putting the pieces together but quickly get overwhelmed. If my mother was Rhys’s father’s cousin, that makes Rhys and I second cousins.
What the fuck?
I never knew much about my mother’s past. She never lived long enough for her to tell me about her life before Julianna and I came around. She was stolen from us before she ever could.
“My parents loved each other.” It’s the only thing I can think to say.
“Do you truly think love conquers loyalty when it comes to the Irish mafia… or family?” Rhys quips, his mouth still turned up in a sneer.
I shake my head, squeezing my eyes shut before looking back at him. “Irish mafia?”
“Yes, fucker,” he snaps.
Selene lets out a small whimper, and I think I may just die watching her this way. I need to end this conversation as quickly as possible. I’m afraid Rhys will change his mind at any moment and snap, pulling the trigger without another thought.
“I had no idea.” I shake my head. “My mother never told me.”
“Of course, she didn’t.” Rhys scoffs. “Why would she when she thought she was getting away from what was in her birthright?”
“What was in her birthright?”
“To marry an Irishman within the organization. Her leavingput us all at risk of strengthening our alliances,” Rhys explains. “In turn, her marrying your father was a betrayal of the highest standard.”
“I don’t understand how this plays into her death.” I wet my lips. My mouth is dry and my throat burns, but I think I already know the answer before Rhys manages to say it out loud.
“Oh, come on, Capuleti.” He laughs maniacally. “You’re family. I think you already know where I’m going with this.”
I swallow around the lump in my throat. “Your father had my mother killed because she married the enemy?”
“Exactly.” He nods, unwilling to remove the gun from Selene’s temple.
A chill seeps into my bones.
“But they’d already been married for years before she was murdered,” I argue. “Doesn’t make sense.”
“That father of yours was about to become mayor of the largest fuckin’ city in the world. Your mother was going to be in the spotlight, paraded around as the First Lady of New York City. He stole her from us, and he needed to be punished for it. They both did.”
“But…” Intense pressure builds behind my eyes. “She was family.”
“She was dead to the Horan and O’Connell line the second she left Ireland without uttering a single word to her family.” He narrows his fiery gaze. “My father took matters into his own hands and made sure what needed to be done was done.”
I curl my hands into tight fists at my sides. I don’t understand the logic. Not completely.
The anger that overtakes me is debilitating.
“Your father killed my mother” It’s a statement. A final nail in the coffin of what I’ve been trying to dig up for years.
The truth.
“Yes.” He tightens his grip on Selene. “He needed to make astatement to those in the family who might ever consider leaving. The price you’ll pay for betraying one of your own.”
I take a step forward, noticing how Rhys hasn’t let up his hold on Selene. He’s still keeping the gun pressed to her head. The fear in her expression has only deepened over my conversation with Rhys. She’s silent, aside from her quiet sobs, but I see the panic in her eyes.
