There are guns being pointed at the 6 of us from all directions, but still, I manage to get close to Dorran and the crew. Mave joins me.
“Tell me why we’re here so that we can be done with this bullshit,” Dorran says.
“Oh, but I’m pretty sure you already know why you’re here.” Uncle Chase leans back on the chaise lounge. “But I’m also sure that you’re confused as to how I know about what you did to my sister, so let me give you a quick rundown of things.” He grabs a bottle of scotch from the table next to him, then helps himself to a glass full of it.
“My initial doubt seeped in when I reached Miranda’s scene of death and found her in her car,” he starts, then takes a long pull of his drink. “They said it was an electrical failure that caused the car to burn, but how could that be? My sister always had her car serviced, so something like that could only happen if her car had been tampered with.” He glares at Dorran, who remains unaffected as he glares back at him. “The fire department had been successful in dousing the fire on time, so Miranda’s body didn’t burn off completely. There was enough on it that accurate,usefulevidence could be gathered from it.” He finishes his glass and fills himself another. “The forensic experts informed me that she’d been dead before her car burned down, and that there were signs of assault on her. Her wrist and ankle bones were fractured, probably due to them being tied for a long period of time. Some of her fingernails were missing, and I was told they’d most probably been plucked off her nailbeds.” The hold he has on the glass tightens. So does my chest. “And the final bit of information that set things into motion for me, was her broken neck. The experts thought she’d been choked, or that her neck had been twisted by force, causing her cervical vertebra to all but shatter. Learning all of this wasn’t easy for me, because no one has ever had the audacity to evenbreathein Miranda’s direction the wrong way without losing their life, so the question I had to ask myself – whilst standing above my sister’s victimized body, was: who would be so stupidly bold as to not onlytouchMiranda Adler, but also bring about her end in such a disrespectful, disturbing, and painful manner?” He polishes the scotch and places the glass on the table, then brings his eyes to Dorran again. “And, you see, I didn’t have to think too much on it, because the only man impetuous enough to do such a thing, would have to be the Bloody fucking Prince of Riverside. I knew without a doubt it was you, but I needed to knowwhy.”
“And so, you had me spied on, no doubt,” Dorran says matter-of-factly.
“Precisely. My people found you with Cignette, and I was sure she’d hired you to kill Miranda. But now…” He glances between Dorran and I. “I feel like I was wrong; this is something entirely different than her simply paying you to kill my sister, isn’t it? The two of you – you’retogether.” He scoffs. “Scum attracts scum, I suppose.”
“Glad you had the commonsense to figure that out, at least,” Dorran remarks.
“Mom deserved to die,” I say, repeating myself from earlier. “You had the habit of brushing her immoral behavior under the rug, but it didn’t change the fact that she was a mentally unstable woman. Deranged even, given the things she’s said and done to me over the years.”
Uncle Chase gets to his feet so fast, that it makes me gasp and take a step back. And when he pulls a Glock out from behind him before pointing it at me, I feel my throat close up a little.
“You’ll keep that bitch mouth of yours shut, you fucking hear me?” He gets closer to me, and I in turn move back.
“Put the gun down, Chase,” Dorran warns, and shifts his body towards mine. “I won’t ask again.”
“You wouldn’t want to, because if you do, I’ll blow her fucking head off, and I won’t hesitate.”
Dorran shifts towards me further, but doesn’t do anything.
Uncle Chase grins and looks at me. “I was so proud of you,” he hisses. “So proud of the woman Ithoughtyou were. Beautiful, lively, carefree, charming – those are the terms I’ve always labeled you with, but I realize now how fucking wrong I was.” He snorts and brings the Glock nearer. “You were the greatest thing your mother and I created. At least that’s what you were to me – my treasure, my heir; a source of continuation of the Adler line. Miranda didn’t match my enthusiasm over the same, but I was so happy when you were born. You were everything to me, up until the moment you decided to take from me what meant the most to me.” He sneers down at me, and my insides all but flip.
You know that feeling when it seems like the ground has quite literally slipped from under your feet? Yeah, that’s what I’m experiencing right now. Because what Uncle Chase just said – it doesn’t make any sense.
“You…” I swallow, then shake my head a little. “What did you just say?”
His laugh is short, menacing. “I’m your daddy,sweet pea,” he confirms, using the endearment mockingly. “Did you really think your mother had a drunken one-night-stand and ended up pregnant with you?” He chuckles. “Cignette, you’remydaughter, not a random elite’s.”
I suddenly can’t breathe; I feel like I’m being drowned. Beside me, Dorran has gone rigid, which means that evenhe’sshocked by what has just been revealed. Mave and the others remain silent, but the air in the foyer has grown impossibly thick.
“You’re lying,” I say, then let go of a breath. “You’re lying to me.”
“I fucked my sister to keep our bloodline secure, Cignette. Call it old-fashioned or corrupted, I don’t care. You’re my daughter, and that’s the truth.”
“Why not tell me about it, then?” I sniff, and realize that I’m crying.
“It was an insignificant detail,”myfathertells me. “I didn’t think it was necessary for you to know.”
“You didn’t think it was necessary for me to know…” I chuckle, but there’s no humor in it. “And who the fuck gave you the right to decide that, huh? How could you have kept this from me and played pretend for all these years like you weren’t hidingthe biggest goddamn fact about me?” I swipe at my tears and point a finger at him. “You are a selfish, conniving piece of shit, and you deserve a downfall far worse than the one Mom received.”
He cups the back of my neck and fists my hair, making me wince. “You are nothing but an ungracious little slut who loves playing the victim whenever it pleases you,” he grits out, then pulls at my hair. “You will no–” He stops when Dorran grabs him by the collar and all but hauls him away from me.
There are orders being yelled, and thumps of footsteps getting closer. And then – as if the tides have turned completely – utter havoc ensues, hazing everything around me.
67.
The piercing sound of a gun firing meets my ears, just as Varsha yells, “Dorran, no!”
I look towards him, and see that he’s barely missed being shot by my dad.
Mave pulls me back, and when I struggle against his hold, he tightens it and pulls me back further.
“Don’t try to do anything stupid,” he says to me. “Dorran knows what he’s doing; I can’t fucking let you get hurt.”
